Malaysian Digest
They met and shook hands, posed for a photo-opt then sat down to talk, man to man. What did the Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim (TMJ) discuss with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak when they sat down for tea and a private chat last Friday?Malaysians have been clamouring to find out and the affable prince decided to break his silence yesterday by posting what transpired on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page.
"I believe that there are so many other Royals and politicians who meets with the Prime Minister but everyone seems to be interested and curious about my meeting with Dato Sri Najib," TMJ observed with bemusement.
"I also voiced my opinion on giving opportunities to talented youths to play a bigger role in building this country," he went on to describe what they discussed.
However the tone of his reply took a turn towards the dramatic when he highlighted how he tackles a problem by not beating around the bush, declaring that "when I have a problem, I voice it out".
"I don't like to hide problems like certain leaders who just wants a free holiday or lobbying certain projects.
"At the end of the day, I do all this for one intention only and that is for us to progress as a nation and obviously about my stand on education and corruption," he reiterated his intention to continue using his public platform to speak up for the rakyat.
The interview excerpt also included TMJ's thoughts about the plans he has in mind for his JDT team to "expand its powers' and gave his take on the recent controversy involving him, the Football Association of Malaysia and a certain pendrive.
JOHOR Southern Tigers
WAWANCARA KHAS BERSAMA DYAM TUNKU MAHKOTA JOHOR BERKENAAN ISU PERJUMPAAN BERSAMA YAB DATO SRI NAJIB, FAM DAN KEHADIRAN PENYOKONG DI STADIUM. SILA BACA DENGAN TELITI.
ISU PERJUMPAAN BERSAMA YAB DATO SRI NAJIB
Wartawan: Selamat petang Tunku. Kebelakangan ini terdapat ramai orang yang memperkatakan mengenai pertemuan Tunku bersama YAB Perdana Menteri. Ramai yang tertanya-tanya tentang apa yang berlaku sewaktu pertemuan tersebut?
DYAM TMJ: Saya percaya bahawa terdapat ramai lagi Kerabat-kerabat Diraja dan juga ahli-ahli politik lain yang sudah bertemu dengan Perdana Menteri tetapi semua orang seolah-olah begitu lebih berminat dan ingin tahu mengenai pertemuan saya dengan Dato Sri Najib. Semua orang lebih berminat untuk mengetahui apa yang Tunku Mahkota Johor katakan berbanding dengan VVIP lain. Dalam pertemuan tersebut, saya menyuarakan kebimbangan saya mengenai keadaan politik, negara ini secara keseluruhan dan yang paling penting adalah negeri saya Johor. Saya ingin tahu apakah dasar dan prinsip kerajaan. Saya juga bersuara berkenaan dalam memberi peluang kepada generasi muda yang berbakat untuk memainkan peranan lebih besar dalam membina negara ini. Ini adalah antara isu-isu yang saya sampaikan kepada Perdana Menteri selain daripada isu-isu semasa lain di negara ini. Dato Sri Najib turut berkongsi pandangan dan pendapat beliau kepada saya. Saya turut menyuarakan bukan sahaja kebimbangan saya tetapi juga suara rakyat.
Apabila saya menghadapi masalah, kelebihan saya adalah saya mampu untuk berhadapan dan membincangkan masalah tersebut, mengendalikannya secara 'gentlemen'. Saya tidak bersembunyi di sebalik komputer dan hanya menulis di laman facebook dan saya pasti bukannya seorang pengecut, yang membaling batu, sembunyikan tangan. Saya lebih suka berterus terang dan menangani masalah yang saya hadapi dengan seberapa segera. Apabila saya mempunyai masalah, saya bersuara, menjelaskan kebimbangan saya dan membincangkan bagaimana ia harus dikendalikan dan juga berkongsi pandangan saya terhadapnya. Saya tidak suka untuk menyembunyikan masalah seperti sesetengah pemimpin tertentu yang hanya mahu bercuti percuma atau melobi projek-projek tertentu. Pada penghujungnya, saya melakukan semua ini atas satu tujuan sahaja dan ianya adalah untuk kita semua maju sebagai sebuah negara dan memperjelaskan lagi mengenai pendirian saya terhadap pendidikan dan gejala rasuah. Saya akan terus bersuara serta memberi pandangan kepada pemimpin-pemimpin negara ini demi kepentingan rakyat. Selain itu, perbualan peribadi antara Dato Sri Najib dan saya adalah antara saya dan beliau. Bukan urusan orang lain.
ISU FAM DAN SENARIO BOLASEPAK
Wartawan : Apa pandangan Tunku mengenai bola sepak?
DYAM TMJ : Berkenaan bola sepak, semuanya berjalan dengan baik. Perkembangan mengenai pembangunan dari peringkat akar umbi bermula dari projek akademi Bawah-12 hingga ke peringkat lebih senior sudah mula menampakkan hasilnya. Falsafah yang diterapkan dalam projek yang bermula dari tahun 2013 tersebut telah dapat dilihat keputusannya pada hari ini. Bukan sahaja membangunkan dan mencungkil bakat muda yang berpotensi, tetapi memastikan mereka diberi pendedahan untuk bermain di luar Malaysia. Lima pemain akan di hantar ke Valencia dan juga lima lagi pemain akan ke Hokkaido, Jepun. Saya akan mengusahakan lebih lagi perjanjian usaha sama untuk menghantar lebih lagi pemain muda untuk diberi pendedahan mengenai sukan bola sepak dalam jangka masa panjang.
Wartawan : Apakah pandangan Tunku mengenai Piala Malaysia?
DYAM TMJ : Piala Malaysia adalah piala yang berprestij, tetapi ia bukanlah antara sasaran JDT. Sasaran JDT dari hari pertama adalah menjuarai Liga Super Malaysia dan Piala FA kerana memasuki saingan Piala AFC adalah keutamaan saya. Berada dalam suku akhir Piala AFC pun saya sudah rasa cukup bersyukur kerana kita sebenarnya tidak perlu menang tetapi kita perlu tahu sejauh mana kita boleh pergi sebagai salah satu kuasa bola sepak dalam Asia Tenggara.
Wartawan : Apa pendapat Tunku mengenai isu FAM dan 'pendrive'?
DYAM TMJ : Seperti yang telah saya maklumkan sebelum ini, saya tidak akan mendedahkan orang yang memberikan maklumat tersebut kepada saya. Saya nak tahu apa cerita dan dalam masa sama saya perlu selamatkan orang yang memberikan saya maklumat. Apa yang saya tahu, itu antara saya dan apa yang perlu diperbincangkan adalah antara saya dan FAM. Yang orang lain hendak menyibuk ambil tahu ini kenapa? Pada saya, individu yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan masih berada didalam organisasi itu sepatutnya berundur. Walaubagaimanapun, satu hari nanti mereka tetap akan berundur dan digantikan dengan muka-muka baru di dalam FAM dalam masa terdekat.
ISU KEHADIRAN PENYOKONG DI STADIUM
Wartawan : Apa pesanan Tunku kepada para penyokong?
DYAM TMJ : Saya amat kecewa dengan kehadiran ke stadium. Dulu semasa kita baru sama-sama bina kelab, saya nampak banyak potensi bahawa kelab ini boleh menjana kewangan. Dan apabila saya lihat dengan perangai penyokong, bila saya nak buat stadium 30,000-35,000, ramai bising kenapa kecil sangat? Sedangkan pada perlawanan semalam pun tak sampai 7,000 orang yang hadir. Ini bukan kali pertama tetapi sejak awal musim lagi saya sudah perasan. Perkara sama berlaku sejak tahun lepas. Jangan jadikan 'waktu bekerja' sebagai alasan kerana ketika penyokong yang memenuhi stadium pada tahun 2013 dan 2014 semuanya tidak bekerja ke? Kalau ada yang tidak boleh terima apa yang saya katakan, itu hal masing-masing. Tetapi kalau anda mahu kelab anda kuat, anda harus membantu sebagai penyokong. Jika hanya nak tunggu perlawanan tertentu baru nak hadir, baik tidak payah. Berkenaan penjualan tiket online, JDT sudah hampir melaksanakan proses pembelian menggunakan kaedah tersebut bagi memudahkan penyokong pada masa akan datang. Tetapi sekiranya selepas itu juga masih tidak penuh, saya rasa stadium baru nanti saya nak bina hanya untuk 10,000 orang sahaja.
Dan seperkara yang terakhir, saya tidak tahu berapa lama saya akan berada dalam dunia bola sepak kerana saya ada agenda-agenda lain tetapi kita tunggu dan lihat. Buat masa ini apinya masih panas dan membara dalam hati saya, tetapi kita lihat dulu situasinya kerana saya masih banyak lagi misi dan visi yang hendak saya laksanakan untuk negeri yang saya cintai ini.
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SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH HRH CROWN PRINCE OF JOHOR ABOUT ISSUE IS MEETING WITH DATO SRI NAJIB AND ISSUES REGARDING FAM DAN FAN ATTENDANCE AT THE STADIUM. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.
ISSUE IS MEETING WITH DATO SRI NAJIB.
Journalist: Good evening Tunku. In the past few days there have been alot of talk in town about your meeting with The Honourable Prime Minister. Many are curious about what transpired during the meeting.
HRH TMJ: I believe that there are so many other Royals and politicians who meets with the Prime Minister but everyone seems to be interested and curious about my meeting with Dato Sri Najib. Everyone are more interested on what Crown Prince of Johor is saying compared to the other VVIPs. During the meeting, I voiced out my concerns about the political situation, the country as a whole and most importantly my state of Johor. I want to know what are the government's policies and principles. I also voiced my opinion on giving opportunities to talented youths to play a bigger role in building this country. These are the issues that I brought up with the Prime Minister apart from other current issues in the country. Dato Sri Najib also shared his views and opinions with me. I also voiced out not only my concerns but also the voice of the rakyat. When I have a problem, the beauty is I am able to confront the person and discuss the problem, handling it like a gentleman. I don't hide behind computers and only write in facebook and I am certainly not a coward, throwing stones and then running away. I like to be direct and tackle problems that I have immediately. When i have a problem, I voice it out, explain my concerns and discuss how it should be handled and also sharing my views on it. I don't like to hide problems like certain leaders who just wants a free holiday or lobbying certain projects. At the end of the day, I do all this for one intention only and that is for us to progress as a nation and obviously about my stand on education and corruption. I will continue to speak out and give my views to the leaders of this country for the benefit of the Johorean peole. Other than that, my personal conversation between Dato Sri Najib and myself is between me and him. Its nobody's business.
ISSUES REGARDING FAM, PENDRIVE AND FOOTBALL
Journalist: What are your comments on the football?
HRH TMJ: Football is doing ok. We are doing very very well, from our Under-12s all the way to our senior team. The project that we have established since 2013 with its philopsophy, you can start seeing the results today. Not only are we producing young talents but we are also buying young talents to make sure they play outside of Malaysia. I have 5 players that are going to Valencia and another 5 who will be going to Japan to train with Hokkaido FC. I will continue to establish more relationships in Spain and having a more solid foundation there and I am really interested to buy properties there because I can foresee that I will be working together with the Spainish football for a long time. I'm also planning to go to the Japan also. The idea is for JDT to expand its powers.
Journalist: Tunku, what are your views on the Malaysia Cup?
HRH TMJ: I always mention that Malaysia Cup is a very prestigious trophy but it is never our target and priority. I have said numerous times that our target is always the league and the FA Cup as these are the competitions that qualifies us for the AFC competitions. To just be in the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup is considered a huge achievement and I am very grateful. We don't have to win it but it is important to know how far we can go, as one of the leading teams in South East Asia.
Journalist: Tunku, what is youe reaction on FAM and the pendrive issue?
HRH TMJ: I have said many times, if I reveal everything, I will jeopardise my informer. I still want to keep him there so he can continue to inform me on what is happening in FAM. So why should reveal? All the information I have is between me and FAM. I don't know why there are so many busy bodies. To me, there are certain individuals who are not contributing should just resign. There will come a time where these individuals will leave FAM and replaced by new faces.
ISSUE FAN ATTENDANCE AT THE STADIUM.
Journalist: Is there any messages that Tunku would like to give to the fans?
HRH TMJ: I am very disappointed with the attendance at the stadium because when we first started building this club together back in 2013, I saw a lot of potentials and could generate alot of income for the club. However, when I see the attitude of fans I become very disheartened. When I announced the building of a new stadium with a capacity of 35,000 people everyone ask why only 35,000 and that it should be bigger. Last night's attendance did't even reach 7,000 fans. This is not the first time it has happened. I have realised this since the beginning of the season and also last year. To those who can't accept what I am doing, that is your problem, but if want your club to progress and excel, you need to do your part as fans. Don't just wait for matches against big teams. Regarding online ticketing system, we are in the final stages in implementing the system to ease everyone's problem. Once implemented, if the attendance is still low, I will just build a stadium with a capacity of 10,000!
For now, I am unsure how much longer I will be with football as I have other agenda but we will see how it goes. For now, the fire is still burning within me but let me see the situation as there are many more mission and vision that I wish to implement for the state that I love very much.
Hidup Johor Demi Johor
- mD
