Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Love For Football

First, it was Berjaya tycoon, Malaysian Tan Sri Vincent Tan who bought over Cardiff City.

And now, Malaysian woke up to the news that another Malaysian is set to become a major stakeholder of the well known English Premier League (EPL) club, Sheffield United.

Sheffield United is reputed as one of the oldest football clubs in England. Football enthusiasts in Malaysia will be thrilled to hear the above news. Although I do not fancy watching football very much these days, nevertheless, to tell you the truth, I did see one or two World Cup games during the one and a half month football frenzy which hit spectators the world over.

My close friend, Sham, who works in the driving institute where I am currently attached to, used to come in to work teary eyed and obviously lack of sleep. When asked how many hours he slept the night before, he answered, “two to three hours only”. That’s how crazy Malaysian fans are over football these days.

Talking about football, I still remember one of football’s most avid fan must surely be Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, or fondly known to all Malaysians as Bapa Kemerdekaan or the Father of Malaysian Independence. He was none other than the Yang Teramat Mulia, Tengku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj. The Tunku, in the World Cup of the 1970s, was so interested in the game, that even though he was then in his 70s, used to stay up late every night to observe the interesting games without fail.

A young man doing what the Tunku did will undoubtedly be unable to take the strain. What more, the excitement and tension of watching exciting skirmishes of games like Brazil versus Italy or England against Argentina.

To cut the blog story short, it was reported that his health was badly affected by his constant night virgil of watching too many World Cup games. Sadly to report, the Tunku had finally to be taken to the hospital for immediate treatment. The doctors advised that the Tunku refrain, not from taking food or drinks, but you know what, they finally prohibited his from watching his favorite game, the World Cup.

While meeting the 1st Prime Minister , Tunku Abdul Rahman at his humble home in Penang way back in 1974, one of the question I asked him was his love for the fame of football.

I remember clearly, he informed me that he wouldn’t give up anything for the game of football. If there was to be a census to be carried out to determine who was the most avid world statesman for the game of football, I will be very certain that is should obviously be Tunku Abdul Rahman and no one else.

By | 2010-12-29T13:15:11+08:00 December 29th, 2010|My Memories|0 Comments

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