Once in a lifetime - or is it?
Credits: Stadium Astro
Perennial bathroom celebrity Shah Bahari describe his experience doing an interview with legendary Indra Putra Mahayuddin on Astro SuperSport…
What do you do when you are taking a dump (well, other than actually doing the number two)? Some read their newspapers, whether it is old or new. Or perhaps a magazine. Others would scroll down their Twitter timeline on their smartphones. Mine is a little bit different, and by different I mean a little bit obnoxious, self-centred, and kind of sad.
I do my own little ‘interview’. There is nothing more satisfying than dropping the deuce whilst imagining yourself being in a one-on-one interview about your successful career in Football Manager. I told you it is kind of sad. So let’s save that for some other time.
When I was dropped a text from one of the producers at Astro SuperSport, I knew my pitiful pastime is about to become a reality. Well, not quite the same but close enough. I was approached as a Kuala Lumpur football fan to ask a few questions to former Malaysian international and current KL skipper, Indra Putra Mahayuddin for the show ‘Man On The Street. Yes, THE Indra Putra. One of the best local players in recent memories. I still remember watching him live during the 2009 Malaysia Cup final against Negri Sembilan. He scored a beautiful free kick for Kelantan late in the game. Albeit merely a consolation, it was memorable nevertheless.
I was told by Redzuan, the producer that I was chosen to do the show together with Ezrie, the chairman of KL Fan Club. I am part of the club too, so it is quite nice to meet him personally. It was held on a hot afternoon right before the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.
Before the show I met with Stanley Bernard, whom I personally described as one of the best voices in local football scene. We talked for quite a while on some pretty important and serious stuff. To be honest, it is not that at all but I just like to think that I am that smart and always ask the important questions.
Indra Putra is such a celebrity. When he arrived like 10 minutes later, it was met with a fanfare; people lined up to take pictures with him. It is nice and refreshing to see people admires our local football star, which has not happened quite often before. Perhaps that is how big a star Indra is. Whilst everybody were taking turns to snap some selfies with him, my cocky self boasted deep down, “You guys take your turns, I’m gonna do an interview with him.”
The interview ran smoothly, but it was nerve-racking for me inside. Stanley reminded me before it started that I should not be nervous and just act like there was no camera around. He was spot on. I have no idea why I was exasperated when I have done this thousands of times before. Probably because there was no cameras around when I did it in the bathroom.
To be honest, I was impressed with the maturity of Indra’s answers. He was calm, collected, and assertive. We always heard how people say local footballers don’t have the maturity and continuously stuttered when answering a simple media question. This does not happen with Indra. He really oozed that OG vibe. One of the questions I asked was about the recent drama concerning the national call up. I wanted to know his honest opinion whether getting called up to the national squad in this age is still a pride lie how it used to back then, or was it merely a burden to their glittering, economy-feasible club career; and I was not disappointed. He did not hold back and straight away replied with half a sigh and voiced his frustration. “Back then I was always excited to play for the national team. It was unlike anything else. So, for those players who consider it to be a burden is such a waste.”
One thing I learn about Indra from the interview, without knowing him personally, is that he is such a stand-up guy. He carried himself like a leader – soft spoken, always happy to meet the fans, and did not shy away from giving his opinion. At the end of the interview I asked about the current KL head coach, who is under fire for a string of bad results. “He is without a doubt the best coach I have ever worked with. He has his vision, now it is up to us to achieve it together.” Quite a high praise for someone who has worked for some of the best coaches in local football scene, including Norizan Bakar, Dollah Salleh, and also the great late Karl Heinz Weigang.
It was overall an enthralling experience for me to be involved with the show. It is not every day you have the opportunity to speak to your national legend. I even managed to get both Indra and Stanley to sign my ‘Legends Canvas’ – my old Harimau Malaya stripes that was signed by some of the biggest names in local football, like Zainal Abidin, K. Nanthakumar etc. It was DELIGHTFUL for me to see Stanley posted on his Instagram how he was humbled to sign the jersey after one of his favorite player, Indra himself. That shows how even our professionals have admiration and respect among each other.
A huge thank you to the crew for their hospitality – Astro really have some really good people working for them. Not to get overboard by saying this is, in Vincent K. McMahon’s classic WrestleMania line, “The boyhood dream has come true” – but this really is a once in a lifetime moment for me. Or is it?