The Day I Was Told I Couldn’t Support Selangor | #KaranganBolaSepak
The Day I Was Told I Couldn’t Support Selangor | #KaranganBolaSepak by Ahmad Muzammil
This is a true story. Back when I professed my love to Perak, I used to 'like' Selangor. I watched their matches if there were any on TV. If there weren't any Selangor matches on the TV, I would listen to the live commentary on Radio Malaysia Selangor. The next morning, I would be the first one to grab Berita Harian off my father's hand just to read the match report and see how other teams were doing. It was almost a religious ritual. No one forces me to like Selangor - not even my father, who is a born and bred Selangorian. But still, I was smitten to them since the day I watch the 1996 Malaysia Cup final on TV.
Fast forward to 1997. I was in Standard Two in primary school. Everyone in my class was raving about Tony Cottee, Christopher Kiwomnya, and Datuk Aini Taib. So was I. Until a new kid named Faizal came to my class. The year he came to my class was the year I stopped supporting Selangor and started cheering for Perak.
You see, Faizal was transferred to my school from Ipoh. His whole family is a true Perakian. They even say 'ayor' referring to water instead of 'air' like we usually do in Selangor. I know this because I went to his house a lot as we became closer and closer since his first day in my class. And as you would've expected, he is a massive Perak fan. Fanatic. Super crazy about Laszlo Repasi. One day he asked me where I was born. "Teluk Intan," I answered. Knowing me as a Selangor fan, he then said something that shook my belief:
"But you were born in Perak. Your blood spilled first on the land of Perak. How could you support Selangor?"
You have to remember; we were still 8 years old of age at that time. Yet Faizal was already talking about blood and allegiance. But here's the thing. What he had said to me, it made sense. He even gave me a solid supporting argument. "Would you support England when you know you were born in Malaysia?" he asked rhetorically.
From that moment on, I was sold on the idea. I start supporting Perak. All my football routines during the weekend, I did them the same. However, instead of Selangor, I changed it to Perak. I was quite lucky I lived in Sabak Bernam, a mere 5km away from the Selangor-Perak border. So, I could listen to live commentary on Radio Malaysia Perak whenever Perak games weren't televised on TV. My hero used to be Azman Adnan, Rusdi Suparman, Mehmet Durakovic, and K. Sanbagamaran. Then it got changed to M. Nagaraja, Laszlo Repasi, Shamsul Saad and Chan Wing Hoong.
In 1999, English football suddenly got bigger in my hometown. I didn't know exactly what sparks the interest. But I remember suddenly it was all everyone in my class could talk about - aside from wrestling. More and more kids in my school parted their hair right in the middle and wore knock-off Manchester United jersey in Pendidikan Jasmani class. I was intrigued. I want to know more about English football.
One day, as I was preparing myself to get to 'sekolah agama', I simultaneously watched Buletin 1.30's sports report on TV3. There was a report about Arsenal's win in the previous match. In this match, Arsenal scored a goal which I thought was the most fascinating and brilliant piece of play I've ever seen in my young life. It started with a move in the left flank. A striker ran directly towards the opposition's right back, stopped the ball in the middle of his run for the incoming left-back from his behind to cross. The cross met the right winger's header for a winning goal. The scorer had red hair. Only years later did I learned the scorer's name. It's Fredrik Ljungberg. Thierry Henry made the run and Ashley Cole sent the cross. Now I got an English team to support - it's Arsenal.
Though I love both Perak and Arsenal dearly, I have to say it's different between the two of them. With Arsenal, the love comes naturally. But with Perak, it comes after years of mental conditioning. If someone sticks a gun to my head in 1999, asking me to choose between the two, I would choose Arsenal.
Apart from being the place of my birth, Perak has little significance in my life when I was eight. I lived there till I was four before moved into Selangor. That was it. It wasn't until years of watching them grow into a giant of Malaysian football that I can comfortably say I support Perak.
I guess that's why I hate it when people say you have to support Bumiputera products just because you are a Bumiputera. Why should I surrender myself to using inferior products if I have already loved better, superior products? If you say Bumiputera products do have qualities, then you should have told me to support quality products - regardless of the creed of their maker. That's why I don't support the notion that you have to support a team that hails from the place of your birth. So, what if you were born in Ipoh but support JDT? Love transcends space.
It's the same case with Perak. At first, I feel obligated to support Perak because of something I can't change - my place of birth. Thank God, Perak was and still is a fantastic team. We're the only team that has never been relegated from Liga Super. We produced lots of great players for the national team. At least I can say proudly I support Perak because I genuinely love Perak - not because it's my place of birth.
Note from padangbolasepak.com: During the Restriction Movement Order 2020 Malaysia to combat Covid19 - Padangbolasepak.com encourages you from home to write essays about our beloved game of football. Can be anything. Why you fell in love with it? Your first game watching or playing? Friendships forged? Etc. Stars the limit.
500-1,000 / more words.
The objective is simple. Sharing the joy of football. Challenge you to write about the joy you may want to share. As well as keep you occupied and encourage to write. Provided that you have nothing else to do. Email us your essay with a photo attached at contact@padangbolasepak.com & we’ll post on the website as well on social media.
Thank you and take care brothers and sisters.