Perak FA's latest playbook: The phantom millions and the magnificent MB U-turn

Now, call me old-fashioned, but my understanding of public funds dictates they should be spent on, well, public commodities. Things that benefit the greatest number of rakyat. Roads, schools, hospitals, maybe even a half-decent public park or two. Not, and I'll say this slowly for those in the back, a shiny new semi-pro football club that materialised out of thin air, seemingly as a monument to administrative spite.

Where are the plans, Perak FA? Where is the glorious blueprint for a vibrant state-level league? The grassroots programmes that promise to unearth the next Safee Sali from a kampung pitch? The community initiatives that actually get our aunties and uncles off the couch and onto a futsal court? Where?

Instead, we hear the clink of public coins funding a vanity project. And this brings us to the pièce de résistance: the magnificent U-turn executed by none other than Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, the Menteri Besar of Perak (main image).

For years, during my tenure as Perak FC chief executive officer and beyond, Saarani championed the fierce, unyielding principle that public funds should be meticulously channelled to public commodities, benefiting the greatest number of rakyat.

This was the steel shield behind which every plea for financial assistance to our heritage professional club was summarily deflected. "Too expensive," he'd say. "Not for the masses," he'd proclaim.

Yet, here we are. The very same MB, who wouldn't cough up a single sen to keep a century-old institution afloat, is now, allegedly, rubber-glaring, it could blind a stadium full of fans.

What changed, you ask? Could it be that the Perak FA is now comfortably nestled in the warm embrace of his political comrades from Barisan Nasional/Umno?

Funny how principles suddenly become as flexible as a yoga instructor when familiar faces are in charge. Let’s not sugarcoat this: funding a semi-pro football club with state money is a certain financial train wreck in slow motion.

Semi-pro leagues are not the gilded cages of the Malaysian Super League. There's no fat television money, no glitzy commercial exposure to speak of.

Raising funds for these outfits is harder than finding a parking spot in Ipoh during peak hours. This means they'll be monumentally hard-pressed to become financially self-sustaining, turning this entire enterprise into a perpetual public liability, a financial black hole that will suck up taxpayer money like a vacuum cleaner on steroids.

This abysmal funding policy isn't just a Perakian anomaly. Look no further than the recent news: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, our esteemed prime minister, also saw fit to announce a cool RM1 million allocation to the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) for "revitalising football."

While the intent might sound noble, it reeks of the same misguided priorities. It's a short-sighted, knee-jerk reaction that ignores the fundamental rot at the core of Malaysian football – the lack of a robust, self-sustaining ecosystem built from the ground up.

So, while Perak FA polishes its new, state-funded initiative, and the MB performs his dizzying ideological pirouettes, the rest of us are left to wonder. When will our footballing custodians learn that true progress doesn't come from throwing phantom millions at pet projects, but from a genuine, unwavering commitment to the public good?

Until then, Malaysian football will continue to be a peculiar, frustrating, and ultimately, a disappointing joke.

And frankly, we, the long-suffering fans and taxpayers, deserve better than to be the punchline.

The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.