The Silver Lining in Perak's Hasnul-PAFA saga

By Loghun Kumaran

An emotional Hasnul (left)announced the end of his tenure as PAFA president

SO that's how it ended. After less than five months at the helm, Perak's promising young politician Hasnul Zulkarnain Abdul Munaim has stepped down as president of the Perak Football Association (PAFA).

How weird is that? Just weeks after he was joyously lifting Perak's first Malaysia Cup in nearly two decades, the Titi Serong assemblyman reportedly ended his tenure in tears, hugging team officials before walking off into the sunset. 

But amidst the questions, the surprise, and the emotion, lies a glimmer of hope--a silver lining of sorts for the Silver State.

Hasnul's resignation showed that at the very least, in the highest echelons of power, leaders now accept that they must be answerable to the people. 

And without wishing to get too political, it showed that there may actually be a difference in this Malaysia Baru we keep hearing about. The resignation showed that a politician is willing to be accountable for actions that, well, pissed some people off.

In the end, Hasnul's reign was much shorter and frankly, stranger than anyone expected. 

He took the job in July, after Pakatan Harapan shocked the world by winning GE14. The association he took over was stable, and after finishing second in the league, Perak would end up lifting the Malaysia Cup in stylish fashion. It was a hell of a good place to start.

After all that success then, how did it all go so wrong? How could such success on the field turn out so badly for the man on the top?

Not long after the win, pictures turned up online of Hasnul celebrating the win in style--mainly from his own social media accounts. He was seen basking in the sun on a deckchair with the trophy and driving with it tethered to the backseat by a seat-belt.

Then, there was the 'open top parade' which saw Hasnul and a handful of individuals celebrating the victory on a bus. Nothing unusual, besides the allegations that there weren't any players on the bus.

It was all a bit strange. Fans (at least some of them) screamed disrespect, and the pressure grew. Amidst all of this Perak's incredible performance on the pitch was pushed further into the shadows. It was all so... unnecessary.

Did he mean any offence with his actions? Probably not. To be fair, it was probably just euphoria and emotion. Which football fan hasn't felt something like that?

But that's not the point. The point is that Hasnul's resignation represented something positive in Malaysia.

We haven't really seen many politicians resign when they have done something the public find distasteful. There are many, many examples of times when ridiculous actions and comments were just pushed under the carpet; Malaysians are all too familiar with this.

Hasnul's case was different. Before he resigned, he met a group of protesters who were calling for his head, and he did so face to face. That's new. Journalists will tell you that memorandums to a high-level official are normally handed over to a special officer. The protesters don't get even to see the person they're protesting.

Hasnul didn't do that. He faced the ill-will head on. And now he has stepped up, taking the responsibility for his decisions. 

At the end of the day, Hasnul was obviously passionate about Perak. Losing the post must be painful and it takes guts to be accountable.

So yes, he may have made mistakes. It's a big job and he was new. Judge him if you must but don't underestimate the difficulty of the decision. 

In time, this saga will be a strange footnote to Perak's win. But for now, this saga is over, and the focus will finally shift back to what happened on the pitch.