KUALA LUMPUR â A PKR lawmaker is alleging wastefulness in the Tourism Ministryâs £3 million (RM15 million) part sponsorship of the English Premier League Club owned by Tan Sri Vincent Tan, saying the move will not repay the country in tourist arrivals. In Parliament yesterday, Petaling Jaya Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian also asked if the ministryâs entry into the kit sponsorship deal with newly-promoted Cardiff City could be considered government aid for the Berjaya Corp tycoon. âThe other question is, why the Cardiff City EPL football club and not another club in the English leagues?â according a statement from the lawmaker issued last night He then asked why not for example Swansea City , a far more attractive club who since their rise into the P league have proved both on and off the field a worthy addition . Hee later said the ministry should have been âmore creativeâ in promoting the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 than placing a logo of the campaign at Cardiff City Stadium, but did not provide examples of what these should be. Instead, he said the allocations should be diverted to local football clubs that he said were short of funds. It is unclear how the suggestion would aid the countryâs tourism. In a written reply to Heeâs questions yesterday, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the kit sponsorship deal was undertaken as EPL broadcasts reached a global audience of 720 million people across 80 media partners. The minister revealed that the deal was for £7.35 million but the ministry was contributing less than half the amount. Nazri said the deal also entitled the ministry to hold a season-long exhibition for the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign at the teamâs stadium as well as display the logo there for the entirety of the 2013/14 term. He further added that the sponsorship was aimed at drawing âhigh-end touristsâ from the UK and other western European nations, adding that both were Malaysiaâs largest market for long-haul arrivals. Tan became a major shareholder in Cardiff City in 2012 and arrived with unconventional ideas on how to revamp the club. Among the more controversial were plans to change the clubâs colours from blue to red and replace their bluebird badge with a dragon. The kit change was dropped initially, after fans protested, but has since come to pass. The dragon, however, remains on the backburner. The Berjaya Corp chairmanâs fortunes at the club has outshone that of another Malaysian magnate, AirAsiaâs Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, whose Queens Park Rangers went in the opposite direction and was relegated from the Premier League the same season Cardiff was promoted. Full article: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/i...-deal-to-cardiff-city?&Itemid=2#ixzz2g5c8WJvn Follow us: @MsiaChronicle on Twitter
I'm a bit confused. The bit you've quoted regarding Swansea isn't in the article (edited?) and actually says "He did not, however, suggest alternatives." in its place.
I'd cover in rock salt, and bake for 35-40mins. Bloody lovely moist bit of fish. Oh, Tan looks pissed to me.
The deal does reak of corruption, should we be surprised that either party would engineer it? Only Cardiff fans would be convinced to shell out cash on a Malaysian holiday after seeing adverts in the Cardiff Council Stadium, other fans will think of Aids, Poverty, Crime, Corruption and Oppression when seeing the stadium.
Not biting just trying to understand the deal with this (non)story? It's just one guy criticising the decision without giving any alternatives whatsoever? Very little information but as usual you get a few swans shaking their fist in disgust without having a clue what they're moaning about. The jealousy is rife on this board.
Your man is indirectly involved in a corrupted contract, what is there not to understand? We told you guys the things like this will be commonplace when people from such places take control.
