15/06/2026

MONDAY | JUNE 15, 2026

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Former footballer recounts playing for passion, not pay o National defender reflects on time when representing state and country mattered more than money

KUALA professional footballers today enjoy contracts worth hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of ringgit, former national player Abdul Hamid Gani still remembers having to visit a bank to collect a RM50 reward after helping Selangor reach the 1966 Malaya Cup final. More amusingly, the medal he received after the final was, according to him, “about the size of a 10-sen coin”. For Hamid, 87, however, the true value of football in that era was never measured by money or rewards, but by a deep passion for the game. “Reaching the Malaya Cup final only earned us RM50. The manager told us there was not enough cash and asked the players to collect the money themselves from the bank. At that time, I thought, never mind. The important thing was that we could play and represent the team,” he told Bernama during a recent interview at his home. The former Selangor and national team defender said Malaysian football has changed dramatically over the past six decades, particularly since the introduction of professionalism. According to Hamid, today’s players deserve greater financial rewards given the demands of the modern game and the commitment required in their careers. However, he believes some have failed to make full use of the opportunity to secure their future. LUMPUR: While In an increasingly competitive digital environment, journalists are no longer merely information gatherers. Instead, they are expected to think like content creators who can identify opportunities, understand audience preferences and produce reports that deliver both commercial value and audience impact. New Straits Times (NST) associate editor (content and digital) Najmuddin Najib said journalists today must move beyond the basic task of reporting events and constantly look for added value that can be generated from an issue. “Journalists today can no longer be passive reporters,“ he said, adding that to keep the newspaper relevant, journalists are trained to look at how an assignment can be expanded from different angles and developed into a broader chain of issues. “They can no longer simply file a report and assume their job is done. Instead, journalists must think like content creators, constantly seeking opportunities to develop a story further and attract readers,“ he told Bernama in conjunction with National Journalists’ Day (Hawana) 2026. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in the media industry, Najmuddin said NST’s ability to remain in operation for 181 years would not have been possible if the organisation had relied solely on management to commercialise its content. He added that technological advances have provided a range of analytical tools that allow media organisations to understand reader behaviour in real time and plan more effective content strategies. An analytics platform can be installed at a monitoring centre near editors’ and journalists’ workstations, enabling the performance of each report to be tracked live. “We can now see which stories are attracting readers, which content is receiving less attention and what trends are emerging. This information helps editors and journalists make quicker decisions while gaining a better understanding of audience preferences. “In today’s media landscape, we are not merely delivering information. News is also a product that must be marketed to readers.“ Meanwhile, Sinar Harian group editor-in

joined Selangor before receiving a call-up to the national squad, where he played alongside several football greats, including the late Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Minhat. Hamid believes modern football has become faster and increasingly dependent on physical attributes, but has lost some of the artistry that once defined the game. “In the past, people came to the stadium to watch specific players. They came to see talent and creativity. Now the game is faster and more physical. That is the evolution of football, but some of the artistry is disappearing,” he said. Despite the many changes that have taken place since he played alongside Malaysia’s football legends almost 60 years ago, Hamid said one thing should never change – the love for the jersey being worn. “Playing for your state or country is an honour. We may not have earned much money back then, but we played with our hearts. That is what I hope still exists among players today.”

was different. We played because of our passion. Money was not the main consideration,” he said. Before making a name for himself with Selangor and the national team, Hamid built a reputation in Australia while pursuing economics studies at the University of Queensland in the late 1950s. He began his career with Merton Rovers in the Queensland First Division and helped the club win the league title in 1962 before earning selection for Queensland in 1963 and 1964, making him one of the few Malaysian-born players to represent an Australian state side during that period. Upon returning to Malaysia in 1964, he

He said the biggest change he has witnessed over nearly six decades in football is not in facilities or salaries, but in the motivation displayed by players at both domestic and international levels. “The spirit was different back then. We played because we loved football. Now there are players earning big salaries. There is nothing wrong with that but they should not forget why they started playing football in the first place. A football career does not last forever. I always advise young players to save their money and think about the future. “Many forget that a football career has an end. If a player is good, they deserve to be paid well. Football is professional now. But our era

Reporters urged to embrace content creator mindset KUALA LUMPUR: If journalists were once considered to have completed their work after filing a report to the editor’s desk, technological advances and changes in the media landscape now demand a far broader role than simply reporting the news.

Zamri said journalists must continuously seek story angles that resonate with the public. – SYED AZAHAR SYED OSMAN/THESUN

with ministries. This is based on my own experience during discussions on a project with a ministry last year. “I was surprised to see representatives of a portal that copied up to 60 Sinar Harian reports a month also receiving advertising support from the ministry.” In this regard, Zamri said content theft and unethical news practices should be elevated as key agenda items at discussions involving Hawana and the Malaysian Media Council to ensure the sustainability of the industry. Scheduled to take place on June 20 at the PICCA Convention Centre @ Arena Butterworth in Penang, Hawana 2026 will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

differentiates one report from another,“ he said. However, Zamri noted that efforts to nurture creative and entrepreneurial-minded journalists face a major challenge due to the emergence of news portals that copy content from mainstream media organisations for easy profit. Describing the practice as unfair, he said media organisations incur significant operational costs to produce quality content, only for their work to be copied and repackaged using artificial intelligence (AI) by irresponsible parties. “What is worrying is that these portals, which operate with only two or three staff members, are also being trusted to collaborate

chief Zamri Rambli said the concept of content creation requires journalists to view news as a valuable asset with its own identity and unique characteristics. He said journalists must continually seek story angles that resonate with the public and have a direct impact on their lives, in line with the identity and editorial DNA of their respective organisations. “Every media organisation has a different DNA. Therefore, we cannot produce reports that are the same as those of other media organisations. Journalists need to think about the added value they can provide to readers. “What we produce must be relevant to the public and able to benefit them. That is what