It’s straight down to action for Dr Taufiq

Work starts now: Dr Taufiq Johari (left) and Mordi Bimol on their first day at the ministry.

PUTRAJAYA: There’s little time for training. Newly-appointed Youth and Sports Minister Dr Taufiq Johari has to get out there and start performing.

Taufiq officially reported for duty at the Youth and Sports Ministry here yesterday, accompanied by his new deputy Mordi Bimol, taking over from Hannah Yeoh and Adam Adli Abdul Halim.

The 29-year-old Taufiq said he would be briefed by ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr K. Nagulendran on its operations and policies.

“This is my first day and I have just started here. I will be receiving briefings from the secretary-general, department heads and others.

“After that, I will be able to outline in greater detail the plan that we want to implement. It will require cooperation from all associations under the ministry.

“More importantly, it is about how the ministry can work closely with other ministries,” said Taufiq.

However, he hinted that he would continue the work done by Hannah over the past three years.

“Both the minister (Hannah) and deputy minister (Adam) have carried out very strong and solid work.”

“We also have the assistance and support of Dr. Nagulendran, who has been highly committed and instrumental in jointly developing the ministry,” added Taufiq.

Taufiq has some pressing issues to attend to. For one, there is the high profile issue surrounding FIFA’s heavy sanctions on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) over the falsification of documents involving seven heritage players.

He will also need to keep a close watch on Malaysia’s contingent as the Thailand SEA Games draw to a close on Sunday.

Although the biennial Games are not technically under his watch as he has only just assumed office, it is important he has a full picture of the contingent’s performance ahead of two major events next year - the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Nagoya Asian Games.