Nazri defends choice of Luiz Suarez as Malaysia's tourism ambassador
Veena Babulal
New Straits Times30 November 2017
Look at Barcelona striker Luis Suarez’s celebrity status, not his notoriety.
Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said this while defending the government’s call to appoint Suarez, known as a “serial biter”, as Malaysia’s tourism ambassador. He said the star player’s social media status was undeniable.
“He has 25.3 million followers on Instagram, 18.9 million on Facebook 12.4 million people following him on Twitter.”
“The statistics say that he is a popular player. We sometimes don’t understand how fans think. What is important is the statistics,” he added.
Nazri further said that the 2017/2018 La Liga is being watched by 800 million viewers worldwide and Suarez has been roped in to invite viewers to come visit Malaysia in advertisements aired at stadiums.
He was responding to Lee Hoy Sian (PKR-Petaling Jaya Selatan) in Dewan Rakyat today who had asked why the ministry made the allegedly unwise decision of recruiting a serial biter as its ambassador.
“There are parliamentarians in this hall who are terribly behaved but they have their supporters.
“We can’t judge him based on what happened in the past. This also took place when he was playing football,” said Nazri.
To Datuk Othman Abdul's (BN-Pendang) supplementary questions on the special duties given to Suarez and the ripple effect on tourism, Nazri said Malaysia wanted the latter to continue “scoring many goals”.
“We are not too pre-occupied with Spanish tourists specifically. But if ten or one per cent of viewers who watch our ads come to visit Malaysia, that is already a lot,” he added. © New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
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