M'sia Kedah district officer named Hakim Ariff renames stadium “Ffira Mikah”, his name spelt backwards

Not obvious.

Belmont Lay | December 14, 2020, 11:51 AM

A Kedah district officer in Malaysia, Hakim Ariff Md Noor, has denied naming a local stadium after himself.

This was after many pointed out that the stadium's name, “Ffira Mikah”, is Hakim Ariff’s name spelt backwards.


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However, the Padang Terap district officer claimed that the mini stadium’s new name was a combination of Arabic and Spanish or Greek, Malaysiakini reported.

Hakim was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian: “It has nothing to do with my name. It has implicit meaning. It was proposed during the administrative meeting."

“In Spanish or Greek, ffira means something great whereas mirah in Arabic means angel."

Malaysiakini reported that Google Translate does not recognise the word "ffira" as Spanish or Greek.

Malaysiakini added that Google Translate auto-detects the word as Bulgarian and carries the meaning “wastage”.

Stadium rebranded

Hakim said the stadium was renamed after it was upgraded at a cost of RM200,000.

He added: “I'm not looking for glamour. My wish is for Padang Terap to become clean, beautiful and cheerful."

“I don’t want this district to be like in the past, people do not know the true story and are making assumptions.”

Hakim said the stadium was in a bad condition before the upgrading works.

Signage taken down

But it appears Hakim's justification has not been convincing.

The signage of the new name has been removed by the KN Kiara Football Club that manages the stadium.

KN Kiara Football Club added in a Facebook statement that the name “Ffira Mikah” will no longer be used on any promotional material.

The stadium will be referred to as “Kuala Nerang Mini Stadium” for the time being until it received further instructions from the local council.

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Top photo via Kedah Lanie blog