Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, noted for speaking his mind, said he did so to remind the leaders to serve the people with integrity, dedication and devotion.

"If that is a crime, then they have to put me in jail, because I am going to continue to do it," he said.

He revealed this on a local television talk show, 'Obviously Harith Iskandar', on Astro Awani last night.

"Whatever I voice up is not personal to anyone. It is just a reminder. If I can't even remind leaders in this country who are there to serve the people, what is the point of me being here?" he asked.

"I was brought up by my family, especially my father and grandfather, always to be honest and straightforward.

"Sometime we have to be diplomatic, but I prefer to be direct to get the message across, otherwise people won't take it seriously," he said.

He also disclosed he will pass on the messages of the people to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, whom he will meet on Aug 12.

"I am invited for tea with the prime minister on (Aug) 12. So, if you have any message you want to pass to him, you can see me after the show," he quipped.

He, however, did not elaborate on the purpose of his session with Najib.

Tunku Ismail also urged the royal families in the country to play a role in the matters that required them to speak up.

Citing his father, Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, he stressed that education, religion and business should never be mixed with politics.

"When you involve these three things with politics, you will give birth to corruption," he said.

The crown prince also poked fun at the controversial National Security Council Act, to come in force from today (Aug 1), without quite naming it.

"There are a lot of things you can get out of me, and this is the time you can ask me a lot of questions. I think you have heard that the government has a new law now, on Monday. By the way, Astro, do not worry, I am not going to say something stupid, no one is going to get in trouble," he quipped.

Not the right person

Tunku Ismail also claimed that he is not the right person to head the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

"If I am FAM president, I will be very biased toward JDT (Johor Darul Ta'zim),” he explained.

“You cannot have someone from any of the state FAs. You need to have someone neutral to the states. I love my state and JDT so much. I will be biased. You need someone else as FAM president.

"However Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is to propose a few options for me to get involved," he said.

The prince, however, said he could only offer advice as he has his own commitments in Johor.

He also suggested that a few executive council members needed to be removed from FAM.

"We need foreign expertise, the idea is to learn a lot of things. The problem is you cannot be bodoh, sombong (stupid and arrogant) and say 'no'.

"If we knew how to run everything on our own, our football would not be where it is today," he added.