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ISSUE #129
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the mooning jilat incident
Oh, my.
This might just catapult punk rock as the go-to genre for protest music again, but damn. Alak of underground legends Carburetor Dung, uhm, turns the other cheek and gets the living daylights smacked out of him by a throng of Pakatan Rakyat supporters and oil hike protesters.
The PROTES rally, in which de facto Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was to deliver his proposals to lower the national price of petrol, also featured live entertainment by indie bands down with the cause, among them CD. Everybody who's seen their live sets will be very familiar with their signature antiestablishment anthem Mari Menyanyi Menjilat, and what lead vocalist Alak usually does during the performance of the song - basically mooning the crowd and telling them they can kiss his ... well yeah. Apparently, not a lot of the people gathered at the PJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya yesterday had ever been to a Carburetor Dung show, and what with the sexual allegations flying around (again) about Anwar, the mooning was misunderstood, and some news agencies even misquoted the title of the song as being "Liwat".
People - it was musical satire. Get with it. Alak might have crossed several lines (you won't hear me apologizing for his shenanigans here - it really was rather stupid to have pulled that stunt) in the minds of the amassed Pemuda PAS members and other conservative citizens yesterday, but the beatdown he received at the hands of the mob is not only relfective of our general ignorance to nuanced commentary, it's also just plain hypocritical of these so-called upholders of a democratic new way for the country. I thought you guys were supposed to be above mindless mob violence and arbitrary judgment. Hmm?
You know what, we could talk about this all week and still not be done with it. The ball's in your court. If you want a true democracy, act like you deserve it, and allow people to express themselves as best they can. And Alak - get some new boxers, man. The ones you had on display looked pretty ripe, you get me? Speak on it. I expect the comments section to blow the hell up on this one. Or maybe you don't even care.
P.S.: got this video from Malaysiakini's YouTube page. Enjoy.
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21 COMMENTS
hiya, hey don't tar everyone with the same brush. KeADILan youth squad helped ferret the band to safety from a small mob. Everyone calmed down as quickly as it began.
hi Elizabeth
was never my intention to throw everyone who attended the rally under the bus, but it is what it is, if you ask me. a peaceful demonstration stops being a peaceful demonstration when even a few of the participants start acting a fool. and i find it unconscionable for someone to kick a rock singer's face in, calm down, and then continue demanding for democracy in this country. in fact, i find it rather chilling. but yes, big ups to the KeADILan youth who stepped in to pacify the situation. more level heads all around, please.
melayu kalau marah sesama melayu memang terror!! tapi tu aje lah yg dia terror.. dol!! jgn risau , saya pun melayu, tapi saya kecewa tgk bende2 mcm ni berlaku, mcm "ribut dlm tempurung". tak habis2.
This is what happens when unintelligent people want to get involved in politics. When all reasoning goes out the window and pent-up anger and hatred is misdirected, you get a mob scene. I say if you don't get all your facts right, don't act on assumptions alone.
Ignorance can be even more dangerous than knowledge.
this is beyond sad and humiliating, you expect this peace rallies to be of something more civic minded. I GUESS NOT. geez -.-
disappointed is the word
tindakan sedemikian merosakan pemikiran punk rock.jelas harus tau menyesuaikan diri pada tempat.dan crowds sebegini tak perlulah kita harap mereka memahami music dan perfromen art tapi cukuplah untuk mereka menghargai dari sudut seni lain...dan tindakan c.dung sebenarnya adalah menjula...dan crowds yg terbeli dan untuk saya tidak harus marah pada crowds yg rata rata tidak memahai tetapi pengajaran buat band ini sendiri pada hemat saya cukup matang tapi kurang pintar mengunakan akal...
kalaulah mereka ini maseh bodo mempertahankan isu ini dari sudut freedom of expression,mereka perlu rasa umpamanya kalau saya ke rumah org tua mereka dan minum arak di depan mak ayah mereka yg sedang makan tomyam...pasti mereka juga pasti mengangap ini tidak wajar...Moralnya cuba letak diri seseorang itu pada situasi yg sama...Dan mengaku salah itu adalah satu tindakan revolusi..Dan Tinggi Ilmu seseorang itu sekalipun tapi tidak tau mengunakanya ternyata kesia-sianya adalah jawapanya.
Not abt racial. They(crowd) are Uneducated group! Still need to be raised as Baby!I feel sorry to those BAnd kena tutup suara! KEna tindas. Wat They want is Nashid Academy!
Gang buat kecoh might be implemented by some parties...
But an important point here is that, next time, when there's a rally, the organizer should plan something for the people to DO something...
Bila dah takde kerja, bosan lah kan...
I think it's not about them being racist or uneducated. We cannot expect a large group of people to understand the genre of music or what the band represents simply because it isn't something they listen to on a daily basis. It's like the saying, "Masuk kandang kambing, mengembek" which SHOULD HAVE been practiced here. As a performer you must know your audience. If you're performing for your age group, by all means do as you normally would because they know what you are trying to convey. In this case, sensitivity of the recent issues of Dato' Seri Anwar was not monitored, and so you have it, mob mentality.
But, what I was appalled by is the fact that these people were there to exercise a peaceful rally, (so much for that) and yet, they decided to take matters into their own hands. Is this how we handle things we do not like to see? With violence? What kind of message are they sending out to the rakyat? They need to learn to keep their 'mentality kampung' in check, because the cause of the party is so much bigger than their petty 100- people-against-one-dude-who-stepped-out-of-line drama.
So disappointing.
the pemuda are used to being chased and beaten by the cops so when the cops are not there to beat them up, diorang takeover and beat others.
muahahahahahaha.
This is Mitch (Mat) Ribis from Fascist Insect-Melayuphile extraordinaire-as I've commented on the ricecooker page I'm shocked that PAS was considered, let alone consulted about joining the Pakatan. They are diametrically at odds with the leftist DAP , for one which right there underscores their blatant political opportunism. It is an irony wrapped in a paradox that they seemed aggrieved by Alak's show of freedom of expression-considering that they partake in democratic elections. It is also a paradox that a religous party even partakes in an election, considering democracy is never once mentioned in any Islamic texts. So even though they have adapted the imagery and veneer of Islamic religion, they are really just agents of reactionary intolerance. Their administrative skills are non-existent, and the only thing they know about the concept of governance is sharia and hudud which is based on a series of events that occured in 7th century Arabia-this has what to do with Malaysia exactly? Oh, and by the way-you are hard pressed to find the terms 'sharia' 0r 'hudud' in the Quran or Hadiths. So where does this leave PAS and how much integrity do they have as the so-called religous party? I guess the greatest claim to authority is a large portion of their leadership studied religion in the Middle East-and brought back the rigid, uncomromising throwback worldview of that region with them to what is for the most part, a pluralistic society. In short-they are unwanted and unneccessary. And judging by the actions of their supporters, prone to extreme violence. Another contradiction, considering 'Islam' means 'peace'. But wait! There is no mention of Islam in their party name-they are Parti SEAGAMA Malaysia-so why not include Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs and make the party representative all faiths in Malaysia? Are they threatened by this prospect? But perhaps in the spirit of national discourse, they have already but didn't tell us about it...and the other religions rejected their magnanimous offer because i): PAS doesn't really represent any religion at all and ii): they are a bunch of violence-prone nutjobs given to ganging up on and assaulting entertainers. I bet they don't get angry about the bombings and suicide attacks carried out in the name of the religion they purport to espouse. What a bunch of double-standard hypocrites.
Dude...you're so outta context.
baru la punk rockkk.....alak hero ,, mungkin lagi seorg perwira ...yg menghentam itu ...belum tau gimana menjadi sorg yg protest....patut2 biar ada yg mati ...biar jd protest....kalo stakat aman ...kan lagi senang berhartal///
i don't think the cause of the problem is carburator dung's performance itself (a split second of boxer shorts can't be, and shouldn't be, that offensive), but rather a mismatch of performers and audience. it's not just carburator dung that was met with hostility, but also dum dum tak, which had to cut its set short, and also resulted in the pulling out of PAS' Unit Amal.
perhaps PROTES should have realized that some of the more conservative elements in the crowd might not take kindly to punk rock, just like mawi wouldn't have been greeted with bouquets at urbanscapes. but then again, the organizers didn't have the benefit of hindsight to realize just how extreme their reaction would be. the result is an unfortunate stain in what was an otherwise smooth sailing event. no surprise some in the mainstream media ran with the story on the incident.
what i do hope for, however, is for PROTES to show leadership and make clear that mob violence is never acceptable. it might not be popular with those who feel their outrage was justifiable, but leadership isn't always about doing what's popular. not admonishing the mob behaviour while putting the blame solely on the performance seems to say that it's ok to fucking go nuts if you're offended by something. the band performed for free, for what i think it believed was a good cause, and whatever your opinions about the show, they didn't deserve to be treated like that. no one does.
at the same time, it's important, as eli wong pointed out, not to tar everyone with the same broad brush. and to say that pakatan rakyat is the same as BN is to ignore how much progress we've made in democratising this country in the past 10 years. think about it, carburator dung was playing for the same event where MPs and leaders in state governments were speaking. sadly, they were attacked by some fuckheads. but fuckheads, unlike petrol, are a dime a dozen.
also check out:
http://ricecooker.kerbau.com/2008/07/05/sunday-6th-july-2008-penghimpunan-aman-sejuta-rakyat/
http://elizabethwong.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/carburetor/
http://carburetordung.kerbau.com/2008/07/07/alamak/
im agree what agus said,,,freedom of art...
I agree with the freedom of art sentiments, but i believe there should also be respect for the people around you. this was obviously not the best place the flash the crowd your underwear, so the band needs to claim some responsiblity for that (which they have). but regardless, it isn't an excuse to beat up someone, and there;s where the other party is to be blamed too. boo them off maybe but it went too far.
yay! people care.
thanks for the comments, people. by now, doubtless the public's attention will already have been diverted to other distractions from the main issues, and by Friday this whole brouhaha will already be afforded footnote status. but it's good to see people weighing in about this rationally. i agree with brian in that incidents like this should not detract us from appreciating the progress we as a people have made in the past decade to inch ever closer to a more robust and engaging democratic process. it's also true that freedom of expression must also be given room to define itself in a Malaysian context. finding a balance is never an easy thing, i guess.
salam
Let it be noted that whilst Alak was being attacked NST on sunday 06.07.08 carried a story on Mawi's 1.4 million ringgit house.
hahahahaha! jilat jilat
Oppression!
“We walked so proud, we walked so free”
I heard you shout
Do all you want, say all the rage you have inside
Open your eyes, society
See what we got
You think you’re free, you think you’re safe
You know you’re not!
Oppression!
What do you read, what can you see
Between their lines?
What can you do, what can you say
When you’re blind?
Where should we shout, where should we turn
When we see their faults?
Are we so thick, are we so dumb
Just like they want?
Oppression!
We’ll raise our voice (no way!)
We’ll raise our fists (no way!)
Is this your face democracy, conformity?
We’ll criticise (no way!)
We’ll organise (no way!)
Where is our voice, democracy, stability?
What should we see? (nothing!)
What should we think? (nothing!)
Where’s our sight, democracy?
You hide the key!
You’re blinding me!
Oppression!
© 1993 - Carburetor Dung
CDfan - yea i read that! such a long article some more. now everyone can stalk Mawi at Bangi.. -_-
Maybe-but people need to know what's up-and I'll take any opportunity I can to expose PAS for what they are.
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