Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Saving the Scene by Benda Aneh

By benda aneh

hellohello.
here's something for evrybody to ponder on.
sorry lah.
panjang sikit. =))

As usual, I was happily page surfing when I recall a friend of mine saying something about a blog dedicated to “boycott” the current Malaysian underground scene and the band Hujan. “boikotlah.blogspot.com” Drop by. It’s actually a nice spot for the lovers and the haters of the arts movement of Malaysia, to get different perspectives about the movement itself. Of course, the postings there are mainly posted by the haters. I mean, they don’t actually hate the scene. They just hate the people who claim themselves to be the indie kid. Look, I have to clear the air first. For this particular posting of mine, I am not standing by any side. I am being neutral here. Here’s the perspective of a neutralist.


Yes. I agree with some of the comments made on the side, saying that the kids are somehow poseurs. They are not true to the scene and the independent scene has somehow turned out to be a trend nowadays. It’s the in-thing nowadays to make shirts and sell it at awfully sky-rocketed price with the excuse of the shirt is being hand-painted and whatsoever. It’s not the price or the quality that become the problem to the complainers, which from now on I will refer to as the haters (not necessarily means bad). What they loathe about the so-called underground scene nowadays is the followers, from now on will be referred to as the lovers.


I must object to the idea of the sudden boom of the independent scene. Independent scene I believe has its own ups and downs. And 2007 is the year where the UG scene is truly revived, again. And to blame KAMI for mainstreaming the underground scene is such an insult. There’s no way KAMI are able to sum up what underground scene actually means. KAMI is just a story about coming-of-age between 5 friends who by chance loves to go to gigs, listens to local bands; wear local made t-shirts, read up some fanzines. This entire act, doesn’t suggest that they are in it for real or even for fun. Not once in the cult TV series mentioned that they are the true lovers of the UG scene. Not even once in all 8 episodes. I never heard any of the character talks about the independent scene or the UG scene or whatever. The story depicts the lives of them who happens to have similar likings but with different personalities. That is the reason why I totally disagree with the haters that blames KAMI for a flood of poseurs that is invading the UG scene. KAMI is not to be blame. Blaming KAMI is like blaming Mawi for glamorizing Maggi. Anybody would go; d’uh. Maggi is already a household name even before he is born. Same thing goes to the UG scene.


On the band Hujan, I must say, this debate will be endless. Why Hujan? Kenapa tak salahkan Bittersweet ke? Meet Uncle Hussain ke? Couple ke? Why everybody says that the UG scene now are a total sell out. Just because of one particular band became a hit with every lapisan umur dan status sosial doesn’t mean that UG scene is officially contaminated. I mean, how shallow can you be, dude? Who can purely say that this band is indie and that band is not indie. Music is music. No matter what you label it as, music never discriminates. Humans do. What right do you have to claim this type of music belongs to the mainstream and this one belongs to the indie. Music is generally for everyone. There’s nothing wrong with being a kid from any kampong dekat hulu mana and loving Hujan’s song. Music is universal. Heck, if you ask any musician, they would likely to admit that they want their song to get across, to leap boundaries, to be listened by everyone and hoping in the mean time, their song touches the people’s lives. Have you ever heard of a band yang buat lagu untuk diri sendiri dan untuk diri sendiri, famili dan kawan-kawan terdekat je yang dengar. Tak pernah kan? Then what’s wrong with Hujan having poseurs as their followers? I mean, who cares about them. For me, if I am a musician, as long as the person can relate to the songs I made, I don’t care how nerdy or how cool that people are according to the social status that we human set. As long as he or she is able to have some kind of connection to my music, I am more than happy to begin with. People make music with the intention of reaching out to the people. And if that is a crime, you can completely blame Hujan for being loved by many and various type of people. FYI, kampung people, mat rempit, kaki clubbing also have the rights to suka Butterfingers, Bittersweet, OAG, The Times, Hujan or any musicians that we label as indie bands. They have ears, like any of us. Don’t discriminate. Music is still music no matter what social strata you’re in. And having said that, middle-finger to social-strata. It means nothing. Social-strata are not something made by god. God never categorize us into certain class in the society. Ini perbuatan manusia. And if god never grade us into classes, then who are us to say that we are better than the rempits or the clubbers or even the Sofaz lovers. We are all the same like it or not. We are born in a world where the social class existed from the very beginning of our history and we never question why. So we follow. And how stupid are we to never question. Enough about that. Trust me, aku pun benci jugak poseurs ni. Tapi aku gelak je lah. Nak emo apahal. Budak-budak baru nak naik. Biasalah. Kau pun dulu macam tu jugak.


And yes, the followers love their idolized band so much to the extent they’re willing to lash out, sometimes with explicit words used by shallow people, to anyone who dares to criticize their favorite band. Biasalah tu. Typical what.. Sama lah kesnya bila Butterfingers dihentam media apabila dalam liriknya mengandungi kata-kata “wartawan pondan homoseksual”. Royalbutters semua time tu sure marah kan? Marah pada media yang marah pada Butterfingers. Kan? Kan? Well, samalah kejadiannya dengan Hujan dan followers nya. Then why make a big fuss bila followers Hujan marah orang yang mencuit musisi kegemaran mereka ni. Of course, some of you might counter this statement by saying if they are invincible towards criticism by having this kind of fan, they will be big-headed. The same thing they say about Hujan. Well, being big headed doesn’t have to be legalized by having supportive fans. If you’re naturally a big-headed person, takdak fans pun kau boleh buat perangai kepala besar kau tu. Macam Ezad Exist, takdak lah banyak sangat fans macam artis-artis lain, tapi disiplin hancur jugak. So, being big-headed is not a permissible excuse to be used against any artist or indie bands that are making their way to the top. Selalunya pojok gossip picisan ja yang suka nak mengata artis ni dan artis tu besar kepala. Biasa.. dah takdak cerita nak digebang.


And for the itsy-bitsy things that the writer in the blog brings up like the mushrooming of gig organizers or art event organizers, I don’t understand how people can be soo fucked up to think that people who organize the gigs or art events are in it for the fame. FYI, some people are putting their relationship and friendship on the line because the organizing members are usually consist of best friends from the golden age. Putting something as valuable as your friendship at risk is something that these people should be respected for. Pertentangan pendapat selalu timbul in the process of making a particular gig a success. Jangan kata gig. Nak buat assignment dengan kawan pun sama. And if you’re working with your best friends, it’s double the burden. It’s not easy to tell them (your best friends) that their idea suck and when there’s something wrong, it’s not easy to point fingers at your own best friend compared to working with total strangers, correct? So pay some respect for them and belittling their efforts is downright shallow no matter what excuses you might use to justify your act of condemning them. Believe me dude, being in the limelight is the last thing they had in mind what more with them battling to make the gig successful and still remain as best of friends afterwards. And taking photographs with the so-called famous people? Pfftt...Apa dosa? I am 100% convinced that each and every one of us has someone in mind right now. Someone that we adore, someone that we look up to and someone we like. Don’t tell me, if you ever had the chance to meet them, you will only see them from afar and that is enough for you. You most likely will want to approach your ‘idols’, know them a little bit, try to get inside their mind, try to understand them and shits like that. Some people do it by asking for autographs, for the cam-whores, they want to take pictures, some are satisfied with just chatting up with their ‘idols’ ka apa ka. People are known to be fond of fame. Or at least to be associated with fame. Don’t deny it. It’s in our blood. Maybe not a large-scaled fame, the small-scaled one will do. It’s more than enough. Admit it. You’ll deny it of course, but deep inside your heart, you long for fame. That’s why we have the phrase “15-minutes of fame”. And that’s why they created the camera, to seize the moment. Aiyoh, simple theory maa..


For those who were eye-fucked by the youth at gigs or art events, don’t fuss. Of course I’ve been in that situation too. Later last month I was shaking like hell when I went to Jeng Jeng Jeng festival held at CM Annexe. The crowd is mostly kids with fancy clothes on. And I went there alone. On my own. You only can imagine what I felt. I was wearing a plain t-shirt and my faithful jeans paired with only flip-flops. I was like, damn, these kids are gonna laugh at me. But I went in anyway, do my stuff and ciao. If you’re a true believer in the scene, why must you care what other people think about you? Especially people who you claimed to be the poseurs. If you really believe in what the scene is all about, and if you believe in yourself, why let one kid who dress up like those Bittersweet kids brings you down? Okay, they eye-fucked you. Because you don’t dress up like them, because you don’t wear the keffiyah, because you came with your plain clothes and selipar jepun. So what? If you truly believe in what you’re wearing, you won’t even care the fact that they’re staring at you. Then why are you tripping when some 16 year old kid with his skinny jeans and sunglasses ala Bittersweet eye-fucked you? Come on.. We are better than that. Quoting what Fahmi Reza once said to me, “Aku tak kisah apa orang lain fikir... dia nak fikir baik ke, pelik ke, teruk ke, itu masalah dia bukan masalah aku, aku tak biar apa orang lain fikir effect aku, aku happy dengan diri aku dan itu yg paling penting”.


The locally produced t-shirt movement. Ahh.. What’s wrong with them? What’s so wrong with them for being young, having ideas to be printed and immortalized on a piece of cloth. Now what’s wrong with that? Local clothing lines and labels are large in number nowadays that it became the easiest way to generate income. Let’s get one fact straight. People are bored wearing the same shirt produced the same label with recycled design all over again. People's thirst is quenched when some bright youth decides to run a business out of their creativity through t-shirts. I believe, the competition are now stiffer between them shirt maker. As positive as having many shirts maker blooming in the scene, we need to remember that people are not going to waste their money to buy lame or low quality shirts. They now have choices, and having said that, loads of choices are there for them in terms of locally produced shirts. And that makes the competition stiffer. Only the best will remain as the sole survivor. No matter how many clothing labels in Malaysia, if you suck, you have to accept the fact that you suck and people hate your tee because there are clearly other tees that are worth sacrificing their allowance for. In this stiff competition, it turns out that some of them who think overtly creative decided to use some phrases that some of the self-righteous people think is inappropriate. Especially the statement tee made by Street Signal. Yes. Their loud and in-your-face statement tee is somehow a definite turn-off for some. Me myself must admit that I won’t buy their statement tee for some of the wordings are quite obnoxious and I won’t pay RM30 to have phrases like “Stupid dam dam you berak keluar ketam” plastered on my chest. Yes. That particular phrase is disturbing. I guess what they’re trying to do is to be different. There’s nothing wrong with being different. Being different sometimes, is a good thing. It really depends on how we view things. Humans are known to made decisions under complete consciousness. So, anyone who decides to pay for those statement shirts are completely sober and posses the ability to spell and read means there are completely aware of what they’re wearing and I believe in the principle, “you wear your personality”. Whatever we wear reflects who we are. Well, though not completely, but we do tend to buy shirts or clothes that we like and we wont buy something that we find it disgusting to be worn. I mean, who would do that? Kan?


Okay. It’s as simple as this: if you like it, you buy it. If you hate it, then don’t buy it. It takes minutes for them to realize that people loathe their statement tee if there’s only 5% of the crowd at any art events stop by at their booth and buy their shirts. Economic theory applies here: where there’s a demand, there’s a supply. It’s as simple as that. But what I saw is, their booth are the most frequently visited, their booth was crowded with people and their shirts are being sold like hot J&Co Donuts. It means that, there are ACTUALLY people who want to wear statement tee like that, no matter how disturbing or rude the statement is. You can say that those people are buying for the sake of being cool and not wanting to be left out in the social scene particularly in KL. But can you completely blame them? As I always say, youth are always on the search to belong to certain groups. Sense of belonging is increasingly high when you’re a teenager. That’s probably why teenagers felt that their parents are the most annoying human being because they don’t understand them. This fact triggered them to go out and seek for replacement. They seek for people who are of the same interest. It’s like the old proverb, “Birds tend to flock with their own feather”. We can’t completely blame the youth also. Oh, admit it already. We, and that includes me, have once been in that kind of situation. We need to feel we actually meant something to someone and so we made experiments through socializing with different kind of people. To seek, where we belong, what do we want to be. Yes, we’ve all been wrong in making choices during the teenage years. But aren’t those choices, be it wrong or right, have moulded us into the person that we are today? It’s like a cycle. And I believe, the youth nowadays are going through what we have been through before. They are experimenting, with the social context currently being the local independent scene. Can we blame them? We came from different eras and can we blame them (youth) totally when the existing era is the era where the independent scene is at its peak? So, who can we blame? I’d say no one. Just understand that they are going through a phase in their life where wanting to belong to a certain group are high on their priority list. We, the orang tuas, have been through that phase before. It’s their time now and we really need to learn to let go and just watch them as they make their own mistakes and there’s no harm to laugh off at their stupidity which reminds you exactly of what you were before. People make mistakes. And believe it or not, they learn from it.


I would suggest anybody whoever felt the UG scene or the indie scene, whichever you label it as, and the people in it right now are fake, to think thoroughly before lashing out any ketidakpuasan hati. Yes, people have rights to air their views, but be rational lah. If you wrote something when you’re angry or emotionally unstable, you will tend to wrote all of your marahmarah and the fuming flame will affect your writing no matter how objective you claim yourself to be. There’s no use in criticizing if you’re not criticizing constructively. Everybody have the rights to criticize but how many people give a damn to lend some suggestions, ideas or constructive criticism to make the scene better? You can bitch as much as you want but if you don’t propose something or give any type of contribution even the smallest ones, you’re just crapping.


And no one gives a damn about craps.

18 comments:

Firewabbit said...

"no one gives a damn about craps".

urmm if no one was giving a damn about craps then we are still uncivilized and we'll still be living in the dark ages.

that quote remind me of free thinkers who do not believe in anything.

if we were not to give a damn about craps, we wont be having our KLCC and our prestige sepang circuit. it all happened simply because some people act give a damn about craps.


"yeap we all have things to say.its endless"-syazsy

Syarifah Hadli said...

heyhey miss syazsy.

thanks for reading!
the thought of people read up any of my writing excites me.
=))


bout the crappy-thingy,
i'm actually referring to a whole different context there hun..
perenggan last tu. tu lah tu. =D

..and those who came up with the idea of malaysia's achievements nowadays are totally not crapping.
they're visionaries.

Anonymous said...

seriously..aku suka posting yg ni..
very open minded,logic and PROFESSIONAL!
alhamdulillah!
bangga ada rakyat MALAYSIA macam ko!

Firewabbit said...

hey syarifah,
yea i read that. but between crapping and not crapping are hrd to be recognized of which one is "the crappiest or which one is the false or right one".

*urmm otak dah tepu baru balik dr shopping. letih.*

Syarifah Hadli said...

haha!
yeah, i kinda get what you mean there missy.

biasa.lepas shopping otak tak betul sikit.samalah kita. =))

-_- said...

as a writer, i like your article.

as a normal individual, i am not ready to disclose my feedback yet.

to the blog owner, this is a good effort. but do moderate the content from letting the benci-maut-tak-berasas kind of postings from appearing on the site :P

Anonymous said...

benci-maut-tak-berasas

yeah!
betul tu~

and yes this is a good effort utk kite sembang pasal our scene

Anonymous said...

yeah! hidup makcik dewan makan!

Anonymous said...

your article is awesome .. :)
good job gurl~

Anonymous said...

i gotta agree with kiddo, your article is amazing..
what amaze me more is that you could write a lengthy entry without being 'draggy'

kudos for you!

Anonymous said...

setuju ngan kiddo n wandai .. tulisan ko nih mmg bagus btol.. hoho n salute juge kepada tuan punye blog.. tak hanya post pendapat/suara tak puas ati/kata sbelah pihak je.. yeah yeah..ini yang bagus dan menyegarkan minda.. hoho

untuk syarifah.. pendapat dari seorang yg neutral .. aku respek.. byk juga betulnye..

tapi byk yg datang suara2 tidak puas hati ni datang dari org yang dlm bidang yg berkaitan.. mcm bila sueannajoe mengamuk pasal clothing label yang print statement yg mengarut or sekadar download font yang cool n letak brush effect n jual baju tu.. sue anna marahkan designer yang malas buat design2 yang berkualiti or malas memikirkan statement yang bagus utk label clothing mereka.. itu pandangan dari seorang designer.. keciwa dan marah.. hoho

pasal photographer poser... takyah ckp ler.. byk sgt suara2 dari yang otai otai.. kalu lepak.. dok ckp pasal poser.. poser itu poser ini.. baru pegang kemere dah berlagak..showoff giler.. baru pegang photoshop..dah berlagak giler babi... sedangkan hasil takdela seberapa.. skill takdela setinggi mana.. so byk yg professional ke yg btol2 art person ...mcm marah n keciwa bila art diambil mudah n sambil lewa.. sedangkan mereka btol2 struggle bila pikirkan design / photography.. mcm aku ckp.. igt senang ke nak pikir konsep , idea , setting lighting n setting studio.. series penat+susah giler.. so bile ade poser dok angkut dslr ke hulu hilir pastu tangkap sekeping gamba edit skit2 letak kat FP ke DA ke facebook ke myspace ke laie terok join art event n senang2 claim derang tu photographer hebat.. ok ok.. derang takde la penah claim derang hebat..tapi poser..gitulah.. statement derang dlm perilaku masing2...showoff giler..

mmg btol ckp ko.. buat ape nak emo pasal poser.. tapi itu la aku ckp.. org art or photographer yg study bertahun2 or berpengalaman bertahun2..agak keciwa n marah la jugak bila dah terlalu ramai sgt poser mcm tu... itu pandangan dari photographer yg keciwa n marah ... hohoho

pasal hujan.. rasenye byk bogus indie haters nih tak salahkan hujan pada mulanya.. byk tak suka tgk fan derang yang melampau2 je la.. hoho derang keciwa sbb ramai sgt minat hujan kot? rkrkrk aku pon takde la minat hujan sgt.. tapi bagi aku hujan ni bagus juga dlm mewarnai industri muzik kita yg tenggelam je sblm2 nih.. at least.. ade gak muzik yg segar utk didengar n jadi hits plak.. n start byk org blame hujan or amek kesempatan menunjukkan iri hati kepada hujan ke tak puas ati kepada hujan ke sejak hujan rude ngan byk wartawan media cetak n wartawan media elektronik.. n bila kluar kat paper berita harian n blog sorang wartawan hiburan.. ramai la yang hentam hujan..sbb tu meet uncle hussain ke bittersweet ke tak kne skang.. mungkin esok lusa minggu depan ke kot ada wartawan tulis pasal meet uncle hussain rude ke tak senonoh ke biadap ke, muncol plak blog / myspace utk sapa2 yg tak suka meet uncle hussain ... mana tau kan? hohoho so bila start ada wartawan tulis pasal hujan ni tak bagus.. ramai plak yg sokong n jadik mcm satu gelombang utk boikot hujan plak... ramai yg kutuk gile babi hujan ni..fan dier yg fanatik pon bekap gegiler... so mcm ko ckp.. tak abes sampai kiamat pon kalu citer pasal hujan or fan dier... watper nak emo pasal poser kan? kita dlu pon penah gak jadi poser.. n penah gak org benci kita jadi poser.. hohohohho

bagi aku.. byk yg kutuk2 / nak boikot tak tentu hala ni slalu dtg dari mereka yg ngikott je apa org kata... mcm bila sueannajoe sound clothing label designers yg malas but design berkualiti.. ramai yg dok sokong sueannajoe sambil kutuk2 ngan gune harsh words.. so jadi makin panas.. ko kutuk aku pon nak kutuk ...huhu n bila org yg dlm bidang berkaitan keciwa n marah n tulis ketidakpuasanhati derang kat blog ke mana2 ke... ade plak yg ckp mereka tanak support org baru or nak jatuhkan sesama bangsa.. pendapat aku still sama mcm sblm ni... nak kene tegor elok2 ke baru nak membangun or baru nak jadik bagus? lecturer aku dulu, time aku presentation .. slalu je kutuk artwork aku... " ni sampah mane awak amek ni? " " apsal la awak tak jadi kereta ke mancis ke masa lahir? ada gak function nye..ni ade otak pon takleh buat design elok2 " .. harsh giler.. n time tu aku mmg la marah... kutuk2 balik lect tu kat blakang2 ( sbb nak kutuk depan2 mampos ilang carrymark hohohoho )...tapi aku amek iktibar.. kalu artwork aku bagus.. mesti derang tak kata apa ... mesti takda kutuk2... so.. tak kira lah org kutuk ke hentam ke pijak ke koyak ke puji ke artwork ko or attitude ko.. ko kene stand up n usaha utk jadi yg terbaik.. or at least.. artwork ko tak kene kutuk teruk la kan?hohohohoho siot jeh aku :P

hoho adeh.. sori la sharifah kalu aku TERkomen panjang ni.. sbenarnye aku takleh tido..keje byk .. mata ngantok dah... dah malas nak layan .. nak tido tapi takleh.. ini la hasilnye... huhu kalu ade salah kat mane2.. betulkan le ehk..sbb ekceli.. aku tgh dlm mamai2 juge nih..alarm pon baru je bunyik..pkol 7 pagi dah.. haihh nak masok opis plak lepas nih..ok ciao..assalamualaikom~ peace~

LightOfWitness said...

hear2!!
ade benar nye ape yg dikatakan kat sini..
ye,aku pun disagree dgn ape yang hujan dah buat kat wartawan tu..personally aku akan rase as if aku diperlekehkan & dianggap bodoh if akulah yg berada kat tempat wartawan tu..that one kalo orang shit memang aku tak kate ape la en..aku sendiri peminat hujan..tp aku sebagai manusia rase x elok arr dorg buat mcm tu..
next thing is about art..aku phm,mmg senior2 dalam bidang akan keciwa n marah..aku sendiri tak berani nak ambik gambar sesaja n claim aku hebat..so,their anger is justified laa kan..these thing ain't easy..nampak sng but fyi,time blaja tu,fail pn sng au..
but on the other hand,bagi aku,tak salah utk dorg berkreatif (walaupun tak sekreatif mane)..itu name nye mencuba..n their rezeki tuhan nak bagi,artwork dorg diminati remaja skarang..so,wat can we say?..art has no boundaries,no limitation..for me,art tak ade rules..that includes music and tshirt printing la kan..there's no boundaries that divide music into independent and mainstream..there's no line that divide masterpiece and crap..sbb beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder kan..benda2 ni very subjective,so kite xboleh nak pertikaikan..
ambik gambar..org ambik gambar benda2 yg dorg nak igt..betolkan?..so its not a crime for them to ambik gambar byk n show off or poyo2..remaja mmg show off,and poyo2 belaka..so wat?..nak boikot remaja plak?..dorg budak2,xpandai berfikir lagi..n that includes me..
im sorry to sape2 yg post pendapat ni for not knowing who u r..sorry byk2!!but i think u r really great in writing..nak mengalir air mate aku bace..huhu..not biased and justified..kite x patut boikot sesuatu hanya kerana seseorang..ntah laa ape yg aku bebel.. thanx 4 ur time..

Anonymous said...

emm..yg hal ngn wartawan tu..betul ke ape yg diorang cakap...
fikir2kan lah...
nak jatuh kan org..
kalo aku wartawan..aku tulis datuk K maki hamun aku...
korang pecaye ke?
wartawan ni sume same je cam org lain...
same cam kite..
aku akan percaya kalau HUJAN sendiri yg buat aku camtu..
=) senyum selalu!
jgn tinggal sembahyang!

-azizulhakim-

Anonymous said...

makcik manjoi memang sorang yang free thinker...

hebat giler ah makcik..kami sume salute sama makcik..

bukan niat untuk menyemak cuma terharu ngan syifa coz dalam diam2 aku ade perasan yang ko ni suka sangat perhati pastu pikir pe yang diorang wat..

aku ade perasan yang ko ade cakap pasal KAMI punye komuniti..haha!!salute weh reramai kat die..

-apan cool-

Anonymous said...

guwe bangga ama syefa.
kualiti pelajar usm dan sampahsociety.

aiceh.. promote plak.
sori2..

88Crew said...

nice & amazing
100% agree with u
skolah mane dulu?
bijak2

Dato' Fazly said...

too many words (both the post and comments) ... buat aq pening!! but still.. it's nice to hear from a neutral perspective...

Anonymous said...

ohooo..i like~