First Skinheads, then Black Metal, now Skinheads again

Technorati tags: Media, Witchhunt, Black Metal, Malay Media, Skinheads

Something from The Star, which originally came from Berita Harian (except for the picture). Thanks to one of my readers, Panda Dalam Formaldehyde, who reminded me that I should post this.

Skinhead culture picks up following among youths

WHILE society worries about the impact of Black Metal culture among youths, the Skinhead culture is slowly creeping in, according to Berita Harian.

The Skinhead culture, which is associated with western music, has picked up a following among youths in Pahang in the past five years.

The followers included school leavers and primary school pupils, said Pahang Youth Council president Datuk Faisal Abdullah.

They move around in groups of five to 20 and loiter at bus stops, night markets and malls. They dress in black or red T-shirts, jeans and boots.

Faisal said the groups were involved in gangsterism, drug abuse, and free mingling between the sexes.

He said it showed a decline in morals among the youths who adopted a way of life that went against the culture of the country and Islam.

The dragnnet over music genre related lifestyle broadens. Just as expected, when the Black Metal menace re-emerged in October last year, no thanks in a big way to the insidious reporting by Mastika. (Click on these links for scanned images of the October 2005 and November 2005 issues, courtesy of {w a s t e d t a l e n t})

Now it's not very clear whether the Skinhead tag refers to actual Skinheads or includes Punk attired kids as well - in all likelyhood yes. Pahang is a pretty deprived state, when it comes to legal fun activities for the younger set. And by 'fun', I mean fun as defined by the younger set themselves. And by 'legal', I mean something that won't get you hauled up by the police / religious authorities.

And of course, as always, no proof given to the claims of gangsterism and drug abuse. Who needs proof, when a large percentage of Malaysians are gullible to begin with, right?

Don't even get me started on "free mingling between sexes" - shut down all the shopping mall if the concern is so great; close all co-ed schools, cineplexes or any other public places, for that matter. Welcome to the human race, you chauvinist retard - wake up and smell reality. Despise the other sex so much? Move to Iran, dickhead.

But this "shocking cultural anomaly" is not new. It's been raised as a spectre of moral degradation before, back in 2003. And a couple of years before that, Black Metal.

See a pattern emerging? Old news, same spin. And a convenient detraction from real world problems like the expected rise in the cost of living - due to the ever increasing fuel cost, growing dissatisfaction over how AAB is running this country of ours, and, well - [add your own grouse here].

I don't really know whether or not the whining of a state Youth Chief will escallate into another witch hunt or not; we'll just have to wait and see. But don't be surprised if this new old menace starts to hog the headlines - beginning of course with the Malay-language news rags. What better diversion than the threat to our youth? Real or imagined.

Soon, our prisons will be filled to the brim with people who did nothing worse than attend a thrash/black/death rock gig, or who were caught red-handed with evil literature like the dreaded and blasphemous Majalah Zein. Or those wearing black, red, fuscia or whatever evil-color-of-the-month t-shirt out in public. What's worse than a police state, you may ask? A religio-moralistic police state, that's what.

And if certain bigots in high places have their way, we're well on our way there. Hindsight is, after all Vision 20-20.