Rock vocalist
Amirrudin Zulkefly recalls the night a concert descended into chaos in Penang,
leading to a blanket ban on all live rock concerts in the country, writes Nadia
Badarudin
“Rock vokalis Amirrudin Zulkefly
mengimbas kembali malam konsert yang
turun ke dalam keadaan huru-hara di Pulau Pinang, yang membawa kepada larangan menyeluruh ke atas semua konsert batu hidup
di negara ini, menulis Nadia Badarudin”
SYJ, in its heyday in the 1980s, with (from
left) Zamri Syafie, the late Syed Noor Eduat Syed Yusof Jamalulail, Amirrudin
Zulkefly and Othman Rani Mohd Tajry.
“SYJ, di
zaman kegemilangannya pada 1980-an,
dengan (dari kiri) Zamri Syafie, Allahyarham
Syed Noor Eduat
Syed Yusof Jamalulail,
Amirrudin Zulkefly dan Othman Rani Mohd Tajry.”
GOING by the many rock concerts staged by local
and international acts in the country today, who would have thought that they
were once banned.
“MELANGKAH oleh
banyak konsert rock
diadakan oleh tindakan
tempatan dan antarabangsa di negara ini hari ini,
yang akan menyangka bahawa mereka
telah sekali diharamkan.”
It all happened 26 years ago, no thanks to a
fracas during the Battle of the Bands' (BOTB) Hapuskan Lanun Cetak Rompak
concert organised by Box Office Malaysia at the Sungai Nibong expo site in
Penang on Sept 3, 1986.
“Semua ini berlaku 26 tahun yang lalu, tiada terima kasih kepada
pertengkaran semasa Pertempuran Pancaragam '(BOTB) Hapuskan Lanun
Cetak Rompak konsert
yang dianjurkan oleh
Box Office Malaysia pada ekspo tapak
Sungai Nibong di Pulau Pinang pada 3 Sept, 1986.”
It was supposed to be a
rollicking night for some 5,000 highly energised fans, mainly teenagers, who
turned up to enjoy the country's top rock and heavy metal bands -- Ella &
The Boys, Rahim Maarof & Whitesteel, Lefthanded, Bloodshed, and SYJ --
during the BOTB 10-city nationwide tour to fight music piracy.
“Ia sepatutnya
menjadi malam beramai-ramai
untuk kira-kira 5,000 peminat sangat bertenaga,
terutamanya remaja, yang hadir untuk
menikmati batu tertinggi
di negara ini dan band logam berat - Ella
& The Boys,
Rahim Maarof &
Whitesteel, pura-pura, Bloodshed, SYJ --
semasa BOTB 10-lawatan bandar di
seluruh negara untuk menentang cetak rompak muzik.”
The atmosphere in the jam- packed
hall was filled with excitement as soon as the concert started at 8.30pm and it
went a notch higher when the tour's most anticipated band, SYJ, took to the
stage.
“Suasana di
dalam dewan yang cukup padat diisi
dengan keseronokan secepat konsert bermula
jam 8.30 malam dan ia pergi takuk yang lebih tinggi apabila band pelancongan yang
dinanti-nantikan, SYJ, mengambil
pentas.”
It was also during the Ipoh band's
turn that some youths started getting out of control and threw steel chairs,
bottles, cans and ripped planks onto the stage, forcing the Federal Reserve
Unit (FRU) to move in.
“Ia juga
semasa giliran band Ipoh bahawa sesetengah
belia mula di luar kawalan
dan membaling kerusi
besi, botol, tin
dan papan robek ke pentas, memaksa Unit
Simpanan Persekutuan (FRU) untuk
bergerak.”
"The audience was already aggressive when
Rahim Maarof & Whitesteel performed first. Some of them were warned
by security personnel not to climb on the stage and tamper with the
wiring.
“"Para penonton sudah agresif apabila
Rahim Maarof &
Whitesteel dilakukan 1. Sebahagian daripada mereka telah diberi amaran oleh anggota keselamatan supaya tidak memanjat
di atas pentas dan mengusik dengan pendawaian.”
"We were performing Motley Crue's Live
Wire when all hell broke loose," said SYJ vocalist, Amirrudin Zulkefly,
now 50.
“"Kami telah
melaksanakan Wire Live Motley Crue
apabila neraka semua
berlaku longgar," kata vokalis SYJ,
Amirrudin Zulkefly, kini 50.”
The crowd that night was apparently made up of
two rival cliques -- those from pulau (Penang island), and those from
bagan (Butterworth and Penang mainland), and that contributed to the
fray.
“Orang ramai pada malam itu nampaknya terdiri daripada dua cliques
saingan - orang-orang yang dari
pulau (Pulau Pinang), dan mereka yang dari Bagan (Butterworth
dan tanah besar Pulau
Pinang), dan yang menyumbang kepada pergaduhan.”
Recalling events on that day,
Amirrudin said the highly charged atmosphere turned ugly when the crowd in
front of the stage stood on their chairs and danced, blocking the view of
those at the back.
“Mengimbas kembali peristiwa yang berlaku
pada hari itu, Amirrudin berkata suasana yang
dicas sangat bertukar
hodoh apabila orang
ramai di hadapan pentas berdiri di atas kerusi
mereka dan menari, menyekat pandangan orang-orang yang di belakang.”
"The fans at the back were furious
and threw stones, urine-filled bottles and cans at the stage.
“"Peminat di
belakang marah dan membaling batu, botol
berisi air kencing dan tin pada peringkat.”
"Several FRU personnel formed a 'barrier'
on stage between us and the audience to prevent more chaos, but that aggravated
the crowd even more.
“"Beberapa anggota
FRU membentuk 'halangan'
di atas pentas di antara kami dan penonton
untuk mengelakkan lebih banyak huru-hara, tetapi
yang memburukkan orang
ramai lebih.”
"We had to stop our set when
a fan threw a chair and it hit our lead guitarist (Zamri Syafie)'s
guitar."
“"Kami terpaksa berhenti set kami
apabila kipas membaling
kerusi dan ia
terkena pemain gitar utama kami
(Zamri Syafie) gitar."”
Amirrudin said he could only stand back while
the FRU swung into action to control the crowd.
“Amirrudin berkata
dia hanya mampu berdiri kembali manakala FRU
mengayunkan ke dalam tindakan untuk mengawal orang ramai.”
"It was crazy. Amid the flying
chairs and what-not, some of our gear and wiring went missing or was tampered
with. Some of the accessories from our clothes were snatched by the
rowdy fans during the fracas.
“"Ia adalah gila.
Di tengah-tengah kerusi terbang dan apa tidak, beberapa gear
dan pendawaian kami telah hilang atau telah diganggu. Beberapa aksesori
daripada pakaian kami telah disambar oleh
peminat yang suka bergaduh semasa pertengkaran.”
"But one thing is for sure, the
hostility was not aimed at us musicians."
“"Tetapi ada satu perkara yang pasti, permusuhan itu
tidak bertujuan untuk pemuzik kita."”
He said the band continued to play afterwards
when the situation was brought under control, followed by Ella & The Boys.
It was reported that 15 youths were nabbed for unruly behaviour, and some were
injured in a stampede during the incident.
“Beliau berkata
band terus memainkan
selepas itu apabila keadaan telah dibawa di
bawah kawalan, diikuti oleh Ella & The Boys. Ia telah melaporkan bahawa 15 belia ditahan
bagi kelakuan yang tidak senonoh,
dan ada yang cedera
dalam rempuhan semasa kejadian.”
Amirrudin said he never thought that the
10-minute incident would later became a national issue and that it would impact
the livelihood of some 1,500 rock musicians at that time.
“Amirrudin berkata
beliau tidak pernah terfikir bahawa kejadian 10
minit kemudian akan
menjadi isu nasional dan bahawa ia akan memberi
kesan kepada kehidupan kira-kira 1,500 pemuzik
rock pada masa itu.”
The incident would lead to rock musicians and
all "Mat Rock" being branded as "immoral" and worse,
"satan worshippers".
“Kejadian itu akan membawa kepada rock pemuzik dan semua
"Mat Rock" yang dijenamakan sebagai "tidak bermoral" dan lebih teruk lagi, "menyembah syaitan".”
"I went home after the tour and was nagged
by my parents when they saw SYJ being criticised by VVIPs on the TV
programme Hal Ehwal Semasa for setting a bad example," said
Amirrudin.
“"Saya pulang
ke rumah selepas lawatan dan
telah nagged oleh
ibu bapa saya apabila mereka
melihat SYJ dikritik
oleh VVIP pada program TV Hal Ehwal Semasa untuk
menunjukkan teladan yang buruk,"
kata Amirrudin.”
Following the incident, the Home Affairs
Ministry on Sept 7 directed the police to stop issuing permits for rock
concerts throughout the country before imposing a total ban on live rock
concerts the next day, saying such performances were a bad influence on
Malaysian youths.
“Berikutan kejadian
itu, Kementerian Dalam Negeri pada
7 Sept mengarahkan polis untuk
berhenti mengeluarkan permit untuk konsert rock
seluruh negara sebelum mengenakan pengharaman terhadap konsert rock secara
langsung pada keesokan harinya, berkata persembahan itu
ialah pengaruh buruk kepada belia
Malaysia.”
However, such concerts could still be shown on
television and rock bands could perform in "proper" places like
night- clubs.
“Walau bagaimanapun,
konsert tersebut masih boleh ditunjukkan di
televisyen dan kumpulan rock
dapat melakukan di tempat-tempat "yang sepatutnya" seperti malam-kelab.”
The Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry then
proposed to the cabinet to take heavy metal music off the air following its
four-year study on the effects of rock music. The ministry claimed the study,
which started in 1982, proved that the genre had a "devilish
influence" and would make youths "anti-social, insane and
irresponsible", among others.
“Kementerian Kebudayaan, Belia dan Sukan
akan mencadangkan kepada Kabinet untuk
mengambil muzik logam
berat daripada udara berikutan kajian empat
tahun ke atas kesan muzik rock. Kementerian
yang dituntut belajar, yang bermula pada tahun 1982, membuktikan bahawa genre
yang mempunyai "pengaruh
jahat" dan akan membuat belia "anti-sosial,
tidak siuman dan tidak bertanggungjawab",
antara lain.”
Box Office Malaysia general manager, Ali
Bakar, and the BOTB musicians appealed to the government to review the ban.
“Box Office Malaysia Pengurus Besar, Ali Bakar, dan pemuzik
BOTB merayu kepada
kerajaan untuk mengkaji semula pengharaman
itu.”
They claimed full-time musicians were
struggling to survive in a scene where piracy was rampant and that they
depended on live shows to make ends meet.
“Mereka mendakwa pemuzik sepenuh masa
bergelut untuk terus hidup dalam senario di
mana cetak rompak berleluasa dan
bahawa mereka bergantung
kepada live show 'untuk membuat hujung
memenuhi.”
"I don't know when the ban was eventually
lifted. Anyway, after 26 years, I'm proud to see that rock concerts are being
held again and they look set to stay," said the vocalist who still
performs with his band. It opened for Japan's renowned heavy metal outfit,
Loudness, in Kuala Lumpur last year.
“"Saya tidak tahu apabila
pengharaman itu akhirnya ditarik balik. Bagaimanapun,
selepas 26 tahun, saya berasa bangga
melihat bahawa konsert rock yang diadakan lagi
dan mereka melihat
ditetapkan untuk tinggal,"
kata vokalis yang masih membuat persembahan
dengan bandnya. Ia
dibuka untuk logam berat terkenal Jepun
Nyaringnya, pakaian, di Kuala Lumpur tahun lepas.”
The aftermath of the
Battle of the Bands concert melee in Nibong Tebal on Sept 3, 1986 when unruly
youths bottles and chairs at the stage.
“Selepas Pertempuran huru-hara konsert Pancaragam di Nibong Tebal pada 3 Sept, 1986 apabila tidak senonoh belia botol dan kerusi di pentas.”
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