Live rock concerts were banned “Konsert rock diharamkan”

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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