The Malaysian Insight

INDIGNANT skinheads in Sabah stomped on charges of fascism and Malay supremacism levelled at the local punk subculture, after it recently came to light that some Malaysian bands of the genre identified with neo-Nazi ideologies of hate and xenophobia.

A music festival in the peninsula, featuring “Malay power” bands with names like Total Distrust and Boot Axe, was recently cancelled due to protests.

A Sabah skinhead said the global punk culture is, in fact, mainly against racism and drugs, and should not be confused with a local subgenre motivated by racial elements and peopled by hardliners who believe in Malay supremacy.

Skinheads are “normal” people, who are medical officers, teachers, executives and graphic designers underneath their shaven domes and leather jackets, The Malaysian Insight was told.

“All of us have commitments – bills to pay, children to raise. We don’t go out to create trouble,” said Johnny Silva, 38.

The punk movement in Sabah emerged late, in the early 2000s, thanks to local record stores that made the music finally available in the 1990s.

Mohd Izham Rahman, 32, said there are few skinhead bands in Sabah, but these have a cult following from playing underground gigs in big towns like Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Sandakan and Lahad Datu. 

It was at such a gig that he discovered his musical niche.

Izham was just 12 when he first accompanied his brothers to watch the local fringe bands. By the time he was in secondary school, he had started a four-man punk band, of which he was frontman. 

It is a passion that has kept him in the scene as an adult, and well into his career as a medical officer.

He said skinheads are a misunderstood group, and that mainstream society is the “real xenophobe”.

“People don’t bother to understand (us), why we love the things we do. They are the ones who hate our music and fashion.” – April 7, 2019.