The Malaysian Insight

DZAFRI Mohd Nor is a 35-year-old lorry driver with a local courier service company in Shah Alam, Selangor. As a husband and father of two, he works long hours to support his family. Apart from his job, he has a passion for fictional characters and cosplay which he got interested in 2012.

Cosplay, which originated in Japan, is a combination of the words “costume” and “play” where participants called cosplayers wear costumes to represent a specific character whether it be from comics, manga, anime, or other various forms of media which started actively in Malaysia in 2002.

At first, Dzafri said his family were unhappy with his cosplay, saying that he was wasting money. To create costumes, he uses materials, such as EVA foam, glue, paint spray and chemicals that cost around RM200 for a costume. Despite work and family, he manages to spend two hours daily on costume-making with a samurai predator costume taking four years to complete.

Having successfully produced and improvise on something with his own effort, Dzafri says he gains a huge sense of satisfaction and motivation to explore his creativity.

Now, his seven-year-old son, Muhammad Duha Haqemy, is also keen to follow his steps as a cosplayer. Since he was three, Haqemy has followed his father to competitions as Iron Man. Most cosplayers are aged between seven and 25.

However, there is a group of cosplayers approaching their 40s.

As cosplayers, both Dzafri and Haqemy have won many competitions, which inspired them to produce more creative costumes. Despite their simple life, they feel more confident and enjoy once they suit up as their favourite characters.

As there are many different characters in cosplay, here, Predator and Iron Man, can bond together to accomplish their mission. – May 9, 2017.