Conjuring the tropical spectres: heavy metal, cultural politics in Singapore and Malaysia

Abstract

The evolution of moral panics is dependent on the particular social context and the ability of certain issues to trigger concern within society. In this paper, the authors have employed a cross-comparative study of the heavy metal music subcultures in Singapore and Malaysia to understand the differences in the issues that generate such panics based on the sociopolitical context of each country and its current concerns. Although the youth involved in both cases are marginalised male Malays, the framing of their alleged deviance and criminality permits, in the case of Singapore, only a limited possibility for moral panic creation given the conservative socio-political governance that limits allegations such as 'Satanism'. In the case of Malaysia, where a 'large-scale' moral panic involving black metal emerged in 2001, the recent trend towards Islamisation gave fodder for the condemnation of black metal based on the allegations of the anti-Islamic behaviour of Muslim youth involved in the black metal scene. In both cases, such groups were exploited by parties claiming to defend the social fabric of the moral majority, but in the latter case it took on grave implications due to the extent of the state and public response. This paper thus argues that the framing of these moral panics is an important component determining the relative 'success' of the panic or its ability to capture public and state imaginings.

Eastern Desekratorz and Nuclear Metal Lust:1 Performing ‘Authentic’ black metal in Malaysian Borneo

“…From these initial contacts, I developed a snow-ball sample aided by the local BM scene member's suggestions of other individuals they considered as 'authentic'. Given the background of BM-related moral panics and consequent BM crackdowns in Malaysia in the early 2000s (Azmyl Yusof 2009;Liew and Fu 2006), the help of a gatekeeper was crucial to my access to the research's settings, because members of Malaysian Borneo's BM scene are wary of revealing their subcultural affiliation and musical tastes to strangers and newcomers. When they understood I was European, some responded enthusiastically about the fact a researcher from Europe was interested in their scene, while others maintained a certain level of scepticism and distance until our first meeting.…”

“…The situation escalated into a ban of BM music in the state of Negeri Sembilan, and the obligation for foreign rock bands to submit video recorded performances of their music for approval before being allowed to play in Malaysia. Furthermore, in the district of Kuala Muda in Kedah, the police raided shows and record shops and arrested or questioned around 700 youth during a five-day operation (Liew and Fu 2006). About 150 of them were forced to be treated with a herbal drug that, according to Kedah state's officer Fadzil Hanafi, 'stimulates the brain so that students can concentrate on their studies' (BBC 2001).…”

“…This article aims to update previous research on BM in the South East Asian region (Baulch 2003(Baulch , 2007Liew and Fu 2006) by discussing the dynamics in which a globalized BM scene constructed its 'authentic' identity against the backdrop of Malaysia's multireligious and multiethnic society. Malaysian BM has significantly developed in the East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, situated in the northern part of the island of Borneo.…”

“The Fist in the Face of God”

“…Scholarly research has indicated that music is often deemed subversive by totalitarian regimes (Keller 2007), and metal music in particular may agitate totalitarian or conservative regimes, as indicated by moral panics and state-sponsored backlash in Malaysia (Liew and Fu 2006) and parts of the Arab world (Levine 2009). As noted above, metal music is oppositional and frequently critical of the cultural and political status quo of its nation of origin.…”

Reframing Singapore : Memory - Identity - Trans-Regionalism

“…9 These stereotypes reflect a widely held view in the non-Malay community that Malay men lack the key cultural and biological attributes that would enable them to succeed in the modern Singaporean economy (Li 1998). In his study of youth in the army, Leong Choon Cheong notes that Chinese national servicemen describe Malay men as 'lazy, unintelligent, unhygienic, and aggressive' (cited in Rahim 1998: 57-8), while laziness and drug taking also emerge as common stereotypes of Malay male youth in contemporary studies of popular culture (see Liew and Fu 2006). There has been little scholarly attention, however, to the continued salience of these stereotypes and the complexities surrounding 'Malay identity' over the last three decades, particularly in the context of growing class diversity amongst Malays.…”