Beranak has organised countless shows for both local and
overseas bands. The former banker’s journey into the punk
labyrinth began at 13, when a friend made him a mix tape,
not long after the Malaysian punk scene started out with
bands like Carburetor Dung in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Beranak later mustered up the courage to leave banking
and dedicate his life to creating a space for punk music.
“I took much influence from 924 Gilman in the United States,
Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, and Köpi in Berlin,” he says
of his sources of inspiration.
Beranak says he has been committed to creating a space
for punk that is opposed to any form of discrimination or
violence in Malaysia. However, this has not stopped attacks
on Rumah Api.
“We have been attacked by the cops two times, from
Malay Power three or four times, and from the city council
too many times,” Beranak recalls.
Malaysia’s extreme “Malay Power” group is an
organisation similar in outlook to the neo-Nazi “white power”
movements, complete with its own bands, brands and boots-
and-braces sporting skinheads who aren’t opposed to using
violence and fear as an intimidation tool to target groups
whom they feel are straying too far from so-called traditional
Malay values. They actively campaign for the implementation
of far-right nationalism that eliminates non-ethnic Malays and
curbs immigration. This group identifies themselves as part
of the punk scene in Malaysia. Malay Power band Boot Axe’s
leader, “Mr Slay”, told Vice that “all Malaysian neo-Nazis listen
to punk and skinhead music” and that the anti-Nazi punks in
Malaysia would “dare not openly oppose us. They are afraid
to speak out.”
Beranak stands in firm opposition to the association
between punk and such brands of racism, however, seeing it
as damaging to his efforts at destigmatising punk. Despite
continued threats of attacks from these different fronts,What punk has embodied, perhaps
more than any other music form, is
a freedom of expression, in cultures
where dissent is often not welcome
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