Mat Rempit

Police stopping hundreds of motorcyclists at the Kerinchi Link in Kuala Lumpur recently in an effort to curb the Mat Rempit menace
A group of Mat Rempit conquered Kuala Lumpur's street on Saturday night
A larger group of Mat Rempit in Terengganu
Mat rempit road rage over two car
Mat rempit with his bohsia on their wheelie stunts

A Mat Rempit is a Malaysian term for "an individual who participates in immoral activities and public disturbance with a motorcycle as their main transport", usually involving underbone motorcycles,[1] colloquially known as Kapcai, or scooters. Mat Rempits are not involved in street racing, they only go against each other for cheap thrills and to rebel against authorities; some of them perform stunts for fun, such as the wheelie, superman (lying flat on the seat), wikang, and scorpion (standing on the seat with one leg during a wheelie).

Mat Rempits usually travel in groups and create disturbance in bustling city centres on weekend nights. Mat Rempits are usually associated with gangsterism, gang robbery,[2][3] street fighting, assault,[4] vandalism, theft and bullying. Most motorcycles used by the Mat Rempits do not meet standard specifications, or have been modified extensively for greater speed, or just to make the exhaust noisier.

According to Selangor police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah, it was the parents who are the ones who should be blamed on this and while Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief, Datuk Amar Singh said that it was due to lack of parents' attention, Amar also pointed out that especially when they are in a big group, they would act beyond the limit by attacking the authorities and challenging traffic laws indiscriminately, further pointed out that their peers will challenge them to do something outrageous like assaulting police officers and challenging road rules, just to prove that they're not cowards." [5]

Additionally, most Mat Rempits do not have valid motorcycle licenses, do not pay road taxes, and ride stolen motorcycles.[6][7] A growing number of housing estates have also been turned into racing tracks.[8] It is estimated that there are about 200,000 Mat Rempits in Malaysia.[9]

No other countries acknowledge the term rempit.

Etymology

The word "Rempit" comes from "ram(rev)-it" (ram the throttle). According to Kamus Dewan, the definition of "Rempit" is "the act of whipping with a cane".[10] An alternative source of the word is derived from the noise made by a 2-stroke motorcycle. "Mat" is a Malay slang term used to address or to refer to a male person who is usually of Malay descent but is generally used derogatorily.

Violence

In April 2009, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said that the Mat Rempit had become violent and brazen instead of just being a public nuisance. He said "We have to come down hard on the Mat Rempit who have started to become involved in robberies, snatch thefts and are even attacking innocent road users and we also need to use harsh tactics to catch the Mat Rempit that try to runaway from the roadblocks ." He also added that "Parents must be more responsible and should not allow their underage children to drive cars or ride motorcycles"

Mat Rempits often end up being hospitalised after they fail to perform their actions or stunts such as 'superman', 'spider' and many more. Every weekend, around 10 people are hospitalised after being involved in accidents when riding motorcycles at high speed.

Political influence

There are numbers of political influence in helping Mat Rempit.

Mat Cemerlang

Khairy Jamaluddin and Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim from Putera ". Khairypits" should become the "Eyes and Ears" of Malaysian

Adopt Mat Rempit

Datuk Mohamed Jaafar from UMNO suggested that Mat Rempit should be accepted and guided to save them from indulging in dangerous activities.[11]

Kelantan to build track for Mat Rempit

Kosmo! reported that Mat Rempit in the state of Kelantan will be allowed to show off their skills at a special track to be built by the state government soon.[12] The Menteri Besar of the state of Kelantan, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said the track in Tanah Merah was not a waste of money.

“ They (Mat Rempit) always make their mothers and wives worry. With the track they will have a proper place to express their feelings and show their bravery and heroics ”

Kedah considering circuit for Mat Rempit to race

The Government of the state of Kedah is looking into the possibility of building a circuit [13] for Mat Rempit to race and overcome the menace, saying another option was to create more job opportunities for them as most of them were jobless. Azizan said:

“ We will first study if the circuit in Kelantan has effectively curbed the menace ”

Notable massive operations

On 3 May 2009, the Bukit Aman Traffic Division of the Royal Malaysian Police, together with the Road Transport Department, have launched a major integrated operation to crack down on both car and Mat Rempit motorcycle illegal racing. More than 115 motorcycles were impounded in the major operation which was held simultaneously in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan.[14]

Pop culture

Mat Rempit is the focus of several Malaysian films:

Songs aiming Mat Rempits

Deejays JJ and Rudy (The Morning Crew) from hitz.fm radio station have made a parody of Teriyaki Boyz's called We're Not So Furious, designed to mock Mat Rempit culture.

Mat Rempit was also the main influence for the song "Salut" by the Malaysian band, Spider, in their album Bintang 12

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Young, fast, and safe", The Sun, Malaysia, 6 May 2014
  2. ↑ Motorcycle gang robs vendor of RM70
  3. ↑ Mat Rempit gang menace Rep: Three robberies brought to my attention
  4. ↑ Archived 13 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Mat Rempit The Star Online Motoring Blog
  7. ↑ Membendung lumba haram Harian Metro Archived 10 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Residents fed up with Mat Rempit ruckus go after them
  9. ↑ Rempit – Budaya Menunjuk-nunjuk – Kosmo! (4 January 2007)
  10. ↑ Rujukan Kamus Terbitan DBP. (Malay) Retrieved on 28 January 2010
  11. ↑ kennysia.com: Adopt-A-Rempit
  12. ↑ Archives | The Star Online
  13. ↑ Archives | The Star Online
  14. ↑ "115 motor kena angkut (Malay)", Harian Metro, 4 May 2009
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