By S. Jayasankaran
The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity – Musician Frank Zappa
Scientists now believe that the primary biological function of breasts is to make males stupid – American columnist Dave Barry
They’ve their own Wikipedia page and have now broken into the Oxford English Dictionary as a genuine, if annoying, collective noun.
It isn’t funny – according to The Star, they are at least 200,000 strong.
They are the Mat Rempit, Malaysia’s very own Heels-on-Wheels, hooligans on motorcycles, who engage in a variety of sociopathic behaviour from causing public disturbances to violent crime.
They only come out at night and they are the lean and hungry type. The bozos ride noisy motorbikes, are uniformly young and generally comprise a particular group who count bike stunts as a 21st Century form of getting the girl.
Why do they do it?
“Why not?” would be the response. Tell that to the poor housing-estate resident trying to get some sleep amid the roar of souped-up motorcycles racing around his neighbourhood at 2 in the morning.
And it will get worse because they are Rebels Without a Pause.
They aren’t too smart. Given the risks of their “sport” – it’s against the law and dangerous to say the least. You’d think a fellow with a modicum of common sense would know better than to race in city traffic at terrifying speeds thereby risking liberty, limb, and life itself.
It just goes to show that you can never underestimate the power of human stupidity in large groups.
The term “Rempit” is thought to come from “ramp (rev) it” or to ramp up the throttle. Mat is a general local slang for a young male.
Although their budgets only allow for the cheapest bikes, most of their vehicles have are extensively modified for greater speed.
As if to complete their outlaw image, most of these Easy Rider-wannabes don’t have valid licences, nor do they pay any road taxes. Indeed, police checks often show that many of their bikes are stolen.
The sub-culture isn’t peculiarly Malaysian where this region is concerned. Similar motorcycle-based gangs exist in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines and Cambodia.
Not surprisingly, it does not exist in strictly-regulated Singapore or the rich and thinly populated Brunei. One suspects Laos and Myanmar have bigger problems – poverty and rebellion for starters – than to worry about hormone-crazed idiots suicidally bent on racing one another into the ground.
The immediate menace of the Mat Rempit has receded in Kuala Lumpur. This follows constant police crackdowns after violence by the bikers spiked in the early 2000s. Walkways between buildings also cut snatch thieving considerably.
Old Mat Rempit don’t die, they just putter away. Even so, there is a proposition that says everyone’s path to maturity is weathered by some semblance of “Mat Rempitism.”
Its proof is a form of Murphy’s Law and it goes like this: Good judgment comes from experience and experience can only come from bad judgment.
You see? There but for the grace of God, go we.
The views expressed here are entirely those of the writer
WE