I was already half asleep when the door open and a man asked “Are you married?” A camera guy started snapping photos of us and I noticed there was a group already standing at the doorway, trying to get a glimpse inside the room. The man introduced himself as an officer of JAIS (Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor, or Malaysian Islamic organization) and soon after, another man entered and closed the door behind him. He explained to us the purpose of the raid. He asked us “You guys are Muslims, right?” and we said yes. We decided to obey, follow the instructions given and see how it goes. Mind that we are in a foreign land, it is unwise to take things into our own hands, so we called the promoter of the show, Emi, to help us out. they confiscated our passports and told us to meet them at the lobby while we got ready.

I’ve always dreamt of this; bright flashes from cameras greeted us as we exited the elevator, but instead of fans, we had an army of JAIS officers and what seems to be the military police of JAIS. we were escorted to a detention vehicle, an officer held on to the arm of Fitri’s girlfriend, as though she’s wanting to escape. She looked back worriedly towards Fitri who was just walking behind her, telling her everything’s gonna be alright. We sat amongst other detainees and were told that we were to be brought to a police station to write a statement. You could hear murmurs and feel the evil stares from outside while we sat quietly, still in shock. “Shame on you! You deserve this!”, a lady shouted. I couldn’t help but feel excited, it really felt like a scene in a movie.

At the police station, we were instructed to line up neatly and sit on the floor along with the other detainees. While waiting, i watched a football match that was playing on the television. An Indian family was shouting to a police officer, reporting a vandalism incident done to their car while the baby on the father’s arm was sleeping. Arif had to be escorted by a male police officer just to use the gents. while the JAIS officers were entering names into the computer, we were laughing at ourselves, realizing that we’re always running into authorities in other countries. Emi arrived and he was told by a police officer to wait outside the door. I assumed he managed to speak to the officer that spoke to us in our hotel room. The head of the JAIS officers stood infront of us, informed us that we were to be taken to another police station. He did not say why but from the conversation between him and a police officer I overheard earlier, they needed to speak to a certain high ranking police officer. So we were escorted to the vehicle again and headed to the other police station.

At the second police station, we were made to wait in the lorry for around 20 minutes (was asleep the whole time) for the high ranking officer to come by. The five of us were called out from the lorry to speak privately with the officer who spoke to us in the hotel room. He explained to us of our crime; an unmarried Muslim man/woman staying in the same room with one or more member of the opposite sex is punishable for RM3000 or two years in jail. Although this does not only apply to Malaysian Muslims but to all Muslims, they let us off with a warning. No statement was written. We got back to the hotel close to six in the morning.

You would think that if we replied ‘No’ when the JAIS officer asked whether we’re Muslims, we could avoid the whole thing entirely. You would think that Islam, or any religion, sucks. You would think that its not safe for you guys to visit Malaysia after reading up on this.

I grew up in an Islamic environment; my parents and relatives are religious, had religious classes/meetings every other week in my living room while I sat inside my room and play the PS3 or the guitar. Unlike some families, mine never forced me into religion. I remember my dad telling me while we’re sitting at a coffee shop, “Do not force yourself, you will know when you’re ready.” That was more than ten years ago, and I’ve yet to commit myself. Although I have a Muslim name on paper, I would hardly ever consider myself a Muslim, considering how I’ve lived my life.

I do not share the same views with my friends towards religion, but that does not give me the right to say ‘Fuck Islam/Christianity/etc.’ because as much as I might think so, I still respect my friends and their beliefs. As long as we both are able to tolerate with one another, religions, or none, are OK go. In Singapore, we are blessed with a certain level of equality and the choice of religion and we learn to live side by side. But like in every religion, there will always be a group of sour grapes who have a different perspective. We might think they’re uneducated, but they would say the same thing about us. If we keep throwing stones (haha) at each other, aren’t we just as prejudiced, ignorant, primitive and even racist, as we claim the others to be? Is it fair to judge a religion and their believers by a group of, say, ‘extremists’?

Im writing this not to preach and change your perspective towards religion, not that I can (or should) anyway, but to show another point of view from Azean (our manager) and shed some light to understand why we did what we did, where I’m coming from and if you’re a band wanting to come to Malaysia, you can learn from our mistakes and act accordingly. Learn the rules of the land, abide by them and stay out of unnecessary trouble. Also if I’m not wrong, if you’re a Malay in Malaysia and you declare you’re not Muslim, you’ll be in deeper shit (I’m not sure about this, maybe you can find that out yourself). Earache asked our permission to broadcast this incident and we agreed to share.

When it comes to choosing either your selfish personal identity or your silly grindcore band, which one would you choose?

Cheers guys. :)

- Rasyid