'Without Min, Penang Wouldn't Be On the Map': Remembering George Town's 'Best Kid'

I was without a friend in a foreign town when someone suggested I reach out to Rozaimin Elias. He was described to me as the heart of George Town's punk scene, an easy-going kid with a huge smile and a serious love of good food. I sent him a Facebook message and asked if he wanted to hang out. It didn't take much convincing. That night he was outside my hotel room with a car full of his friends. We spent the night driving around the city, talking, and eating amazing Indian-Malay food.

A few year later, Min, as he was known to his friends, helped my band Vague with on our first Malaysian tour. He was still the same kind, chubby kid I remembered. I had no idea it would be the last time we hung out.

Min died late last May of a heart condition at the age of 35. The Southeast Asian punk scene is still reeling from the loss. Min was an active anti-racist skinhead in a city lousy with Malay Power Neo-Nazis. He was the glue that held the whole thing together. Fadhilla "Aca" Jayamahendra, the singer of Jakarta's Straight Answer, told me, "Perhaps, I'm being a bit bombastic here, but without Min, Penang wouldn't be on the map. He would do a show for you at any time. He was always ready to help touring bands.

"When Straight Answer was touring in Penang like 10 years ago, Min was shoving beer at [our guitarist] Kiki. They both got super drunk and started doing kung-fu moves all night. It was hilarious."

Within hours of his death the hashtag #WeAreMin was all over my Twitter and Instagram feed. His Facebook wall is a testament to the "best kid in Penang." Their stories remembered a guy who was always eager to stand up for the little guy. In 2000, he joined a local branch of Food Not Bombs and fed George Town's homeless and poor. He was the secretariat of SUARAM (Suara Rakyat Malaysia), an independent human rights organization fighting for the rights of Malaysia's poor. He also founded 161 George Town, a collective that organizes punk shows and helps keep Penang's scene free of Nazis and Malay nationalists.

"Being a skinhead in Malaysia means embracing positive, anti-racist ideas of sociopolitical change to challenge our racist government," Min once told a reporter.

The Malay Power movement is no joke in Penang, explained Akmal Komal, a member of the collective. "Penang still has Nazi movement," he told me. "It's terrible. Most of the big influence people from Malay Power scene are from Penang. They try to recruit kids at gigs to join them."

Min's efforts to combat racial prejudice won him fans abroad too. Shaiful Xerox, the owner of Singapore's hardcore punk label Prohibited Projects, said he was unlike any other skinhead he ever met.

"He was one of the few anti-fascist skinheads I truly trusted in this world," Shaiful told me in an email. "His idea of being a skinhead had nothing about being a thug. It was about being social and political for all the right reasons. Min was Penang's 'orang kuat' ['strong person']."

Watch: Straight Answer Dives Head First Into Life

Min was also the reason Penang's punk scene was so political. His show flyers would always include some kind of positive, anti-racist message and he looked for bands who had similar ideals. He would book shows, and play gigs with his street punk band Street Boundaries all over Malaysia.

"Min would design posters with a strong message, inviting bands with similar ideas and uphold the standard for his shows," said Cole "Cheong" Yew, the owner of Soundmaker Studio, in George Town. "I haven't seen someone as charismatic and determined as Min. He worked non-stop and upheld his beliefs for almost 20 years. We can't find someone like that too easily."

It's already been more than a month since his death, and I can't honestly image a Penang without Min in it. And I'm not alone. "He was like my brother. He used to make me laugh until I cried. Miss you a lot, Min!" said Shaik Itaro, of 161 George Town.

Aca, of Straight Answer, said Min was "one-of-a-kind." He told me that Min would be impossible to forget. "Anyone who knows him can't forget his kindness," Aca said.

So long Min. You're already missed.