Old Sketch 11: Skinhead II

Being a Skinhead in the early 1994 till the end of 2001 here in Malaysia have influenced my lifestyle with the Skinhead culture and ideology. Skinheads was named for their shaven or close-cropped heads. They are a working-class subculture that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1960s. This subculture then spread to other parts of the world.

Back to the beginning, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods, in terms of fashion, music and lifestyle. Originally, the skinhead subculture was primarily based on those elements, not politics or race. Since then, however, skinhead aligned themselves with attitudes toward race and politics. The political spectrum within the skinhead scene ranges from the far right to the far left, although many skinheads remain apolitical. Fashion-wise, skinheads range from a clean-cut 1960s mod-influenced style to less-strict punk- and hardcore-influenced styles.



This pencil sketch was made in the middle of the years I've been with the Skinhead lifestyle with my friends, Skinheads all over Malaysia. We listen to Oi!, Reggae and SKA music at gigs. I don't know what happened to the Skinheads in Malaysia today as I can see the culture is not with the working-class people but followed by students who pretend that they are the working-class and then protest for something that they don't even experienced yet.

Today, I love my life and family. I love my works and my company I worked for. I have nothing to protest because we can really solve problems through discussions. There are no more capitalists who keep the pressure to workers and gain the money because if I'm with them, I can just leave and find another good paid job. Even blogging can make me money. Skinhead for me have gone back to just music and fashion where I can change my fashion whenever I feel to change. My hair have grow longer than Mods cut and I like to change my hairstyles when I get bored with one. You may call me poser, and I don't really care about it anymore . Check out my Reggae And SKA blog to hear musics that I'm tuned to.

Comments

jafabrit said…
I had to chuckle when I saw your great drawing. It sure brought back memories and I liked hearing about it from a different perspective. I was a skinhead in the early 70's when it first started in London. It was a rebellion against the fashion industry. We wanted to look clean and smart and define ourselves rather than a fashion industry dictate that. The girls wore trevira suits (short straight skirt), stud earrings, flat shoes, riding boots with tight jeans/shirts and suspenders/braces and of course cropped hair. The boys wore doc martins, and trilbies. It was within a year when it took a turn for the worse and paki bashing and racism became the dominant feature and pastime for skinheads. Gang fights broke out between traditional skinheads and the new breed of skinhead.
ApOgEE said…
Wow! what a great honor to meet an old-timer... :p

Skinhead in Malaysia started from a bunch of friends who love Oi! and SKA music. During that time, we do regularly shave our hair, wear Martin Boots, braces, Ben Sherman's and Fred Perry. Some of us works for factories and earn less than those migrants while some are unemployed. However, my mates and I hate racism cause we used to live within multi-racial community.
After years we share the thoughts and ideologies, we took other ways to change our life. Some of us got their job as Royal Navy and some further their studies and go for professional work such as programmers, accountants, engineers and mainstream music artists.

Anyway, we still love Oi! and SKA music and also scooters! :D
jafabrit said…
It's a shame that one group had to turn it around and make something ugly of it. Skinhead is a dirty word now. oh yes, still love scooters, and I still love reggae (I have a couple of the original underground records hidden in the closet somewhere).
Anonymous said…
Those were the days...
Anonymous said…
Cool drawing, really like the look and pose, well captured....oh yes I remember those days as wells lol.

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