WITH Mat Rempit (motorcycle daredevils) very much a common sight on Malaysian roads and part of our psyche, it got the FocusM team wondering when and where is the origin of this phenomenon?
A quick trawl through social media unearthed a post that seemed to divulge the answer to that poser. On the Ipoh & Perak Discovery Channel Facebook page, a netizen posted a collection of photos depicting quite possibly the prototype Mat Rempit.
The photos are not dated but judging from the registration plates on the bikes, it would appear they were snapped sometime in the 1960s.
What is more impressive is that these daredevils were pulling these stunts on vintage Italian mopeds a.k.a. Vespa which anyone having ridden one will know are not the most perfectly balanced machines with the engine and fuel tank on separate sides of the chassis. This makes their feats all the more impressive.
These are some of the comments accompanying the post.
More than one pointed to the photos as proof that Mat Rempit have a deep heritage in the country.
One netizen said these photos highlight that such antics have been around for a long time, suggesting perhaps that there will always be those who are tempted to attempt dangerous stunts whenever there is access to two wheels (as exemplified by younger kids and their heavily-modified fixed-gear basikal lajak).
With the current crop of Mat Rempit being identified as mainly a problem associated with Malay youths, some netizens gleefully pointed out that the men in the photos look Chinese!
Some though reckoned that these pioneering stuntmen a.k.a. Ah Chong Rempit were working professionals unlike their modern-day counterparts who are menace to the society.
Not all were impressed though, reminding everyone that just because the photos are tinted with the sheen of nostalgia does not take away from the fact these dudes were also terrorising the roads of yesteryear. – March 28, 2024
Credit for images: Ipoh & Perak Discovery Channel
