For Prof Rozmi Ismail and Kattryn Eng, the Mat Rempit issue is more than just a cyclical news topic.

Rozmi is a Mat Rempit researcher and Eng is the mother of a victim who was attacked by a Mat Rempit gang recently.

KOH LAY CHIN listens in as they discuss the phenomenon and why, they insist, the authorities must take action.

PROFILES:

Prof Rozmi Ismail is the head of psychology at the School of Psychology and Human Development at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.

He has been researching the Mat Rempit phenomenon in a series of studies since 2001, prompted by his own interest after being attacked by Mat Rempit as a student.

Kattryn Eng, a travel agent from Subang, is mother to Foong Mei, a 23-year-old deaf and mute woman who was attacked by around 20 Mat Rempit last Thursday.

Her daughter was surrounded at a petrol station in Subang Jaya at 7.05am, slapped and kicked, and had her handbag snatched away.

Her daughter was in deep shock and severely traumatised.

Rozmi: Before this involved your family, how did you view Mat Rempit?

Kattryn: I read about them in the newspapers. Initially, I knew them as gangs which liked to race. And then I started reading about them being involved in robbery cases and all that.

Rozmi: So after it happened to your family, do you feel all Mat Rempit are bad?

Kattryn: Well of course at first I thought they were really a nuisance to society. But then again different people have their own points of view.

Rozmi: I conducted a series of studies which began in 2001 and the latest finding that I have is that most of the 654 Mat Rempit I surveyed all over the country do not like to be called Mat Rempit, which is very surprising to me.

Kattryn: What is the meaning of Mat Rempit?

Rozmi: The word, in my study and term of reference, refers to anybody using motorbikes, which are small and below 120cc, and who perform stunts and try to press the throttle as much as possible and try to create as much sound as possible.

But not all of them like to be called Mat Rempit.

They are just hanging around. They like to spend a little bit of time during the weekends in town.

After half an hour or three hours they just go home. In my study, I found that less than 15 per cent were involved in criminal activities.

Kattryn: What leads them to get so involved in this?

Rozmi: I found in my study that one of the main factors is they are looking for fun.

These are youngsters who are 15 to 17 years old, most of them dropouts. Most of them work as dispatchers, factory workers, burger sellers etc. They are looking for fun, they are sensation seekers. They want the thrill and to feel excited.

Riding a motorbike is the cheapest way for them to do this. If you have RM10 or RM5, you can go round town for the whole night.

They can't go to a hotel lounge or disco. For them, riding with their friends is cheap and fun, fun which they create themselves.

Kattryn: So from your surveys and studies, what do you think is a good way to solve this problem?

Rozmi: Firstly a very drastic action we have to take is amend the law. The punishment must be suitable, to make sure they don't do it a second time.

Kattryn: You mean our current laws are too lenient? I'd say yes, because from what I see they keep saying it is a juvenile case all the time. After 48 hours, they let them go.

Because they are underaged, the Mat Rempit use that as an excuse.

Rozmi: Yes, they cannot be charged under criminal laws because they are underaged.

The majority of them are 16-years and below. They should be going to school.

When I interviewed them and asked them how long they had been involved in these activities, most said one to five years.

So you see the majority of them have been in this kind of life for a while.

And those who are considered hard-core Mat Rempit, they have been arrested by the police, sometimes more than three times.

But as you've said, they get arrested but the police can't do anything. They get released the next day. Then it happens again next week.

Kattryn: I think it would be much better if the police were to confiscate their bikes and not give them back, you know?

Rozmi: We have to amend the law. The charge driving in an aggressive and dangerous manner should include Mat Rempit activities.

When they are in a group, they are lost in a crowd. They behave as though they can do anything they want.

Kattryn: And in the group, people are afraid. Like that day, when 20 of them surrounded my daughter, even the petrol station attendants, two of them, did not dare come out. They were scared. What can the authorities do to alleviate the real fear on the ground now, in terms of enforcement?

Rozmi: The thing is it is very difficult to identify the culprits. Unfortunately, the police can't do much about what happened to your daughter.

Kattryn: Yes, there was no evidence. They didn't catch them red-handed, it was very touch and go.

Rozmi: I empathise. It must be terrible psychologically, for you and your daughter.

Kattryn: Yes, that's why when I hear the sound of a motorbike near me, I shiver! (laughs) Rozmi: Yes, its traumatic. Perhaps your daughter needs to see a psychologist or counsellor?

Kattryn: Well in my daughter's case, she's deaf. She cannot hear. It's the scene that keeps replaying in her head.

The first few days after the incident, every time she closed her eyes everything that happened was still there.

It will take time. I have been the victim of a snatch thief, you see. So I know this great fear.

Rozmi: We need political will. We don't want to turn into a South Africa where they need security guards for individual houses, because they are not safe.

I think there are Malaysians who really feel like that now.

Kattryn: Now in housing estates, every section has its own security guards. Obviously it is not safe, and that is why we are employing these people!

Rozmi: Not safe or is it just the perception? Are we just scared and think we have to do it or is it true that Malaysia is not safe anymore? We need to tackle this and the government needs to take it seriously.

NST: What about the economic downturn? Could that be one of the reasons why the Mat Rempit are turning to crime?

Rozmi: It's quite related because some of the workers get retrenched or lose their jobs. They need the money and where can they get it from without jobs?

Kattryn: From your survey, since you have been interviewing these people, did you ask them if they would do other activities if they had the chance?

Such as if they had football fields and places for recreation?

Rozmi: Yes, I did. I asked about that and their answer was that those activities don't create any excitement!

Kattryn: But are they not thinking about their lives? Is it not dangerous?

Rozmi: They don't think about that. They don't think about the possibility of accidents, arrests by the police and all that. They don't care, really. What they want is just seeking the thrill and grouping together.

NST: But how do you get to such a level where you just don't care?

Kattryn: Where life doesn't mean anything to them?

Rozmi: I found that most of them have this disregard for others. The attitude is: "I don't care about you. I don't care if I'm creating havoc or being noisy. What I want is to fulfill my needs." They tend to break social norms. They try to damage public facilities, they destroy public phones.

Kattryn: Are they trying to get people to notice them?

Rozmi: Yes, you are right. They want to show the public that they exist in society.

They want to say: "Here we are. We are the Budak Shell group or some other group."

I can list down more than 100 names of groups in different states.

They name themselves and want to show that they are there in society.

It could be related to stress and anxiety. They lose their jobs and get scolded by their parents everyday.

So they get out of the house, and find people to race with.

Kattryn: You think psychological counselling can help them?

Rozmi: Well yes, and the government should do something like that. According to my data there are more than 200,000 Mat Rempit in the country. (Shocked pause)

Yes (laughs). Go during the weekends to Tasik Titiwangsa. Go and see how many of them are there. Thousands of them, in one night. They gather, and what about Bangsar, Sungai Besi and Kajang? I'd say 200,000 and maybe more than that. So how can the government tackle these numbers?

NST: The figure 200,000 just sounds like an entire movement to me. Do they influence each other and get bigger and bigger?

Rozmi: Yes, 20 years ago Mat Rempit did not exist. There were pelumba haram, who only raced in the rural areas like Felda. Just 10 or 20 of them and they did not disturb the public.

Nowadays however, because of their sheer size, they can become very aggressive.

Kattryn: It is surprising, those numbers. It makes me just more fearful.

Rozmi: Police are also scared. When I was conducting my studies I was with them, in Ipoh, where thousands of Mat Rempit had gathered. It was a public holiday. They came from everywhere!

That night the police planned to have a roadblock but nobody actually wanted to go!

They were scared. It meant that these Mat Rempits were very aggressive.

Kattryn: So you see, if even the police are frightened, then they will just be kings of the streets, right? They will say: "Wah, the police are frightened of us", and this will just give them more encouragement.

Rozmi: There are thousands, they can bulldoze their way through. To them, if they can run through your roadblock, it is considered a success.

They think: "I get to challenge the police", and they become heroes that night. I was also scared, I tell you, I had never experienced anything like that before.

NST: What about complaints that this has something to do with how the Mat Rempit culture has been glamourised in movies?

Rozmi: Yes actually they play a big part. There are what, three or four big movies now?

These are actually advertisements that encourage them and give them ideas on how to merempit. And the film makers say they just want to teach or educate society on what's happening. Well I just don't buy or believe that.

Kattryn: So what can we do?

Rozmi: The thing is with an issue like this, when the problem arises, everybody talks about it, comments, wants to give suggestions.

When it slows down, we forget about it. But it should be high priority and at the highest alarm level now.

Kattryn: We need help from the higher levels of government, the political will to do something about this. The laws should not be so lenient. Don't let them off so easily just because they are juveniles.

Don't just talk. Enough is enough. Something must be done so that people can live without fear. We should live in a society where we don't get all frightened if our children are not back by 9pm.

We are living in fear everyday