Gangsta to the roots: Gangsta beyond stereotypes
Sophie Lemière, New Mandala
For over 30 years, Pekida has been one of the shadow allies of the ruling party, UMNO; emerging in the media only in 2008. The election results of 2008 were seen as an awakening of political consciousness among the majority of Malaysians. Facing this new wave of awareness, certain UMNO leaders felt even more threatened, fearing that their power and the accompanying benefits might be jeopardised by the growing discontent emanating from Malaysians, particularly the Malays. The strategy of the gangs and the party thus changed, and new NGOs and gangs mushroomed in the public sphere, forming what is often seen as a new ethno-nationalist “ultra-Malay” movement.
Pekida is often referred to as Tiga Line (or the 3 Lines) alluding to the colours of its official flag: red, yellow and green. The use of these three colours signifies Pekida‘s allegiances: to the Malay community (red as in blood), to the Sultan (yellow symbolising royalty) and to Islam (green). But Pekida’s nebula cannot be reduced to a set of colours: the NGO is in fact an umbrella for a nationwide network. Pekida is a complex and loose network of discreet NGOs created by gangs for which political militancy is a business. Pekida is indeed a generic name used to describe this network, but in reality the name “Pekida” is the name of one of those numerous NGOs created by this network to offer political support and to legalise parts of their activities.
Pekida, in its widest meaning, is a polymorphic entity: a thousand headed hydra, none of which talk to each other nor look in the same direction. Pekida groups share the same roots, hierarchy, codes of honour and similar introductions rites, while bearing different ethnic compositions (exclusive or inclusive), nature of business (legal or illegal: drugs, clubs, racketeering), level of political involvement and degree of violence. Leadership rivalries have sealed these differences and led to a political split. Each network is composed by several sub-groups, which may answer to different names. Names and logos, if any, are often representing numbers and animals – tiger, dragon, eagle, etc. – inspired by the names of kongsi gelap[i]. The name Pekida, often wrongly used, thus became a generic term, a label that embraces a very large national network of gangs spread across the country.
The popular perception of Pekida is disparate: a militia, the arm of UMNO, the Malay mafia etc. In fact, categorising Pekida as a gang or a mafia is difficult. Most members of Pekida identify themselves as “gangster”, hence the term gang was chosen to describe the organisation. The definition of Pekida as a nebula of gangs is based on the work of Hagerdorn (2008)[ii] and has been substantiated by fieldwork observation.
I define gang as: (1) a hierarchical group federated under a leader; (i) that may exists on its own, (ii) belong to a larger network, or (iii) be allied to other groups of different leadership allegiance. The credibility and longevity of the group is reliant on its level of institutionalisation; (2) The main objective of the gang is to make profit, and increase its power through various means. Members are involved in illegal activities and may use different degrees of violence. This basic ambition is often reshaped into pseudo-ideological terms in order to facilitate recruitment, group cohesion, and justify the use of violence; (3) The sustainability of the group is ensured by its potential for adaptation to political and social changes. A gang’s political and sociological identity, and discourse, may change according to opportunity. This means that gangs are entities that transcend space and time. Gangs are neither the exclusive products of cities and urbanisation nor a consequence of industrialisation: gangs may be grounded in rural or semi-urban areas, and pre-industrialised or industrialised societies; (4) Authoritarian or transitional political contexts are favourable to the development of an opportunist relationship between gangs and political parties. In this context, gangs may become an entrepreneur of politics or connivance militants to whom political actions are sub-contracted too in order for certain political parties to sustain political power.
