Ups and downs of KL’s street singers

Real player / Media player 

When street performers sing out loud on the city’s streets, how many people really stop and listen? Local talents on the streets of Kuala Lumpur share with YIP YOKE TENG their happiness and hardships.Photos by T.K. LIM 

Addy, 24, collectingmoney from the crowdafter busking atCentral Market.

THEY get to taste life’s extreme contrasts. They have a hard life, but they are also some of the happiest people around.  

Buskers – usually in simple attire embellished only with hats, sunglasses or bandannas – are an interesting element in any cosmopolitan city like Kuala Lumpur.  

The KLCC LRT tunnel, Central Market and Chinatown are some of the places one can find them. Their musical talent, coupled with good vocals and extensive repertoire, enables them to enliven the atmosphere at these places.  

However, not everyone appreciates their performance. Some frown at them, some give them curious glimpses while most just walk past them. Only a few drop money into their guitar bags.  

Shiz Fairuz Zainudin, 22, was seen performing at the LRT tunnel near KLCC in the morning. From Pearl Jam’s Last Kiss, Beatles’ Yesterday to popular Malay numbers, he played them with gusto although most of the passers-by ignored his presence.  

“I have been busking for one month now,” said the cheerful lad. “I just came here and started singing. It's fun, both singing and looking at people!”  

“I love Rock numbers, but I can’t play just what I like, I must play what the crowd likes,” he said, adding that he found out the lyrics and chords of the songs by himself, or through friends and the Internet. 

Instinctively, buskers know where to play what after a while. “Malay songs at Central Market, English songs at Chinatown” he cited, “You can judge from the crowd’s response, sometimes they request for songs, too.”  

Shiz, who hails from Seremban, is doing it full-time while waiting for news on his application to do a music and broadcasting degree course at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).  

He is staying at his brother’s place in Ampang, and has started travelling to other states to perform there with his newfound busker friends.  

He now busks every day – from 10am at the KLCC LRT tunnel, around 5pm at the side of Central Market and in Petaling Street from 8pm till 3am, sometimes.  

Although there are breaks in between, he is definitely singing for more than eight hours every day.  

“I used to perform frequently when I was studying, so playing in public isn’t a problem for me. I really enjoy it, especially when people show their appreciation,” he said, adding that the money he received was an added bonus.  

His family does not know about his busking activities, but Shiz said his mother would not mind it as “she knows I love music and going around places, and that I am not doing something bad.”  

Working such long hours, Shiz can earn RM40 to RM50 per day and he is using small part of it for daily expenses and saving up the rest for the future.  

Shiz was seen again the next day at the side of Central Market singing with his new friends Addy, 24, Ijam, 30, and Syed Amran, 35, playing guitar, percussion and harmonica.  

“Na! We don’t have a band name, we just group together and it has been like that for the past seven years,” said Addy, an architecture graduate from KL. He said he preferred singing than drawing building plans.  

They do it out of passion. Although they hope to produce their own album one day and be recognised, what they do now matters most – to sing and enjoy it.  

Interestingly, the spot for street performance is available on a first-come-first-served basis.  

“We let others sing first if they got there before us, or we sing together. Anyhow, we can only have at the most two hours per session, people will get bored,” Ijam explained.  

The artistes might be beaming all the time, but all of them agree that life as a busker is tough.  

“Some see us as beggars,” Addy sighed. “Some crazy people think we are junkies, they give us the look, some even hurl hurtful remarks at us.”  

Authorities and managements of the premises sometimes give them problem, Ijam chipped in.  

Their counterpart who performed earlier, Mahathir Abdul Rahim, 35, had more than enough of such bad experiences. 

“The name of the institute where I studied was published in one newspaper after I was interviewed by their reporter. The principal asked me never to mention the institute’s name again, as though I had disgraced them. Some people still have Third-World thinking,” he said.  

“I can’t blame them, though. Some drug addicts are taking advantage of street performance. They don’t know music and are only out for the money,” he added.  

Mahathir said buskers had a meeting with City Hall some time back, and they were later given the opportunity to perform at several functions. However, nothing solid came out after that to protect buskers’ welfare.  

There are good experiences, nevertheless. A Chinese man, who said he was touched that Mahathir busked to support his studies, offered to bear his tuition fees; but he didn’t call the man, thinking that the offer might be bogus.  

Apart from money, buskers also get other “gifts” as gestures of appreciation.  

Shiz and Addy said they have had chocolates, bread and even watches dropped into their guitar bags.  

Mahathir has been busking for 13 years. From his observation, the busker community in Kuala Lumpur is not that big, with only about 15 doing it full-time and less than five part-timers at any one time.  

Busking has enabled him to finish his degree locally and he even managed to open a small restaurant several years ago. He still busks part-time even though he is his own boss.  

“We have simple lives. We don’t wear branded shirts, and we don’t have to eat at swanky restaurants. So we can save,” he quipped.  

“But that also depends on how hardworking you are, whether or not you are serious about your music and performance, and how many places you go to,” he reminded.  

“I usually go to 10 places (including restaurants) every day, and get about RM10 from each place,” he said.  

Mahathir was forced to close down his restaurant when business deteriorated and he returned to the streets again to “amass capital”.  

“Singing is my lifetime pursuit and I want to take it further.  

“Many foreigners told me that I could earn much more if I do it in other countries, like Australia and Britain. I’m considering that, imagine busking around the world! Moreover, I think I have covered every inch of KL,” he said, with a sparkle in his eyes. 

Mahathir said he was grateful that his wife had been very supportive. “Her only complaint is that I spend too much time performing instead of being with her.”  

They have a child, now almost two years old. However, Mahathir does not want his little one to follow in his footsteps.  

Myer ... suggests that buskerssing Rolling Stone numbers

“My father told me musicians have a hard life. It’s true, but I insisted on living my life this way because I love music. However, I don’t want my child to go through similar hardships.”  

What they say about buskers?

Central Market executive director Pee Kang Seng 

“If they are giving pleasure to shoppers and pedestrians, we don’t have any problem with that. In fact, we hope we can work with Tourism Malaysia on the coming buskers’ festival, or some other related events.”  

Mohd Azlian ... ‘I think theyare better than some of ourso-called superstars’

 

A Chinese restaurant operator at Petaling Street 

“We are happy as long as the customers are happy”.  

William Myer, tourist from Austria at Chinatown  

“He (a busker performing in front of a restaurant) has enlivened the atmosphere, but it’d be better if he can sing a Rolling Stone (song).”  

 

Ignac Forstner, tourist from Germany at Chinatown  

“The one yesterday played better.” 

Mohd Azlian Ayas, 20, factory worker interviewed at Central Market 

“I think they are better than some of our so-called superstars.”  

 

Amnan Abdullah, 27, ACCA student interviewed at Central Market  

“They can help relieve stress.”  

 

Kuala Lumpur City Hall  

It is learned that City Hall has a standing instruction for enforcement officers to disperse street performers if they see any. A spokesman said if the buskers were stubborn, the enforcement officers had the right to confiscate their belongings. He added that City Hall does not issue any licence for street performance.  

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