How I am trying to improve the scene. Please everyone help out and do your part…

16Apr10

IT’S A LONG READ BUT PLEASE TRY TO UNDERSTAND MY POINT OF VIEW. THANK YOU TO ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Yo everyone this is what’s up,

I really wanted to give in and stop trying to make a difference here. I’m not trying to grab the spotlight. I know others who have done good and sacrificed and I have mentioned them before. But for my side this is what I’m trying to do for the scene. I co-organised a jam with no budget in Melaka last year, it cost me 700rm. I brought Bounce here for workshops, I was down 5000rm. These things cost money and I realised I can’t have these drain on me if it’s not economically viable and the bboys don’t support these things.

My vision of where i wanted Malaysia headed in terms of bboying has it’s roots in the Melaka jam. I’m not saying it was perfect. I cocked up on certain things here and there. But I had no budget. And it was a 2-3 man operation on short notice. The jam was probably the first in Malaysia with 3 international judges from 3 different countries all brought in from outside Malaysia. At the time it was probably the biggest turnout for a bboy even besides battle of the year with 40 crews of 3 joining. That’s 120 participants. There was no prize money, gift vouchers or sponsors. The only thing that was sponsored was the venue. Although there was no prize money each bboy paid 15rm each to take part in the competition. This was probably one of the highest ever per head registration fees for a bboy comp in Malaysia. This was used to cover the cost of the judges fees, flights, sound system etc etc etc. Me and my brother used our own money in advance to pay for all these things. The judges and all radikal forze bboys slept in my house to help save costs. I know bboys that slept outside or at the field cos they didn’t have enough for hotel. The judges did the workshop for free and radikal forze helped out for no charge. The workshop I charged 30rm per head to help cover costs for flights etc. It was probably one of the cheapest workshops ever in Malaysia. There were 4 cyphers going on at the same time during the first break. This also never happened in Malaysia before. Judges were paid peanuts. Everyone did me a favor. Penang came through, Pahang came through, Sabah came through, Johor came through, KL came through, Muar came through, Seremban came through, everyone did. I stuffed up on the organising of the hotels. I wish I could have done better but I’m an imperfect person and I’m continually learning from my mistakes. I didn’t do advertising, I didn’t print banners, Max and Jhao helped out on the dj’ing for free. I cut costs everywhere.

So with a jam with no prize money and 15rm registration per bboy we had…..

40 Crews of 3, 120 Bboys from all over Malaysia and Radikal Forze from Singapore.
3 International Judges (Kreate, Gonza, Boy).
30rm Workshops.
4 Cypherz. Enough Cypher time.

All with 700rm. Total cost was about 3500rm but I covered a lot back through the registration and workshops.

The whole point of this post is that: without sponsorship we can do big jams like this in public for a small amount of money. So why can’t big jams, with big budgets like 50k++ and prize money match this sort of standard at least? I think if funds were allocated correctly jams/comps could be insane.

If you have sponsors and you can’t even match this level of quality then please do not throw a jam/competition. BBoys deserve better than that.

What do bboys want? A good floor. Good judges. Good lighting. Air con. Fairness. Prize money. Good music. I’m trying to help on every one of these points.

What I am trying to ensure for the bboys is the following:

3 RESPECTED INTERNATIONAL JUDGES at every jam (ensuring that no 2 judges judge along side the same people twice, thus bringing a lot more different international judges into Malaysia)
FREE WORKSHOPS open to all bboys (I know of a lot of enthusiastic bboys that cannot afford to enter workshops due to the cost – I will try to ask sponsors to sponsor this)
FREE OR DISCOUNTED ACCOMMODATION for all outstation/international bboys (I hope I can work this out as I know a lot of comps are in kl and it’s already a big burden for bboys travelling from far, esp sabah/sarawak)
INTERNATIONAL DJ’S at least for finals (yes i did contact ko-flo from Singapore but he was unavailable on such short notice)
SPONSORED TRAVEL for outstation bboys (this is hard as usually hotels are cheaper than travel expenses for bboys but I will work on it)
PRIZE MONEY SPREAD OVER MORE PLACINGS (ensure a better chance for all bboys and also having 3rd place battles)
FREE REGISTRATION FOR PARTICIPANTS these fee’s hardly cover back for events with big budgets. for underground events we need this so bboys please support

I’m trying my best to get these things for the bboys. It would be much much much easier if we all formed an organization and had a proper community and unity instead of everyone being selfish and taking things for themselves instead of thinking bout others first.

To all organisers, when you take care of the bboying side, the bboys will respect you and it will be a lot easier to work together. When you take care of this thing, you need not worry, your event will be dope. I personally think advertising to public is not necessary yet. BBoying is not so popular here until it gets put out on tv more. Until then, wherever you hold a jam, the bboys will make people stop and watch. It’s entertaining to watch. You just have to put your event where there is a good footfall of people.

As for Impression Cup, I had sleepless nights, I was working nonstop as were both teams 36carat and Exquisite Impression. I drove to and from the airport 6 times guys. With the short amount of time (2 weeks) we all did the best we could. I could go into detail if people are still not satisfied. But all in all I cannot thank all the bboys enough. You all came through despite all the setbacks and conflicts. If you all were by my side the 2 weeks leading up to the final you would understand. I know there are issues like dj, lineup, judging decisions, timing, rehearsals, communication, flooring, location, etc etc. Of you want to question this stuff it’s good. I need this feedback to improve things in the future and I do address them personally. I have an answer for all your questions but please just contact me personally on 0176338730. I would rather hear it from you and give you my explanation of events instead of hearing it from others.

And for all the people complaining, yes I make mistakes and I’m sorry. I gotta try harder. Short term believe me it’s hard. Long term… like my friend Daniel says… see the result! Thanks to all the supporters. I don’t do this for money. Everyone close to me knows my financial position. Please don’t disrespect me on this point. Anything just give me a call. I can help sort stuff out. It’s better having an understanding then just talking shit or complaining. Please everyone help me take action on these things as I cannot do this myself. It’s too much work for me to do myself and There is more and more and more I can say but I gotta sleep so…

Peace

Iz-e

So that’s what’s up. I represent you guys. I hope you all understand and can support me and each other. I gave up but suddenly I was given an opportunity too good to pass up on. I have a vision. Please build this scene with me.

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