FANZINES, from fan and magazine, are the literary form for followers of less-mainstream ideas to express and share knowledge of their chosen interest.

The early forms of fanzines, or better known as zines, in Malaysia centred around the punk rock movement, as followers of the music genre found it challenging to get much reading material on what was perceived as a sub-culture.

Veteran journalist Wan Hamidi Hamid said his interest in punk rock and the lack of local publications for that genre of music was what prompted him to co-publish Aedes zine with Joe Kidd from Malaysian punk rock band Carburetor Dung back in 1987.

Aedes was one of the earliest zines published in the country.

Five years later when he was transferred to Terengganu, Hamidi decided to publish Parasit, a fanzine aimed at followers of punk rock bands in the state.

“I am not musically inclined, I cannot play any instrument or sing, so I thought they have the talent but lacked reading materials because zines were mostly based in Kuala Lumpur at that time.

“I wrote, photocopied and sold Parasit at music studios and the price range was RM1 to RM3.

Parasit, like Aedes, was mainly a publication for punk rock followers, but Hamidi said zines also served as a medium to share other thoughts and movements deemed non-mainstream.

“I was very political from day one. The first issue of Aedes published in 1987. I wrote very short pieces on almost every issue for Aedes, none of the pieces were related to music.”

Today, some two decades since the publication of the first zine, the diversity of topics and issues covered by these publications signals a growing interest in these fanzines.

Among local zines available today are Mosh Zine and Shock and Awe which revolve around the punk rock subculture, but there are zines touching on other topics, such as politics, the arts, literature and social issues.

Wahyudi Yunus’ love for literature but lack of funding led to the birth of Fragranfrantik in 2010, which he said was not only cheaper to produce but would also make literature more appealing to the masses.

“Zines were more approachable. They do not appear to be a serious read and only look like leaflets, although they actually do carry serious contents.

“Fragranfrantik covered politics, social change, translations, poetries and short stories among others  but our focus has always been literature.”

He noted that many zines today are more into poetry, which he said is fine, but he hopes to see more variety in the topics discussed.

“It is fine to showcase your artwork in the zine but it is also a shame if we do not explore beyond that.

“We might as well explore others (talents, topics, etc) because all of these factors are interconnected and we can relate all these topics under one zine if we explore more of these different scenes,” added the 29-year-old.

Social enterprise

Biawak Gemok Distro stocks, sources and sell zines, and donates almost all its profits to Justice for Sisters, a legal fund for Malaysia’s transwomen and also Social and Enabling Environment Development (SEED).

Most of its zines are international ones that it reaches out to personally, mostly from New Zealand, United States or United Kingdom, while about 30% of the zines sold are from local submissions.

Biawak Gemok, which started in March 2015, carries about 40 titles and co-founder Nine said she personally loves reading zines that combine personal and political inputs.

“I would personally like to see some more zines that focus on migration, including refugee issues. The zine Prison in Macedonia is a great read, because it discusses this issue very poetically without focusing solely on it.

“I would also love to see some zines that look at the struggles of domestic workers and others whose right to stay in a country is tied to their employer, and how this puts them in a very vulnerable position.”

The reach of the zine industry in Malaysia is still small but, Nine, said she is excited to see new releases ever so often as she believes that their message resonates deeply with many of the youth today who lack an avenue to express their thoughts.

“Self-expression is really important… (so) I think it is an outlet, especially for young people when they may not feel like there are many alternatives.”

Zines that carry topics involving relationships, feminism and mental health are among the favourites among Biawak Gemok customers.

Some of the local titles it distributes include Race-ing and Dating, Aiyo What Lah and Intimacies.

“We get a few people reaching out to us every month. Often, it will not be that they have finished something yet, but usually they are inspired and they want to know how they can get involved in making and distributing zines,” said Nine.

“They tell us the idea that they are thinking about, so we will encourage them to work on that because the kind of topics that we cover might be things like mental health or LGBT or personal kind of perspectives and that is great.

“We want so much of that and we know that people want to read it as well. They find it very validating to pick these things up and read people’s insights.” – September 2, 2017.