MWBC What's in a name?

There, I waited for two weeks before putting my thoughts to paper just so to check myself as not to be emotional or overly sarcastic. But try as I might to be polite let’s call a spade a spade.

I was looking forward to this year’s recently concluded Malaysia World Band Competition MWBC. Going by the press releases and articles in the STAR the standard was set pretty high with very ambitious objectives. There were going to be twenty one bands from various countries. Many events such as drum battle and bagpipe battle and various venues too. Imagine bands one day playing in Shah Alam and next day whisked away to down south , Johor…not JB,.. To be précised Nusajaya. For those of you not familiar of its location don’t worry about it because practically everyone had a hard time trying to find this place. A general description would be something like this…construction site albeit surrounded by oil palm plantation. I don’t know whether having a “WORLD” competition there was the organizer’s idea of making the many Indonesian bands feel at home or just plain poor planning. Anyway before I digress further let me just say that I am truly a marching band fanatic and therefore my purpose of writing in is to share my thoughts and experiences during the crazy month of July when someone hosted the most bizarre “WORLD” marching band competition the world has ever seen.

First up let’s talk about the National School’s Band Competition or NATCOMP as some prefer to call it. The event this year was “out sourced “ to an outside party by our Ministry of Education due to budget cuts. The MOE it seems was hit very hard by the economic slowdown and hence had to look for sponsors to run this year’s NATCOMP. Information that came to me was initially there were two interested parties but the other proposal was not as “grandeur” as the one appointed. A lot of promises were made in the proposal such as all expenses paid trip to the finals in Semenanjung. A zone system was introduced so as to ensure only the top ten bands in the country would qualify for the finals. A new adjucating system that would ensure the highest standards would be maintained and with lots of other goodies thrown in. So in short it was an offer the MOE could not refuse. And so with all the hype befitting the waka waka world cup we all waited in anticipation., but alas when the day came for the organizers to “walk the walk and talk the talk” it was more akin to the malay proverb ‘indah khabar dari rupa” ( for you guys who don’t understand malay it means the story is better than what actually was presented.)

What went wrong? Well for starters the zone competition was not done in stadiums as promised but on school fields. The thing about doing a marching band competition on a school field is that you don’t get to see the formations and hear the music clearly. I wonder if the judges actually specified that the competition is best adjucated from eye level?! After all they are “WORLD” standard adjucators!

After scouring the country to find “the best of the best” the top ten bands were finally found. So what’s the problem you may ask? Well the problem is not you or me..The “problem” is three of the top scoring bands hail from Sarawak! Hmm…that’s not a problem. I might say that is indeed good news for our brethrens from the east. Well that’s not how the organizers see it. It seems that it is going to cost them a bomb to bring three bands from Sarawak to Semenanjung. So they sheepishly went back to MOE to ask whether those bands could be replaced with Semenanjung bands as THE ORGANISERS HAD NO BUDGET TO BRING THESE THREE DESERVING BANDS TO KL. My question is what happen to all the earlier promises? In the end only one Sarawak band made the trip and at their own expense. I would have stayed back if I were in their shoes as clearly the organizer has reneged on their promises.

So now finally we have “the ten best bands” in Shah Alam to determine who is the “fairest of all”. To cut this chapter short the Championship went to Keat Hwa of Kedah. Congrats Keat Hwa. You are a deserving winner. But who came second? Well it was a surprise entry representing Kuala Lumpur St John’s Institution. Now this band has had a meteoric rise in the last twelve months. From a band obscure and unknown to suddenly become the biggest winner at national level definitely deserves a little scrutiny. Came out 1st runner up, best general effect and best colour guard. Heck! They even beat everyone in the zone competitions. Even Keat Hwa lost by a clear seven points! Now everyone wants to know what “makes” them tick?? It’s a little funny is it not that the same bands can have a change of luck within a few days of playing each other. Now seven points is a huge disadvantage to overcome by any standards and Keat Hwa somehow managed it. This is definitely another FIRST in marching band competitions worldwide. Try searching the internet and you will never see a band beaten by seven points turn the tables within a few days. Usually the marks would differ by only 0.5 or 1 point between the winners but somehow a miracle has happened in BOLEH LAND. Truly Malaysia Boleh!

Next let’s look at the adjucators . Just who is this Chief Judge Mr. Wil Bijl? What is his credentials actually? Now from bits I gathered the Indonesians fondly refer to him as “Mister Bil”, a trainer of one of the division two Indonesian bands. You won’t hear him teaching the likes of Bhina Ceraka or Pupuk Kaltim. Well it seems that he is a more familiar sight in Indonesia rather his home country the Netherlands and spends most of his time in Indonesia and speaks fluent Indonesian too. A check with marching bands in the Netherlands draws a blank. So just who is this Mister Bil?? Is he really someone in DCE? If so what is he doing in Indonesia most of his adult life? Unless I got my SPM Geography all wrong the last time I check Indonesia is not part of Europe. Anyway let’s hear in his own words what he thinks about Malaysian bands: “To our opinion we have to be honest, on an international level Malaysian bands cannot compete and the only way to help them forward is to identify the areas where they have to improve. Giving high scores will not encourage bands to look for new ways to improve, to make the activity more exciting and entertaining. We believe in high standards and those have not yet been reached. Most bands are lacking basics in marching, percussion, colour guard and show design, in order to encourage more entertaining programs the judges cannot give high marks because innovation will not happen! “ Well, well Bil how many Indonesian bands have you made world champion or how many international competitions have you adjucated? We really need to know this. The days of the ORANG PUTIH coming here and telling us off are long gone. To Mr. Bil let’s see your credentials first. For starters what academic music qualification do you have? And why is Indonesia the centre of the universe for you?

THE MARKING SYSTEM- Further to his statement that Malaysian bands are not of international standard Mr. Bil and Persatuan Pancaragam Malaysia (??) saw it fit to introduce a new adjucating system to the Malaysian marching band scene. Let’s look at the results on its first implementation. In the recent NATCOMP STF beat SIGS by almost 5 points. At MWBC it was SIGS’s turn to beat STF! Nothing wrong with that you say..Except that we hear that STF is mighty angry about this ( almost hysterical!). Well I’d really like to know what the adjucators have to say about that one. And how come at the MWBC Selangor preliminary Sparada and all the bands scored above 70 points and yet in the “grand finals” all the bands scored below 60 points?! In other words all the bands are really lousy (In PMR grading it means all bands got a big C!). What are these “esteemed adjucators” trying to tell the world? Or are they inadvertently showing their true calibre as adjucators?! In a nutshell a disaster of WORLD proportion! Coincidentally do you know that music only contributes 20% of total marks? What Mr. Bil and Persatuan Pancaragam Malaysia is telling us is next year forget music, bring more flags and do more ridiculous stunts. That would ensure any band the championship!

Now I am sure this is a question on everyone’s mind but none have the guts to ask. Well I’m going to say it; Just who is this “sanctioning body” Persatuan Pancaragam Malaysia?? Last time I check not a single band is a member (St John’s maybe) and certainly no familiar names sit on its board. As far as I’m concern this is another “creation” by unseen hands, trying to manipulate the Malaysian marching band scene. I say we stay clear of such organisation whose members are oblivious to the Malaysian marching band fraternity. Quite frankly the Malaysian marching band scene was doing pretty well on its own with MOE as the coordinating body. We surely do not need a “persatuan”,more so if it actually is a vehicle to hijack the marching band scene from its true passionate practitioners. Please play your politics somewhere else! Readers be very aware of their next move.

Now we come to the juiciest part..Which I have saved for last. The just concluded MWBC..or is it just WBC now?? I noticed just like a sly magician they have dropped the letter M..and so walla! There is now truly a “ WORLD” competition on Malaysian shores! However the facts beg to differ. Here are some facts that I have managed to dig out behind the “smoke screen” put up by the organiser. Twenty one bands – did anyone see twenty one bands?...from as many countries! Please enlightened me on this as it could mean I am blind or stupid that I could not count properly. All I could recall was the MC repeating as many as four times during the finals Indonesia! Indonesia! Indonesia! Indonesia! There was another band that looked Indonesian but it was actually St. John’s. (My apologies). But that is the point isn’t it, why lie and deceive when you don’t have the bands and your competition is at best a festival. Even my Indonesian friend remarked that it is actually an Indonesian Open but played across the straits of Malacca. To be fair there was a Thai drum line and two foreign bagpipe groups but even if you add those it still doesn’t add up. To hype and “spin” are not qualities that we want associated with our marching band scene. And those bands from Indonesia were treated very badly by the organisers. Read on..I will spill more!

And so as the story goes the organiser went to Indonesia to “shop” for bands for MWBC. The Indonesians were naturally excited at first as these guys went there gung ho! Money is no obstacle...we Malaysians have plenty..and so quite a few MOUs were signed with gullible Indonesians among others promising an all expenses paid trip for MWBC. The organiser also signed MOUs with two Indonesian organisers with the hallucination of transforming those competition into “WORLD” competitions. Of course the Indonesians don’t really care about that except for the money being promised by this organiser that would be flowing like rivers unabated. Well as the English like to say “ the prove is in the pudding”! These bands came to Malaysia expecting an all expenses paid holiday but what greeted them really was an embarrassment of the highest order. Meals provided means every day KFC and Pizza Hut..just no two ways about it. Either you eat or you starve. Accommodation is really basic at the most. Not even close to the school hostels Malaysian bands are afforded when we go overseas. Even us Malaysians would refuse such a living standard. A name that was whispered to me was KEM COBRA. This horror movie camp was the accommodation for bands in Nusajaya. When they arrived the camp was already partially occupied by Bangladeshi contract workers. I was told that it is like the PLKN camps and it was in bad condition. The Indonesians refused to disembark from their buses but the organisers being plain arrogant and inexperience refused to budged. The standard line was take it or leave it! Just unbelievable! Next thing you knew scuffles broke out and tempers flared. The “BIG KAHUNA” was made to eat humble pie and forced to meet up and apologise to the Indonesians. The Indonesians were then moved to a hotel in Senai..but catch this...they were not placed in rooms with beds but in the ballroom! That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. By then the Indonesians have had enough and the next day feeling very disappointed and tired of the whole debacle took the ferry back to Indonesia from Johor. A very embarrassing and distressing development.

Meanwhile back at the stadium in Nusajaya...pardon me, more like empty field ( there wasn’t a stadium) the bands were shocked to learn that there would be no practice sessions at the competition venue. Truth be told the actual reason for this was there wasn’t anything resembling a competition venue until three hours before the “live telecast” . More comical was when the BIG KAHUNA’s foot stomped right thru the plywood ( he was “testing” it) that made up the competition surface.

My question is how can an organisation with absolutely no experience and expertise claim itself as a WORLD class competition? Someone should tell the authorities about this bogus claims perpetrated by this organisation. A thorough investigation should be initiated and this organisation should be barred from organising such events.

In conclusion the organizers of MWBC should be ashamed of the disaster they have perpetrated. This debacle does not only embarrass our country but also leaves a bad name for Malaysia worldwide. If they at all feel any remorse they should take the queue and be responsible enough to leave the Malaysian marching band scene in peace. So what’s in a name? Well a lot, if you are claiming the WORLD as your stage. One final advice to the organizer is use your money to do things you are good at. Obviously organizing marching band competition is not your forte.