SHOWING MALAYSIA WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE STRAIGHT EDGE
Khai Aziz and his Straight Edge punk band Second Combat, through their Drug Free Youth Malaysia, are teaching youth that being drug free is the best way to be a true rebel and lead happy lives.
Khai Aziz epitomizes the punk rocker spirit of rebelling against the status quo, but he’s rebelling against the punk rocker stereotype of drugs and excess. Khai, lead singer of the Malaysian punk band Second Combat, is “Straight Edge,” abstaining from alcohol, nicotine and illegal drugs.
But it wasn’t enough to be Straight Edge himself, experiencing the damage brought to his family by his brother’s heroin addiction, Khai wanted to ensure other children and families didn’t experience the same thing. He therefore formed Drug Free Youth Association Malaysia (DFYA) in 2010 and soon found his perfect partner in his rebellion with a cause in Drug-Free World.
“In addition to my experience with my family, many of my friends were drawn to drugs, some of them are in rehab and some died. After all this, I decided to take a stand and get active,” Khai said.
He not only added the Truth About Drugs materials in his school delivery, but took the DFW pledge and turned it into a punk rocking “Drug-Free Anthem.”
Aziz and his DFYA members traveled throughout Malaysia and in his home state of Selangor. They went school to school, getting students to pledge to lead drug-free lives and using music as a way to engage them in pro-survival activities. To date they directly reached more than 14,000 students at 126 Malaysian schools with The Truth About Drugs.
He added to his repertoire kids living in low cost housing projects, where he uses music to keep kids away from drugs and negative activities. “It is observed that individuals who lack healthy and fulfilling activities are always drawn to negative activities. Lots of kids began to believe and follow my ideas of living a drug-free life. But I didn’t only inspire kids, but also inspired a few bands to become Straight Edge. I believe that musicians have the power to inspire their fans to be like them,” Khai adds. Those so inspired include 250 bands reached with his drug-free message.
For those he cannot reach directly, he reaches through media and social media, including a documentary on him and in the ultimate punk rock magazine based in San Francisco, California, “Maximum Rock n Roll.” All told he has reached more than 3.2 million across Asia.
Khai says, “I use empowerment instead of enforcement with kids. I do not just spread an anti-drug message to the masses, but also a message about humanity and compassion.”
After years of empowerment, the drug related arrest amongst students in Selangor state dropped by 40%.
