Behind the scenes at the Pop Malaya photoshoot

What we decided on: Michael Bay has two modes of directing, good stupid (Con Air) and bad stupid (Armageddon). Exactly where the new Transformers flick fell was the point of contention. The debate never really reached fisticuffs; Pop Malaya (and friends, including members of Sforzando!) are an amicable lot. Good bunch of guys and girls.

They have every right not to be, though. Arguably the most well-known t-shirt collective in Malaysia, Pop Malaya made their name (and the hallowed pages of TIME) by incorporating images of the Bapa Merdeka [Father of Independence] Tunku Abdul Rahman, thespian supreme Tan Sri P. Ramlee, batik, durians, and anything else intrinsically Malaysian you can think of (quite why they haven’t done a Mr. Os shirt, we can’t for the life of us understand; that shit will sell). They are looking to expand into hoodies, caps and shoes, so look out Topshop.

But back to the shoot. Junk and Rupajiwa did the shoot at the bazaar in Masjid Jamek, Kuala Lumpur, once again making life difficult for ourselves. Which seems to be our trademark these days. Because Pop Malaya and friends number so many, we had to stretch all the personnel across the footpath/pathway/whatever, and had humourless onlookers on foot, on motorbikes and with trashcans, try and break the chain of people, while the nicer ones walked around us. Some random kid appeared as well, squatting down and observing the whole thing. Nobody knew who he was. He wasn’t a cop, so that was all that mattered.

The pictures:

WORDS JASON PHOTOS RUPAJIWA
www.myspace.com/popmalaya