Kamarul Anwar is by no means a h-word. He writes his articles from an Acer laptop, not Macbook Pro. Definitely not a h-word.
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ISSUE Magazine 
fucking brilliant this is.
You’re so much cooler than them hipsters, yo.
I mean, just read that, people. So cool. I wish I were cooler than hipsters too.
Hey man,
Shit… I’m really sorry dude. I never knew you were offended by my taste in pop culture… I’ll try to like less offensive things now k?
Also, I never studied overseas and my parents don’t have money. I wish they did though 😦
Behold the anti-hipster. He belittles them who belittles others with shallow views and snarky “article”s. Cower in fear all ye who may/have cross THE ANTI-HIPSTER. For he shall ridicule your innocent behaviour and taste in food, beverage, purchasing power, apparel (and more) to no end. NO END!!!!!!
Hey why did you write stuff like this ? Its nice but i can help notice some issues about it. Maybe if you could clarify it would be better.
interesting read.
i have left Malaysia for a couple of years now so i am totally unaware of this new hipster culture going on back home. i also don’t know anyone who is a hipster, being a thirty-something housewife with a kid whose circle of friends is a gaggle of ridiculously un-hipster-like people as well, makes me even more ignorant of what it entails.
but thanks to your article, i was curious enough to have gone and watched the said video. yes it may not depict a “true” Kuala Lumpur but hey, what is true anymore, anyway? people evolve. cultures, too, must evolve, along with the people.
i personally feel that the video is a Public Relations campaign (or propaganda) by Mercedes Benz (MB) i.e. the sponsor. i say this because before i became a housewife, i was in the PR field for a long time, doing the exact same thing for my clients. i also had automobile manufacturers as clients. and this is why i am saying what i’ll be saying…
you see, in order to sell cars, you have to sell a lifestyle because being an up-market, luxury (read: expensive) brand, hard-selling the cars alone is meaningless. rich people want to buy into a lifestyle, they want to be ‘seen’. if they didn’t want the attention and affiliation, they’d just buy a proton or perodua. come to think of it, *everyone* wants to buy into a lifestyle, which is why we purchase various products (read: brands) that we think and feel characterize who we are. you and your Acer is no exception.
MB in Malaysia has always had an image of being an “uncle & aunty” brand, i.e. only men who have reached a certain age (read: old) and a certain wealth drive it. they also buy for their (old) wives. or “the mistress” brand = these same men will buy the sportier models for their mistresses. or “the CEO” car. you get what i mean.
and so, by associating itself with the hipster crowd, they are trying to change this perception and reach to a niche market, the “cool” crowd. they also have an ultimate goal (or hope) that these people, and everyone who aspire to be cool, will then buy a Merc when they are at that all-important milestone in life of purchasing a vehicle of their own.
PR campaigns don’t usually increase sales as quickly as advertising does. that’s why they are long-term and subtle in nature. by featuring the various “hip” Malaysian entrepreneurs in the video, they are simply creating a desire for Malaysians to associate themselves with. kan ramai wannabes kat Malaysia tu, basically MB is just riding on this ‘weakness’, or whatever you wanna call it. opportunism at its best. in the end, it’s all about dollars and cents. the video, and the website that it leads to, are just sales tools.
and so your hatred for everything hipster, which spawned this incredible article (yes i do think this article is brilliant), is ultimately promoting one organisation’s sales scheme.
IF you put all this into a PR perspective lah.
🙂
Hi Zeedsie,
I decided not to reply to everyone else’s comments because I feel that they have a right to say anything they feel from reading this — and arguing over culture is useless, because different people have different views. But I just want to say thank you so much for putting in your time to read this article and more importantly, for spending your time to write your astute opinion and experience as a PR executive.