Good Dog, Bad Dog
Georgette Tan

(Note: The article that got published in thesundaypost was completely rewritten. It was just as well that I didn’t get a byline because that wasn’t the article I wrote. This is.)

SANTUBONG: The sound of a dog’s wet snarling with a human arm clenched between its teeth is something that will turn most people’s blood cold. That nightmarish sound came from the car park of Santubong Resort yesterday, where a man and a dog were locked in a tug-of-war with the man’s arm.

That canine is Leo Pui’s definition of a good dog.

“A bad dog will bite anywhere. A good dog will bite what you offer,” he said, cracking a smile that both reassured and teased.

The bear-like man who won’t break into sweat among the big security dogs at this year’s Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), but then again, he was the one who trained them.

MGuardian Security K9 Services brought in a security team of 63 people and nine dogs this year, doubling the manpower since their initial involvement in the 9th RWMF.

“We had 32 men and six or eight dogs. The reason we doubled our manpower is because we are now on duty from morning, mostly on wristband control. Previously, we only worked at night.” said Pui, who is the Operation Manager of MGuardian and Head of Security at RWMF.

Pui and his team forms the security team that does crowd control during the concerts and monitor the entrances and exits, both legal and illegal ones, to the Sarawak Cultural Village where RWMF is held in July every year. The festival kicked off yesterday and will end tomorrow.

The handler have since gone to rescue their decoy. He had to haul the dog up nearly off its hind legs before it’d let go of the decoy’s well-padded arm.

“There are several ways to remove a dog from an arm, but that’s how we do it. The dog will not let go unless the handler is there and has the culprit under custody.” Pui explained.

The security dogs, made up mostly of German Shepherds, have one objective when they are let off the leash and pointed at a troublemaker. Get the man down.

“One bite takes up a lot of energy.”

The handler had his dog back on a leash and was talking to it while its eyed the decoy eagerly. Its breath was coming in loud huffs.

“To these dogs, getting to bite is a reward,” said Pui. He flashed that smile again.

Since 2007, Pui has a special treat for gatecrashers and troublemakers that they catch.

“I created a special detention area for them and put them there until the show is over.”

In their first year, the security team caught and tossed out an average of 30 people, mostly teenagers, who were found without wrist bands.

“They’d sneak in through the jungle or staff area.” he said.

MGuardian is still performing their normal duties this year.

“After talks with the police, they are sending 60 personnel, including plain clothes policemen, the special branch and for the first time, a bomb unit.”

Pui didn’t explain why there is a bomb unit this year, but added that the Police Commissioner will be evaluating their narcotic detection dog.

This dog have out-performed drug-sniffing dogs from the Dog Unit in Kuala Lumpur and the CP wanted to see this for himself.

“Maybe he was a little sarcastic about the need to get security personnel from Miri.” Pui said. “They want to see how good we are.”

The team from Miri have been on duty at RWMF and Miri International Jazz Festival since 2006.

“The Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) always had issues with gate-crashing. When they saw us at work in Miri, they were impressed and brought us in for RWMF.”

Pui also breed their own dogs and mentioned that there is a new litter of puppies sired by the drug-sniffer. He also let drop another fact about breeding working dogs.

“We don’t really look after the puppies,” he said. “We can only use the ones with a strong survival instinct.”

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Good Dog, Bad Dog

Seriously folks, how adorable can you get? The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic mascots are three whimsical beasties – Sumi the Thunderbird, Quatchi the Sasquatch, and Miga the Sea Bear. I couldn’t stop giggling for a full minute. Especially at the sasquatch with the blue earmuffs and the tattoo on his arm.

Meet them here!

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Vancouver 2010

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Free Burma

• Bel Canto – As Time Goes By
• Bel Canto – Into The West
• Bel Canto – Les Miserables – Video 1 / Video 2
• Wong Wye Yi – Video 1 / Video 2

I should add that my camera’s video settings are wonky. The image and sound isn’t in synch. Hope your synapses don’t backfire on you.

If you have not heard of Kaki Kuching, this is probably a good time for me to plug it again since I just updated the layout.

Kaki Kuching is an event blog for the arts & entertainment scene in Kuching, fuelled by people who are more or less “in the know”.

We like classical concerts, independent films, art exhibitions and performance poetry. We support acts and shows in most shapes and forms (unless it’s shaped like a reality TV show and formed like an over-rated pop star).

We support local talent now, instead of waiting until they’ve made their fame elsewhere and pretending we’ve always been behind them.

You like culture? Come and get it. Better yet, get out there and make it happen.

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Bel Canto video clips

Hello, my treacherous friends,
and thank you for joining me here tonight.
I brought you all here to discuss, as I must,
how grateful I am for your insights.

–OK Go – Hello, My Treacherous Friends

I received a nod today from Jadit of the Local Beat (Dayak music) column of Postmag, regarding my BandKuest 2006 article, where I poked a hard finger at local bands about doing everything right until the singer opens his mouth. Andrea and I have already noted this trend going on for a while, and even a concert virgin like Robin noticed. So it must be true… a majority of vocalists in our local bands can’t sing.

According to Jadit’s column, it’s also true for a lot of contemporary Dayak music. He followed this up with his own experiences with that music scene and again, pounded in the fact that the vocal is the most important component of a song. He’s also heard great music ruined by an incompetent vocalist.

While it’s not my intention to be mean, someone has to say it. We have a lot of bands in Kuching that are solid, incredible even, where playing the instruments are concerned. The vocals always sound like an afterthought. It’s almost always drowned by the music.

I realised from past experience that this isn’t a new problem. I used to be in a band. I recognise the signs – everyone wants to be the superstar musician and forget that at the end of the day, they are supposed to support to vocalist instead of the other way around. The singer can’t shine if you drown him out. The loud music can’t compensate for a singer whose voice keeps slipping and sliding all over the place.

I also realise that it isn’t going to be easy telling your singer that his singing sucks ass if no one else in the band has anything better to offer. Being the vocalist almost always mean that you’re the frontman as well. If you really want to get somewhere, seek an honest opinion from someone with experience in these kind of things and do something about it.

Don’t trust your own opinion of it. Remember Malaysian Idol auditions. Everybody thought they could sing.

Take your singing seriously. Sign up for voice lessons. There are several music schools out there that offer them. Just because you didn’t have to buy this instrument doesn’t mean that you should pay less attention in maintaining and getting the best out of it. Singing is not a matter of opening your mouth and producing a caricature of the song. It’s giving your listeners a reason to hear you out past the first minute.

If you don’t suck so bad, at least the poor judges will feel like it was worth signing up for the project. If I ever agree to judge one of the band events, I’m not going to be kind about the vocals. Just warning ya. ;-)

If you’re content with just having fun with your band mates and amusing a few friends, it’s makes for a nice hobby too. It’s certainly much better jamming in a studio with friends than being out there.. say, vandalising pay phones.

There is an incredible amount of talent in the indie music scene in Sarawak, as we’ve seen in BandKuest and various band events around town. This is just one last hurdle to cross so… COME ON, GUYS! Dazzle us in the next band contest! Give the judges a different kind of headache!

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One last hurdle for Sarawakian bands