Remembering a Sarawakian Metal Legend (And His Deep Love For Metal T-shirts)

It has been three years since I last updated anything to this blog of mine here, although some posts after this writing here will be back-dated by me for my personal archiving purposes. 

A lot has happened since I last wrote anything here. 

While I am obviously not going to tell everything that has happened since I last posted anything here in this blog, I do want to write a story about a man who inspired many metalheads from my hometown Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (including me) to start listening to the music genre I love so much, which is, you guessed it; metal.

The man who I want to talk about in this story is none other than the late Awang Maini Awang Adnan or better known by his friends and followers as Manny Mania (1970 - 2019).

Me and Manny in 2018

While I heard many stories about Manny, I would also like to write about him but I would like to try a different angle in this story of mine. 

For a metalhead from Sarawak like me, he was like a godfather for us and he deserved all the respect as he pioneered a movement for the music here in Sarawak as early as the mid-1980s. His achievement in the local underground metal music scene has also propelled him to legendary status after his band was the first ever Sarawakian metal band to record a demo back in 1991. I grew up adoring his band Ungodly Death and it was also because of his band (and other band which also started around the same time as Ungodly Death), I have always wanted to form a band just to release an original material by my own band.

Manny not only formed a legendary band, he was also an event organiser and was the man who became an activist who started the metal music movement in Sarawak back in the 1980s as well. During his lifetime, it was because of his ideas which he translated through his band and events, Sarawak became not only one of the earliest metal scenes to come into existence in Malaysia but perhaps in the Asian continent as well. 

A digital art made by me on the day I received news of his passing

With his humble attitude and often seen very keen to share his experience especially with those who are younger than him, his passing in 2019 was one which most of his family, friends and those who recognises him or his work would still mourn up to the time of me writing this and perhaps for a long time after I wrote this piece as well.

A few years before he passed away, I hanged out with him a lot as I am very appreciative of his experience and enthusiasm in sharing his stories on his involvement in the underground metal scene. He was always very supportive of my works and claims to be a follower of my writings too thus one could imagine how devastated I was to hear the news that he had passed away. 

Although he had not been very active with his band for many years before he passed away (apart from playing a show once in a while), he nevertheless could always be seen attending and hanging out with friends during local gigs which shows that his enthusiasm had never faded during his lifetime. 

One of the reasons why I decided to write a story about him for this blog of mine which reviews various t-shirts from my personal collection is because Manny was also a man with extensive collection of metal t-shirts apart from other "compulsory" metalhead collectible musical items such as CDs and cassettes.

Manny seen wearing one of
the many unique t-shirts found
in his extensive collection.

Ever since I was young, I would look forward to meet or see Manny because everytime he appears either at gigs or even just hanging out with his friends he would surprise me with the t-shirt that he wears. Yes, Manny was a metal t-shirt enthusiast and his collection was the envy of many metalheads around the country if not, possibly around the world. I need not talk about the vintages, the rarities or even the types which could cost a fortune for one to buy as he seems to have it all. No metalhead (at least from Sarawak) can top his collection during his lifetime and I dare say this.

It also comes to as no surprise that he had extensive collection of metal t-shirts because he had a good friendship the guys at Rupert Rage Shop, shop which used to actively sell metal merchandises in the 1980s and 1990s located in Kuching city. The shop was so renowned that all older generation of metalheads in the country of Malaysia knew about the existence of the shop. The proof is whenever some metalhead from areas apart from Kuching meet me or speaks to me about the metal scene in my hometown Kuching, there is a chance that they will ask me about the shop.

Since Rupert Rage stopped selling metal t-shirt due to the advancement of the internet technology where one can order rare t-shirts themselves and not depend on the shop, Manny would went on to order t-shirts via the internet or request for the services of his friends to buy them for him. That made his collection ever expanding.

I was rather unfortunate not to have access to his collection after his passing (at least for now, during the time I was writing this) but I also do not want to disturb the privacy of his family by asking to see his collection and taking photos of them. Let this story of mine here tell that he has an extensive collection of metal t-shirts and that's it. What is important his friends knew how big his collection was.

Besides, during his lifetime he was never the one who likes showing off  or bragging about his collection to his friends. Those who are close to him just knew that he had a lot of t-shirts as he would always wore a shirt at a friend of his had never seen him wear before and through my observation, the most he would do is to wear the same shirt he worn before perhaps months or maybe years after he has worn it before, unless he likes the shirt very much which is a different story altogether.

Now, a few months after he passed, during the time I wrote this, I have a feeling that I will no longer see someone like him who dedicated his life for the same thing I dedicate my life to as well coming from my hometown. No longer I have someone to refer to when I need recollection or reference when it comes to recollection or knowledge of the ancient Sarawak metal scene. I not only lost a friend, but a mentor as well. 

Rest in peace, Manny.