Mat Rempit Motorcycle Street Racing

As scooters and small motorcycles surge through the crowded city streets of Kuala Lumpur and other large cities in Malaysia, one subculture of riders refuses to follow the status quo. They are the Mat Rempit of Malaysia and they engage in dangerous exhibitionist stunts on public, often traffic-ridden streets and highways. They believe in achieving masculinity through bike stunts and often endanger themselves and others in their reckless pursuit of toughness.

The word "Mat" in Malay refers to the Malaysian people, often derogatorily, while "Rempit" is simply the English transliteration for "ramp it" (as in the throttle). In other words, they are scruffy Malaysians who love to ramp it. They age from 15 to 25 and because of peer pressure, possible family problems, high need for adrenaline, and media influence they take to the streets with their friends in a daring pageantry of two-wheeled one-upmanship. The greater Malaysian society views them as thugs on wheels.

While there have been crackdowns and talks by ministers of curbing them, the mix of machismo and machine keep mat rempit on the streets and their antics showing up in motorcycle racing videos. A step in the right direction is that the government of Kedah is contemplating building a circuit where mat rempit can race. By legitimizing their love of motorcycle street racing and giving them a safe place to practice and get better, one day Malaysia may see its former mat rempit move into professional motorsports.