Slidevideo for the Lagi-Lagi Gila-Gila Exhibit

The main write-ups were down in two parts, here and here.

Lagi-lagi Gila-Gila Part I

I was in my formative school years in the 80s. And that was when Gila Gila become the mainstream comic at the time. At least in Malay, and one which I could read and understood. It basically served the untapped market of local satire.

With anything else in Malaysia, there were never free speech - at least until the advent of Internet. So, there were plenty of metaphors and commentary of local events which at the time was pretty radical. It was half entertaining comic, but the satirical undertone was what that caught my eyes.

If I remember correctly, this was from Perwira Mat GilaSure, we also had Lat at the time who also communicated in an almost similar vein. But Gila Gila seemed to be sharper, of course helped by the fact that is was published twice a month. I can still fondly remember the trips into Kepala Batas town, cash in hand to pick up the latest issue. Not to mention being disappointed on numerous occasions learning that it had sold out.

This first thing I asked my parents after my bersunat was for the latest copy of Gila Gila right after I got home. I loved it that much.

The famous opening commentaryMy boys sure got plenty of questions to askSome words of wisdomFrom Taiping with Love ...I lost touch with the comic when I entered MRSM Terendak in 1985, but many of the characters were still famous. I still followed Matt Romeo, From Taiping With Love and of course, my facilities the Ujang series when I returned for holidays. Often binge reading them back home - there were no bit torrent or fake DVDs back then to catch on the latest TV series.

Then I went to the UK. I lost track. An on the odd occasion a copy landed on my lap, Gila Gila never had the same appeal again. Ujang was then a separate comic having left Gila Gila, and the magic was gone.

Follow this link for Part II of this write-up. A slidevideo for the visit here.

Gila-Gila

Gila-Gila was an iconic local comic when I was growing up. They started off with some really decent satire, but somewhat lost their ways in the late 80s before enjoying a resurgence in the early 90s.

They spawned a number of other comics and publications along the way. But over the years they have lost their way again. I stopped being interested in them since.

It was still a pleasant surprise to learn that Galeri Petronas would be holding an exhibit on their works soon. I wasn't sure yet on what would be featured, but I would be willing to have a look. ‎

Update on Monday, May 18, 2015 at 12:03PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

The exhibition is now open. The write-up for the event here.