In case all of YOUs are wondering..

For those of you who often question me about Straightedge (sXe), or make fun of it, or wondering why I put the letters "sXe" at the end of my Yahoo ID, I shall explain them now. Honestly, I don't appreciate the jokes made about my principles, thank you.

This will be the trivial part, where I'll explain about the origins and what it is really all about. Straight edge is a clean living youth movement that emerged from the punk rock subculture in the early 1980s. Its basic tenets promote a drug-free, tobacco-free, and sexually responsible lifestyle-tenets that, on the surface, seem counter to those typical of teenage rebellion. For many straight-edge kids, however, being clean and sober was (and still is) the ultimate expression of resistance-resistance to the consumerist and self-indulgent ethos that defines mainstream U.S. culture.

Just for your information, Straightedge is purely philosophical and not a teaching or religion. It is mainly, abstinence from substance abuse. My habit of being vegetarian has nothing to do with straightedge and although the subculture has evolved into practicing vegetarianism in some followers. My reason of wanting to be a vegetarian is purely due to health reasons (I have high uric Acid). I do take meat as my source of protein (seldom or during outings or when I am with my parents), but I prefer to have vegetable more often than not (By definition, I am a Lacto-Ov0-vegetarian, where I do consume eggs and Dairy during my vegetarian meal days.) I hold strongly to my principle of maintaing my food consumption so even by invitation, I may decline offers by friends. I am trying hard not to be a hypocrite :).

'Straight edge' philosophy is fundamentally one of abstinence from a few things which 'the world' professes to find important, but which may actually be hindrances rather than necessities. Its basic principles were outlined in the lyrics below, written by the forefathers of the philosophy, the punk band Minor Threat.

(I) Don't smoke,
Don't drink,
Don't f**k¹,
At least I can f**king think

Can't keep up
Can't keep up
Can't keep up

Out of step with the world.

- 'Out of Step (With the World)', Minor Threat

The straight edge ideals of Minor Threat, and fellow straight edge bands such as Gorilla Biscuits and State of Alert, promoted freedom of thought and the motivation to rebel against the crowd if what the crowd isn't all it's cracked up to be. Some people make these ideals out to be stringent 'anti-fun', but there are no actual rules. The lifestyle is entirely down to the discretion of those who choose it. Ian MacKaye became so agitated with people's misinterpretation of 'Out Of Step' as a list of rules, that Minor Threat re-released it with the words 'this is no set of rules, I'm not telling you what to say or do...' spoken during an instrumental section. It should also be noted that people who make out Minor Threat and associates to have been 'anti-fun' were probably part of the 'crowd' in the first place.

The Relevance of Straight Edge Today

Ignoring its unfortunate extremes, the original premise behind the straight edge lifestyle is still inspirational today. Peer pressure to fit in with The Crowd today is just as strong as - if not stronger than - it was in the 1980s. Many teenagers do what they think is 'cool' to become or stay popular without considering the long-term effects of their choices - smoking, for example, is very common among teenagers.

It is likely that straight edgers will 'lose the edge' when they are adult - after all, there is nothing inherently wrong with drinking. But hopefully, by this time some of the pressures of youth will have been lifted, and they will have built up enough confidence to say 'no, this is not how I want to live' when they are put in potentially excessive or compromising situations.

Straight edge offers teenagers an opportunity to break out of the destructive cycle of peer-directed sensibility, and enables them to realise that they have the ability to control their lives and a responsibility to look out for those around them. The ideals of the philosophy have been partly tainted by the narrow-mindedness of a few individuals, but the ideals themselves are still viable.

For, me my principles do not lie in the limitations of Straightedge, because there are certain things that I adhere to, such as being hygienic, always believe and love Malaysia in every way, and many other believes that not only me, but my ancestors have been practicing.