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When karaoke turns deadly

by Josh Lew (RSS feed) on Dec 9th 2008 at 9:00AM

Karaoke is deadly. Deadly boring. That is, unless you happen to be quite drunk or with someone you are physically attracted to. I've never gone out to find a place to sing karaoke. But I have spent a lot of time in East Asia, where karaoke seems to seek you out. I've witnessed some violence as a result of the sing-along phenomenon. Usually, it stems from "you took my beer" rather than "hand over the mic." Come to think of it, people get the most agitated when someone doesn't sing, rather than when they sing too much.

But that wasn't the case in Sandakan, Borneo recently. A 23 year-old man was stabbed to death in a fight that began when he refused to give up the karaoke mic. Abdul Sani Doli, the deceased, was apparently feeling the groove that night. Unfortunately, others in the bar were not. When he refused to give up the stage to the next person in line, an argument broke out. It only ended when Doli was stabbed by at least two other patrons on the street as he fled the scene.

Filed under: Malaysia, News