‘Begpackers’ Swing Baby Around Carelessly For ‘Performance’ in M’sia

2019-02-04 , 3:27 pm

We’ve all heard of the people, backpackers, but have you heard of begpackers?

They’re people who assumedly travelled to countries that are less wealthy than their home countries, and beg for money to fund their travels.

In other words, they fulfil their beautiful dream of travelling the world at the expenses of other people.

Recently, one such begpacker made the internet headline. Not for a good reason, though.

Video of Begpacker Performance Go Viral

On 2 Feb, Facebook user Zayl Chia Abdulla uploaded a video of a performance he happened to come across at Bukit Bintang.

It featured two women and a man putting on a performance for a crowd of bystanders.

Their performance? To swing a baby around (badly) to the music. The music playing at that time was loud techno music with plenty of drums.

He held the baby by the leg.

Swung the baby up into the air.

And down between his legs.

It wasn’t known if the baby belonged to the group or a member of the public.

Nor was it known if the baby was harmed during the performance.

In his caption, Zayl was trying to bring the video to the attention of several different groups, including the Royal Malaysia Police, UNICEF, INHOPE, ECPAT International MIX FM (an English radio station in Malaysia) and the Expat forum.

You can watch the full video for yourself here. Warning: Be prepared for disturbing content in the video.

Netizens Reaction

Most netizens who viewed the video thought these people ought to be locked up for child abuse.

Some even think (the begpackers) are high on substances.

However, a single individual decided to point out that it was a legit gymnastic routine called Cossack gymnastics.

Is It Really?

So we got curious and decided to check it out.

Nope, it wasn’t Cossack Gymnastics.

At least according to Britain Gymnastic, a Cossack is simply a body position that requires the gymnast to balance on one leg and swing around in a circle while balancing herself.

But Dynamic Baby Gymnastics, On The Other Hand, Really Exists

And it doesn’t just exist, it’s actually legal.

According to BBC, it’s a legalised (although highly controversial) practice in Russia.

One practitioner in Russia, Oleg Tyutin, works with young mothers to help them do baby gymnastics with their babies.

Some of the babies are as young as 17-day-old.

And it’s believed that this gymnastics practice will give the babies a headstart in life.

“When they’re born, babies are very tense.”

This procedure, Oleg says, help babies to adapt to their environment quickly.

And that this will make them more open, more sociable, more relaxed and result in faster development.

No Official Studies Though

Now, before any kiasu parents in Singapore want to give this a shot, take note that there are no official studies on the practice

Nor is there evidence that proved the practice will really help babies or simply give them a traumatic experience at a younger age in life.

**All images from Zayl Chia Abdulla Facebook video unless otherwise stated.