Norman Kamaru

Norman Kamaru (born Gorontalo, 27 November 1985; also known as Briptu Norman[1]) is a resigned Indonesian police officer from the Brimob corps of the Indonesian National Police, currently a singer/entertainer. Prior to resignation, his rank was First Police Brigadier which is known as 'Briptu' in Bahasa Indonesia which is an abbreviation of Brigadir Polisi Satu. Kamaru catapulted into stardom after a video of him singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" by A.R.Rahman while in uniform went viral in early April 2011 in YouTube. He recently signed a billion rupiah (US$113,000) recording contract.

Norman Kamaru
Born (1985-11-27) 27 November 1985
OriginGorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia
GenresIndonesian
Occupation(s)Singer, resigned police officer
Years active2011–present

Biography

Kamaru was born in Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia on 27 November 1985. He is the youngest of nine children[2] born to Idris Kamaru and Halima Marthius.[3] As a child he enjoyed singing.[2]

He eventually joined the Mobile Brigade, rising to the rank of First Brigadier.[2]

Celebrity

Kamaru became famous after a video of him in uniform lip-synching "Chaiyya Chaiyya" and imitating Shahrukh Khan while on duty at a guard post[4] was uploaded to YouTube on 29 March 2011.[2] Bagus BT Saragih of The Jakarta Post notes that his hand movements are like those used by Indian actors, while the accuracy of his lip-synching indicates that he had memorized the lyrics.[4]

The video was a hit on YouTube, with viewers considering his actions "perfectly" like Khan's in Dil Se..,[2] and eventually becoming a meme, "catapulting" Kamaru to fame.[5] He began recording his first single, "Cinta Farhat" ("Farhat's Love"), in April of that year.[6]

As a result of his newfound celebrity, Kamaru became a guest on Opera Van Java and Bukan Empat Mata, hosted by Tukul Arwana.[2] He also received a film and commercial offer, which were rejected by the police department; according to a spokesman for the department, Kamaru was not ready and would have to attend film school before acting.[7] He also received a full legal scholarship from Bung Karno University in Jakarta, as well as a new motorcycle[8] and a house.[9]

However, the performing schedule detracted from his duties. As a result, on 7 July 2011 he was taken from the set of Hitam Putih, where he was filming a skit, by twenty people. Although first reported to be a kidnapping, it was later revealed that it had been officers of the Bureau of Professionalism and Security Affairs who had taken him as he had not secured permission to be on the show.[10]

As of September 2011 Kamaru has accepted a billion rupiah (US$113,000) contract offer from the mobile content developer Falcon Interactive. The terms of the contract require him to produce a single album; if he acts in a movie, he will receive another billion.[11][12] That same month he tendered his resignation from the Indonesian National Police, citing the difficulty in finding time to perform; according to his mother, he had been arrested several times for performing "on the sidelines of his duty".[3] After the Gorontalo police refused to accept his resignation, he went to the national police headquarters in Jakarta,[5] where he was told that he could only resign if he repaid the cost of his training, as he had signed on for a ten-year contract;[13] a spokesman for the police stated that the police force was "not like a [bus] shelter where people can just come and go whenever they want".[1] The police later withdrew the demand.[9]

In order to create a new, more modern image, in April 2012 Norman Kamaru initial rap single 'Forget It' (Lupa-kan) and collaborate with rapper Saykoji.[14]

Reception

Initially the police department intended to punish Kamaru for his dancing, calling his behaviour "undisciplined and childish" as well as "unethical", noting that police officers should be ever vigilant when on duty.[4] After performing for his superiors and mounting public support,[15] the police relented, deciding instead to "channel his talents".[16]

In response to the threatened police sanctions, Kamaru received popular support. Noted singer and songwriter Glenn Fredly tweeted that the police should instead punish those who "call themselves singers but are unable to lip-sync as cool as Norman", while legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari noted that actions like Kamaru's were good public relations for the police.[4] However, Alexia Cahyaningtyas of The Jakarta Globe, called it "embarrassing" that "a lip-syncing policeman [was] considered first-class entertainment".[17]

Salingsilang.com, which records trends on Twitter, reported that Kamaru was the biggest trending topic on Twitter in Indonesia during the first half of 2011, beating Justin Bieber and the death of Osama bin Laden.[18] The original upload was viewed 200,000 times in its first week[4] and by 5 April it had been "liked" 160,000 times; it was only "disliked" 32 times in the same period.[19] He was chosen as the most entertaining newsmaker of the year in the Seputar Indonesia Awards in May of that year.[20]

References
Footnotes
  1. The Jakarta Globe 2011, Dancing Cop Norman.
  2. KapanLagi.com, Norman Kamaru.
  3. The Jakarta Post 2011, "Bollywood cop" chooses.
  4. The Jakarta Post 2011, "Bollywood cop" Norman.
  5. The Jakarta Post 2011, Bollywood cop to release.
  6. The Jakarta Post 2011, First Brig. Norman(a).
  7. The Jakarta Post 2011, Bollywood-loving cop.
  8. Haryanto, Police Give All-Clear.
  9. The Jakarta Globe, Indonesia’s Celebrity Police.
  10. The Jakarta Post 2011, Norman nabs huge.
  11. The Jakarta Post 2011, Bollywood cop Norman.
  12. The Jakarta Globe 2011, Police Give All-Clear.
  13. "Norman going from 'Chaiya' to rap". 3 May 2012.
  14. The Jakarta Post 2011, Singing police officer.
  15. The Jakarta Post 2011, 'Bollywood' singing officer.
  16. Cahyaningtyas 2011, The Norman Factor:.
  17. The Jakarta Post 2011, First Brig. Norman(b).
  18. The Jakarta Post 2011, 'Bollywood' singing policeman.
  19. The Jakarta Post 2011, Mahfud MD beats.
Bibliography
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