Thursday March 1, 2012

Rais: Cabinet backs move to pull the plug on show

KUALA LUMPUR: The move by the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry to ban the concert by American singer Erykah Badu has received the support of the Cabinet.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said he had proposed the cancellation of the concert from the aspect of security and importance of giving respect to religion, race and the socio-culture prevailing in Malaysia.

“If the concert had gone ahead, according to the police, there would have been a possibility of it developing into a situation that may might led to social excitement. It could lead to quarrels due to the religious sensitivities, like what had happened in other places in the world.

If the concert had gone ahead, there would have been a possibility of it developing into a situation that might have led to social excitement. - DATUK SERI DR RAIS YATIM

“The strong grounds in terms of the integrity of the religion, race and the Government itself had to be taken into consideration besides security factors,” he said.

On Tuesday, Dr Rais announced that the Foreign Artiste Performance and Film Screening Central Application Agency (Puspal) had cancelled the concert, scheduled for last night, after it was found to have contravened Puspal guidelines and approval conditions with regard to religious, racial and cultural sensitivities.

He said the artiste’s move to inscribe the word “Allah” in Arabic on her body and not cover it up was an insult to Islam and was a serious matter.

Dr Rais said anyone wishing to stage a concert that could cause excitement or have an impact on religious values were advised to study in detail the implications it would have on the community and to comply with the conditions.

He said anyone using the Internet as its news or entertainment channel should also respect the religious principles of the various communities in the country.

He said approval was given to the concert organisers on Jan 4 if they complied with all the conditions. — Bernama

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