KUALA LUMPUR: Visitors to the Good Vibes Festival 2023 expressed disgust at the controversial tirade of The 1975 vocalist Matty Healy, who breached local customs and disparaged Malaysian law on stage at the festival on Friday (July 22) night.
Many took to social media to express their shock at the rude antics of the frontman-vocalist of the alternative pop group from the United Kingdom and were disappointed that the incident had changed the mood of the festival from "good vibes" to "bad vibes".
Agreeing with the decision of the Committee on Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) to blacklist the group from performing in the country, visitor Iskandar Zulkarnain, 30, thinks any foreign artiste should respect the rules of the country.
"He (Healy) has to respect the values in this country. Matters related to LGBT have already been emphasised and not allowed by the government. They (The 1975) should have done their research before accepting the offer to perform here.
"Now with what happened last night, we as concert fans are afraid that it will cause other bands from abroad to be afraid to perform in Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
The media reported that during Friday night's performance at SIC (Sepang International Circuit), Healy, clutching a bottle of liquor, allegedly launched into a tirade against Malaysia’s LGBT laws before the organisers swiftly pulled the plug on the band’s act.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil also held a meeting with the organiser of the festival, Future Sound Asia, on Saturday (July 22) and ordered that the rest of the festival which runs until Sunday (July 23), be cancelled immediately.
Fahmi, in a statement, said the position of the Unity Government is clear and will not compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws.
Convinced that the organisers had placed appropriate guidelines for guest artistes, another visitor, Puteri Shahirah, 24, however, does not blame the organisers, but thinks that the vocalist was the problem as he did not respect the culture held by the community in this country.
Previously, at a concert at Finsbury Park in London, Healy was also reported to have performed controversially while eating raw meat on stage.
Meanwhile, Zed Zaidi, the president of the Malaysian Artistes Association (Seniman), in a live broadcast on his TikTok account, said the public should not blame the government for scrapping the concert.
"The minister is not wrong. We will never know unless someone reports. So when someone makes a report, the government can take action,” he said.
In order to prevent a recurrence, Zed, or Rozaidi Jamil by his real name, suggested that the government appoints someone from among the artistes to go on the Puspal panel.
"I am appealing if it is possible to put a representative from the arts on the Puspal committee to assess whether foreign artistes are eligible to perform or film in Malaysia,” he said. - Bernama
