JITRA, Oct 8 — The Kedah government has decided to disallow all open-air concerts in the state, says Tourism, Arts and Culture, Youth and Sports, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Committee chairman Mohd Firdaus Ahmad.
He said the decision was made following discussions with Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor during the recent state executive council meeting.
“I presented the issue in the meeting and the decision made by the state government is to prohibit and not allow any open-air concerts in Kedah.
“Some say that the state government does not allow any kind of programme to be organised, don’t misunderstand..there is no problem if you want to conduct a programme, but if you want to insert an open-air concert into the programme, that is not allowed,” he said after officiating the National Sports Day at the Kedah State level here today.
He was asked to comment on the outcome of the discussion with the Kedah Menteri Besar on the ban on open-air concerts in Kedah.
Mohd Firdaus said as such, any entertainment permit requested by the organisers to district officials would not be approved.
“All district officials already know the standard operating procedure (SOP) that has been set, if the requested application is accurate, and compliant with the SOP, then the permit to run the programme will be given.
“Not everything is prohibited, for example, nasyid concerts, busking, or programmes that are conducted in the hall or in private, it may still be considered by district officials,” he said.
Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor in a statement previously informed that any entertainment concert which encouraged unethical behavior would not be allowed in Kedah.
The ban follows the spread of a video recording of a musical group’s performance on stage witnessed by youths near the Kedah State Art Gallery, which eventually led the crowd to perform various acts including dancing, and it invited a sense of uneasiness among the community, given that it was held not far from the Zahir Mosque.
