REMEMBER British band The 1975 and its lead singer Matt Healey’s pucker on the lips with bassist Ross MacDonald during the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur in July this year?
Well, to avoid similar stunts and antics from inebriated performers wanting their 15 minutes of fame, the authorities has insisted on having a kill switch on standby at future concerts.
This was revealed by Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching who said the kill switch is intended to halt the concert by cutting off the power supply.
“These are the guidelines from the incident (The 1975) and we hope with stricter guidelines, we can ensure that performances by foreign artists can adhere to the culture in Malaysia,” she pointed out during a question-and-answer session (Q&A) at Dewan Rakyat on Oct 30.
“Furthermore, in organising concerts, PUSPAL (the Central Agency for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes) will ensure that the PUSPAL committee is stationed at the location (concert) together with PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) and PBT (local authorities) to monitor the concert.”
This common sense move is to be applauded as it will allow foreign artistes to schedule concerts on the Malaysian shores rather than having a blanket ban as proposed by the more conservative elements.
It is felt that most foreign artistes will know how to behave themselves if their primary motivation is to entertain their fans as opposed to grandstanding posturing. For instance, the rock band Muse adjusted its set list during its recent KL gig by removing tunes with offensive titles.
Having foreign artistes perform here raises the profile of the country as a progressive nation and a desirable tourist destination.
This has a spill-over effect with hotels, FnB (food & beverage) outlets and cab drivers able to make some honest money from the tourist dollars. In current difficult times, everything must be done to help the working class make ends meet instead of pandering to the overly sensitive conservative faction.
Having these kill switches and overseeing committees at gigs are certainly preferable to having no concerts at all. – Nov 1, 2023
Main pic credit: Mixmag