THE announcement that Coldplay’s Music of The Spheres concert will take place at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on November 22 this year did not sit well various quarters, most notably PAS.
In fact, soon after the announcement that the award-winning British rock band will be coming to town, PAS central committee member Nasrudin Hassan took to Facebook to express his displeasure over the matter.
Among other things, Nasrudin claimed that Coldplay brings no benefit to “race, religion, or country” and accused the government of attempting to spread hedonism and deviant culture in the country.
Commenting about this matter on the Keluar Sekejap YouTube podcast, former UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin advised PAS to give up its anti-Coldplay campaign and consider the concert’s economic benefits to the country instead.
“If you don’t want to go to the [Coldplay concert], don’t go. That’s all,” Khairy said on the podcast with former UMNO information chief Shahril Hamdan.
The former Youth and Sports minister said this when Shahril asked his opinion about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s decision to welcome Coldplay to Malaysia despite claims from PAS leaders that Coldplay had a LGBT agenda.
Anwar cited Coldplay’s prominent environmental campaign, which included pledge to make its tours more environmentally friendly and to reduce their carbon emissions.
The former Rembau MP also noted that Malaysians are “starving” for concerts and if artists do not perform here, locals will flock to neighbouring countries to watch performances.
“Coldplay would normally bypass performing in Malaysia. Now, surprisingly, they are coming here in November.
“I want to go to the concert because I’ve never watched Coldplay perform before, and unlike Shahril, I’m not T20, and I have been waiting for them to come,” the former health minister said.
“Does the concert bring benefits to Malaysia? Yes, of course, because it’s a big event … [Foreigners] will come here to watch it. If the tickets sell out, they might add another date and there will be more business for Malaysia. That is what we need to point out.” – May 19, 2023
Main pic credit: YouTube screen capture
