PAS Youth is adamant about concerts featuring international artists not being allowed in Malaysia, now threatening to mobilise nationwide protests if their request is not heeded.
Continuing the now one-week tirade into the matter, PAS Youth chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari expressed hope that PAS Cabinet members would do their part to ensure such concerts are banned for being “unsuitable” to the supposed norms and values of Muslims in Malaysia.
In a Facebook post today, the Pasir Mas MP further claimed that these concerns promote values that are “inappropriate” and “go against” Islam as the religion of the federation.
“PAS Youth greatly hopes that the Government, through the relevant minister, considers canceling and revoking all approvals for such concerts to take place,” he said.
“We will not hesitate to mobilise nationwide resistance if (this call) is ignored,” he added, and expressed hope that the movement would “reach” the prime minister’s official residence in Putrajaya.
He further called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals concerned about concerts being held in Malaysia to “rise up together” and not let “hedonism spread” in Malaysian society.
He added: “If there are brothers and sisters of our religion who act as an obstacle to this effort, both through actions and words, pray for them to be guided.”
“Don’t challenge our emotions”
The “concert saga” started last Friday (Aug 19) when Ahmad Fadhli took to Facebook to warn organisers of concerts in Malaysia not to “challenge the emotions of Muslims”.
While he did not mention any concert in particular, his statement came barely one day after American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish’s concert at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Ahmad Fadhli said the “continuous holding” of concerts in Malaysia would “invoke the anger of God”, leading his counterpart from DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) Dr Kelvin Yii to say that the Almighty would be angrier with “blatant corruption, bad governance, inequality, discrimination and oppressive laws”.
As he urged PAS to stop interfering with the constitutional rights of non-Malays and non-Muslims, Yii claimed PAS has “nothing else constructive” to offer to Malaysians besides “creating animosity” in a multicultural society like Malaysia.
Following that, Fadhli told the Bandar Kuching MP and his party to reflect on themselves first before pointing fingers at PAS, claiming that DAP MPs “bring no new ideas when debating in Parliament”.
“Instead, they bring rubbish,” he reportedly said, adding: “These kinds of people should take a good look in the mirror and take note of the performance of their MPs.”
This prompted Yii to urge Ahmad Fadhli to look at the official Hansards from Parliament to “know the difference” between PAS and DAP debates in Parliament.
The Pakatan Harapan youth chief said: “I vividly remember how PAS MPs brought up the issues of air stewardess outfits, Netflix censorship and short skirts, besides insulting the Bible – all just in this (Parliamentary) term alone.”
PAS’s stand on concerts is nothing new. For instance, the party had called for American singer Selena Gomez’s 2016 Malaysian concert to be banned because it allegedly promoted “Western culture and hedonism”. – Aug 25, 2022
Main pic credit: Prestige Online
