KUALA KLAWANG, Sept 27 — US pop star Beyonce Knowles can perform in Malaysia as long as she follows the rules, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said in face of an uproar among conservative Muslims protesting the sexy singer’s show next month.
The information, communication and culture minister’s support for the Beyonce’s Oct 25 show came after he relented to allow Muslims to watch US hiphop group Black Eyed Peas perform at the Guinness’ Arthur’s Day in Sunway Lagoon last Friday. Muslims were initially barred from the event sponsored by the global beverage company celebrating its 250th anniversary.
Both Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas headlined the F1 Rocks show in Singapore last night as a prelude to the Singapore GP race later tonight.
“If she deliberately bares her body and violates the conditions imposed by the authorities, then she would be prevented from performing,” he told reporters after hosting an Aidilfitri open house here yesterday.
He said those opposing her show should be patient and see whether it adhered to the conditions imposed, and it would certainly be wrong if the show offended the religion
He noted that protests against popular Western entertainers coming to perform in Malaysia were nothing new. Among those protesting the show is the PAS Youth, which has a history of opposing concerts in Malaysia on grounds that it would affect the morals of youths in the country.
For the Black Eyed Peas show last Friday, Malaysian authorities made the organisers stream concert-goers into Muslim and non-Muslim gates although the concert itself was not divided into sections..
Malaysia has hosted several international acts over the years but Beyonce shelved her Malaysian concert also in late 2007 and went to perform in Indonesia after pressure to cover up and tone down what was seen as a sexually-provocative performance.
However, singer Gwen Stefani dressed modestly during her concert in 2007 while organisers for the Pussy Cat Dolls concert in Sunway Lagoon were fined for their sexy performance in 2006.
Most internationals have lined up to perform in either Bangkok, Jakarta or Singapore rather than face protests in Malaysia, preventing the country from being a top destination for pop stars.
Singapore has taken advantage of such restrictions in Malaysia to attract top acts and Malaysian audience to concerts in the island state.
Apart from Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas, the Singapore F1 Rocks concert saw the reunion of No Doubt and appearances by Simple Minds, ZZ Top, Jacky Cheung, Da Mouth and Sodagreen.
2 comments:
Alamak, kalau Beyonce is not allowed to wear skimpy clothes and gyrates her sexy body, then how can we get our money's worth? You think the tickets are cheap? All those people who sets all the stupid rules are just hypocrites who are probably drooling over her picture. Hahaha.
It's sad that we have to come to this. If worst comes to worst, just ban the muslims then if it helps you sleep better at night. But, that's not gonna solve anything!
Why be a hypocrite? We're all adults here and wise enough to decide for ourselves. Please concentrate on other important areas that is blighting the country instead of this.
Joke.
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