KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian Islamic Party (or Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, PAS) on Thursday (Feb 1) called on the Anwar Ibrahim administration to ban artistes who support the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from performing in the country, ahead of a much-anticipated concert by Ed Sheeran in February.
The PAS ulama council, known by its Malay abbreviation DUPP, said that allowing such artistes to perform just before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is insensitive.
“DUPP urges the government to take a firm stand by cancelling the concert by a Western artiste when Muslims are on the verge of Ramadan.
“More saddening is that not only will the organisation of the concert pollute the sanctity of the month of Ramadan which is approaching, but the invited artiste has a background of LGBT ideology which is firmly rejected by Malaysia,” DUPP chief Ahmad Yahaya said in a statement.
He said that the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes — which decides whether or not a foreign artiste gets to perform in Malaysia — should impose stricter conditions to ensure no LGBT elements seep in.
“Are we still not aware of the disgusting tragedy by a pro-LGBT group, ‘The 1975’, who performed an indecent scene in front of thousands of spectators in addition to insulting the country’s stance of rejecting the ideology?” he asked.
He was referring to the English group that prematurely ended last year’s Good Vibes concert when its frontman Matt Healy kissed another bandmate and ranted against the Malaysian government on stage.
“As such, DUPP urges the government to never allow the performance of any pro-LGBT Western artiste to respect the glory of the month of Ramadan,” Mr Ahmad added.
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is scheduled to perform at Malaysia’s Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Feb 24.
This will be his second concert in Malaysia. His first was held at the Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil in 2017.
On Wednesday, Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil disclosed that performance applications by foreign artists, including Ed Sheeran, would have already been reviewed by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department before being allowed to perform here.
Mr Fahmi said that there are no changes to the approval for now but he asserted that the government will look into the matter according to its current guidelines if the need to revise the approval arises.
The Penang mufti (Islamic jurist) on Wednesday had asked the government to revoke the permit for Sheeran’s scheduled performance.
The Penang mufti said that Sheeran was a supporter of the LGBT community, which was not in line with the teachings of Islam. MALAY MAIL
