There’s been a lot of discussions about concerts lately. While most are excited to finally see their favourite artists perform live on stage again, there are those who expressed that concerts in Malaysia should be banned altogether, especially for Muslims. Some religious leaders and preachers believe that concerts are pointless or would lead one to stray from religion.
Many disagreed on the call to ban concerts in Malaysia as it is merely another form of entertainment. Others are calling these religious leaders hypocrites as they’ve been silent on some local concerts after condemning the ones by international acts such as BLACKPINK. Baby Shima even had a lot to say about the topic.
The “Riuh Sokmo!” concert was recently held in the state of Kelantan from 16th to 19th September. The festival that trended on social media got netizens wondering as to why there were no calls to ban or cancel the concert. In a series of IG stories, Baby Shima expressed her frustration at the lack of action from preachers and conservatives who were quick to criticiseher for her previous performances.
“There was a concert in Kelantan, where are the preachers and conservatives? Didn’t you want to do a large protest for concerts?,” she said. The 29-year-old even name-dropped a few preachers such as PU Syed and PAS member Kartini Ahmad by posting screenshots of their comments about her to call them out on their hypocrisy. “You were quick to react when it came to my shows but chose to stay silent on the Kelantan concert?” she added.
Baby Shima wasn’t the only celeb that had something to say about the trending topic. Rapper and entrepreneur Caprice also posted a video to share his thoughts on the issue by specifically mentioning PAS Youth Chief Ahmad Fadhli. “This [Riuh] concert was right there in your backyard but where the hell is your protest? Or did you pretend this didn’t happen cause it’s a friend’s concert perhaps?” commented the “Koyak” artist.
For further context, politician and PAS Youth Chief Ahmad Fadhli urged the government last month to ban both foreign and local concerts in Malaysia as he believes that the values these concerts bring are “contrary to Islam as a federal religion”. He has yet to comment on the recent “Riuh Sokmo” show that was held in Kelantan.
According to FreeMalaysiaToday, the PAS Youth Chief of Kelantan, Mohamad Kamal urged the state government to take strict action against concert organisers who violates the state’s entertainment enactment. However, according to HarakhDaily, the concert was approved by the Ketereh District Council Islamic Municipal as it followed the regulations set.
