Kedah Exco: State to Disallow All Open Air Concerts After Unlicensed Concert Near Mosque Goes Viral

Almost a week ago, an unlicenced concert led to Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Haji Muhammad Sanusi bin Md Nor announcing a ban on concerts in all of Kedah after a video recording of a musical performance near the Kedah State Art Gallery, invited a sense of uneasiness among the community, as it was held not far from the Zahir Mosque.

Now, the Kedah government has officially banned all open-air concerts in the state, says Tourism, Arts and Culture, Youth and Sports, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Committee chairman Mohd Firdaus Ahmad.

According to BERNAMA, Firdaus said the decision was made following discussions with Kedah Menteri Besar during the recent state executive council meeting.

“I presented the issue in the meeting and the decision made by the state government is to prohibit and not allow any open-air concert in Kedah.”

However, he made it clear that this doesn’t mean that the government does not allow any kind of programmes, “Some say that the state government does not allow any kind of programme to be organised, don’t misunderstand.”

“There is no problem if you want to conduct a programme, but if you want to insert an open-air concert into the programme, that is not allowed,” he said after officiating the National Sports Day at the Kedah State level here today.

Meanwhile, Firdaus said as such, any entertainment permit requested by the organisers to district officials would not be approved.

“All district officials already know the standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been set, if the requested application is accurate, and compliant with the SOP, then the permit to run the programme will be given,” he explained.

“Not everything is prohibited, for example, nasyid concerts, busking, or programmes that are conducted in the hall or in private, it may still be considered by district officials.”

What do you think of this? It is reasonable enough?

Also read: Kedah MB Bans Concerts in Kedah After Crowd Goes Crazy at Unlicensed Concert Near Mosque