Last Friday (January 3), Selangor police reported that 4 people, ages 20 to 49, including 2 women, died after attending a New Year’s Eve concert.
As a result, the Selangor government plans to propose urine tests as part of the standard procedures for eventgoers to help prevent drug use and related issues at concerts in the state, as reported by BERNAMA.
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“We want to tighten the SOPs”
Datuk Ng Suee Lim, the State Executive Council Member for Local Government and Tourism, said the proposal will be discussed in the State Executive Council Meeting (MMKN) this Wednesday, January 8.
He explained that the goal is to look at any weaknesses and improve concert SOPs, like adding scanning equipment to stop people from bringing in illegal substances.
“We want to tighten the SOPs and find ways to work with the police and local authorities (PBT). When licenses or permits are given, we want to ensure organisers do proper checks, especially for drugs.”
This is part of the state government’s effort to review concert guidelines in Selangor to prevent drug-related deaths from happening again.
“After this, urine tests might be part of the SOP for attendees. This will be brought to the MMKN meeting to make sure people misusing or addicted to drugs aren’t allowed into concerts.”
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Suspension of concert permits
Selangor Exco for Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneurship, Mohd Najwan Halimi, said earlier that the state is taking this issue seriously and will have discussions with Ng about it.
As for whether temporarily suspending concert permits will affect the Visit Selangor Year 2025 campaign, Ng admitted it does impact organisers who’ve already spent money preparing for events.
He mentioned that while he doesn’t know the exact number of postponed events, he’s aware of one concert that was supposed to happen in Bandar Sunway next week but has now been moved to Kuala Lumpur.
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