A concert was reportedly organised at the Kedah State Art Gallery near one of the most renowned mosques in Kedah, Masjid Zahir, last Saturday (1 October). Footages of the event were spreading on social media, especially TikTok.
The participants, mainly youths, were seen dancing and partying with live bands and loud music, like attending a rave party.
Many netizens were mad to see such an event near the mosque because they thought this was disrespectful.
MBAS denies giving permission
The Alor Setar City Council (MBAS) insists that they have not permitted any festival organiser to hold such a concert.
The city’s mayor, Datuk Zaid Ahmad, expressed regret at the incident, which violated the rules and caused discomfort to the state’s people.
“We have only permitted busking and store sales like food trucks or children’s games.”
He added that his party would carry out further investigations, including calling upon the organisers to get an explanation regarding the matter.
Kedah State Office to investigate
Chairman of the Tourism, Arts and Culture Committee, Mohd. Firdaus Ahmad said he had discussed this matter with Menteri Besar, who has also expressed his regret in seeing such an incident.
His office will send an official letter to the parties involved to request an explanation about the incident, which is considered to defame the state government.
“We will do investigations, including an internal one because the co-organiser of this festival is the Kedah State Museum Board. As the chairman, I will take a close look into why this incident happened,” he said when contacted by Kosmo.
Commenting further, he said the state government had not received detailed information about the festival’s content, including the concert.
“The state government and the museum were not informed that a concert like this would occur. The permission only includes providing a site at the state’s Art Gallery for the festival of young entrepreneurs. What happened at the concert was unexpected,” he explained.
He added that the state government has decided to tighten all applications for programs or events in the state.
“All event applications, once approved by the local authority (PBT) and the organisers, also need approval from the relevant Exco Office. We will review all the filings of the event and the guidelines.
“What the Menteri Besar emphasised, things like this can bring the wrath of Allah S.W.T even though we see young people having fun and being interesting so that we will avoid things like this happening again in the future,” he said.
Police investigating too
Kedah Police Chief Datuk Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said when contacted by Utusan that he will also summon all the parties involved in the concert’s organisation.
“The permit for this program is under the local authority (PBT), and I was informed that the organisers got permission from the authorities but went excessive and uncontrolled.
“PBT gave permits for busking, but these young people jumped around and acted out of control, causing an uproar on social media. Whatever we do, we will investigate, including calling the organisers,” he said.
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Cover image via TikTok/ @sirap_layci
