LAUGHING STOCK! Putrajaya to probe K-pop concert organisers for 'MOLEST' of Malay girls

KUALA LUMPUR - The organisers of a controversial mini-concert featuring South Korean band B1A4 will be summoned to meet officials from the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) over claims that the artists had molested three-tudung clad Malay fans on stage, Malaysia’s foremost Islamic authority said today.

In a statement here, the federal Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha added that the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) will also take “appropriate action“ against the event organisers as it was within their jurisdiction to do so.

“Jakim has been made to understand that Puspal officials will summon the organisers and Jakim is willing to cooperate in this matter,“ he said, using the acronym for the central agency for application for filming and performance by foreign artists. Puspal is under the purview of KKMM.

Describing what took place during the mini-concert as “shameful“, Othman said that Malay girls should not be “obsessed“ over K-pop artists and that the permits for such events should be reviewed as it brought about more problems than benefits.

“Jakim has published a guideline on entertainment events allowed in Islam back in 2007.

“Did all the agencies and the organiser of the event take heed of this guideline? This concert was not referred to Jakim, in fact Jakim had no idea about the event,“ the Jakim D-G added.

The event organisers have denied claims that the artists had molested three tudung-clad Malay fans on stage last Saturday night, saying that they were against sexual harassment and that the event company was run mostly by women.

This was after thousands of angry Internet users took to Facebook to share and comment on a three-minute viral video of the artists hugging and embracing the Malay girls on stage.

In a statement posted on their official Facebook page, the event’s organiser, TGM Events, said the fans were picked at random based on questions that they posted on a message board with only their first name.

“As a company run primarily by women, we do not and never will condone molestation or sexual harassment as alleged by the media outlet.

“The terminology used was taken out of context and it is extremely disappointing to us to witness an act of such irresponsible journalism,” said the statement, referring to thee video.

The clip, which was posted on the Sukan Star TV Facebook page, was suggestively titled “Perempuan melayu dicabul atas pentas oleh mat kpop semalam” (Malay girls molested on stage by K-Pop artists last night).

The video has since been shared over 19,000 times and attracted over 13,000 comments from viewers. - TMI