KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Promoters of indie groups are crying foul over the need to pay for a “professional visitor visa pass” for foreign bands playing in the country, claiming they hardly break even given the small number of people who attend such concerts.
DYS Booking Agency, who flew in Australian band I Killed the Prom Queen said they were in a “losing game”, after the five-piece metal group failed to obtain the required visa pass to perform. The band were held by the Immigration Department on Sunday, after performing in front of 250 fans at Fahrenheit 88 in Bukit Bintang a day earlier. The musicians were released and they returned to Australia on Monday.
“For a concert of this magnitude, the total production costs was RM20,000. To break even, we need to sell 270 tickets priced at RM75 each. With the additional RM5,000 (for the professional visit passes), we cannot survive,” said the agency’s founder, identified as Ann Dys.
He said the RM5,000 was the amount the agency usually paid to a “runner” to settle such visa matters. When asked what had happened this time around, he replied: “I don’t know.”
Dys said he had been in the business since 2009 and this was his first run-in with the authorities.
A source in the department had on Monday confirmed it had received complaints about the band’s visa status from the Central Agency for Application of Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal).
The source added the agency was instructed to file the necessary visa requirements prior to the band’s gig. Dys, however, said they were given “just a matter of hours” to obtain the required documentation.
“We were informed of the visa issue on Friday at 3pm, and as far as I know, the Immigration office closes at 4.30pm or 5pm that day, and it’s not open on a Saturday.
“A culprit tipped off the authorities ... I don’t know who. Our runner usually handles this but he failed to do so on this occasion,” he added.
“We are here to keep our music scene alive.”
Skesh Entertainment founder Nadeem A. Salam reaffirmed similar problems promoters face.
“It is not fair that indie promoters, whose shows are capped at 300 attendees, need to pay the same permit and visa fees as a 30,000-cap show,” said Nadeem.
“It doesn’t allow promoters to make any kind of money from these events — it is redundant and incriminating.”
This issue came to light after the band’s guitarist Jona Weinhofen tweeted on Sunday: “Apparently we’re going to be detained for four to 14 days in a Malaysian immigration detention centre”.
Weinhofen had yesterday tweeted: “A lot of press is stating we were deported. For the record, we were released with no action against us & apologised to by DG of Immigration.”
