KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — The Immigration Department said it would bar individuals coming to Malaysia for a beer festival that it claimed contradicted Malaysia’s “culture”, despite the government’s claims the event had been banned due to a terror threat.
Local daily The Star reported that Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali as saying in Balik Pulau that his department was working with the police and the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to identify those individuals, as well as people coming for a purported gay party scheduled in Kuala Lumpur.
“Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had instructed me not to allow them to enter the country, and I had also conveyed the information to the 137 entry points managed by us.
“The beer festival or gay party is against our country’s culture and we will be strict in denying their entry,” Mustafar was quoted telling a press conference after meeting with representatives from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and airline operators at the Penang International Airport yesterday.
He reportedly declined to give details about individuals who have been identified and said the list was based on foreigners who were barred from entering Malaysia and Malaysians prohibited from leaving the country.
A dance party in Kuala Lumpur scheduled on September 30, which is promoted as the warm-up event to the annual gay festival White Party Bangkok, has caused an uproar among some Muslims here, prompting reaction from the authorities.
Separately, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall rejected an application from Mybeer (M) Sdn Bhd to organise the Better Beer Festival 2017 scheduled next month at a shopping centre, following objections from Islamist party PAS who claimed the event encouraged immorality.
The police then claimed the beer festival had to be cancelled because it could be a target for militants. MCA also claimed the event was banned for security, not religious reasons.
