KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — Umno Youth today rubbished Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s promise to bring a popular Korean boy band to perform in Malaysia next year.
Speaking to ProjekMM today, its chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said that Syed Saddiq’s statement would make Malaysia a laughing stock, as it portrays the country as having no identity of its own.
“Foreign tourists who vacation here want to see our culture. Don’t make us a laughing stock for lifting and copying a foreign culture.
“Aren’t there any local talents? Is this the Malaysia Baharu touted by Pakatan Harapan (PH)? When we have so many local talents, why do we have to prefer foreigners?” Asyraf asked.
Syed Saddiq had in a press conference yesterday promised that he will do all he can to bring Korean K-pop group BTS to Malaysia in 2020.
He said he has tasked aviation mogul Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, who was appointed as chairman of Malaysia Stadium Corporation (PSM) last year, to deliver on this pledge.
“I’ve just met with the promoter for the BTS event and we are in the negotiation phase. Our hope is to get BTS here for Visit Malaysia 2020,” Syed Saddiq told reporters at Putrajaya today.
“I’ve tasked Tan Sri Tony Fernandes to deliver and this is one of his KPIs (Key Performance Index),” he said.
Syed Saddiq said Malaysia is losing out to Singapore as a destination for entertainment and that the stadiums here are being underused.
“Recently the biggest entertainment event we had was the Ed Sheeran concert and that went well. If people see that we’re capable of organising world class events it will attract investors.
“I do not want to be left behind Singapore anymore. We’ve seen fans will fly from all over to Singapore (for events) because we’re not competitive and we’re losing out on this revenue,” he added.
Prior to Asyraf’s criticism, Syed Saddiq’s remark had already met with fiery comments from social media users.
BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band formed by Big Hit.
They have been named by many media outlets as the “biggest boy-band in the world” at the moment.
