PETALING JAYA, March 8 — Istana Budaya has denied allegations of favouritism and being unsystematic and pointed the finger back at singer Man Bai over the rejection of the latter’s application to hold a concert at the venue.
Replying to accusations by the Kau Ilhamku crooner, Istana Budaya director-general Datuk Mohamed Juhari Shaarani said the application was incomplete, and submitted too late.
“We received an application from Man Bai for the Konsert 2V Man Bai + Rahim Maarof in August 2018, but it was incomplete.
“Istana Budaya accepts applications at least a year in advance, such as the Konsert Duo Lagenda with Jamal Abdillah and M. Nasir, which was received much earlier in 2017,” he said with regards to the concert held in December last year.
Juhari told Malay daily Kosmo! it was known that Istana Budaya has a continuous calendar of events through the year, and Man Bai’s application had been rejected due to the lack of availability of slots which were taken up by programmes that had been in queue.
Man Bai, whose real name is Abdul Rahman Osman, had vented that the slot on December 22 and 23 last year had been handed over to Konsert Duo Lagenda due to favouritism practised by Istana Budaya.
Konsert 2V Man Bai + Rahim Maarof however has found an alternative venue, and will be staged at the Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman, at the Malaysia Tourism Center (MaTiC) in Kuala Lumpur on April 6.
