Avril Lavigne Concert Cancelled - What Went Wrong?

Wednesday August 20, 2008 MYT 4:16:03 PM
Avril Lavigne concert cancelled
By LOH FOON FONG


KUALA LUMPUR: The Avril Lavigne concert in Shah Alam on Aug 29 has been cancelled.

Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Shafie Apdal said that the concert falls during the nation's independence period and was not a suitable time to hold such a concert.

There are a lot of events on Aug 29 and the Ministry does not want the independence and the near Ramadan month to be filled with such pop and rock culture, he said.

I appreciate his comment but isn't this a multi-racial country? Why can't we postpone it until after Independence Day's over instead of cancel it?

"As the Minister of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, we should be instilling good culture in the young but here we are allowing other parties to organise things," he said Wednesday after launching the IDeAS for enhancing Integrity book.

True we should instill good culture, but what does it got to do with music? I feel that music unite us. Is Pop Rock such a bad thing? Is our mind still so inferior that it would be corrupt with such concert?

Moreover, the organisers were promoting the event even before they got approval from the relevant agencies, he said.

Is this a case of not following the rule or is it a case of unclear rules? Too bad with all the promotion going on the radio and TV about this concert. Too bad to those who were waiting for Avil's concert. Now all those promotion gone wasted and no revenue recovered. Who lose in the end? I wander...

"All organisers, local and foreign, should adhere to the rules and regulations before promoting the concert and selling tickets to the public," he said, adding that Lavigne's organisers should have sought advice from the Kuala Lumpur City Council or the Ministry.

Really? Media people, please comment...

Asked if he knew why they had promoted the concert before it was approved, he said he did not know.

Asked if the Ministry's decision was in response to PAS Youth's call for cancellation, he said "no."