KUALA LUMPUR — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has introduced five new standard operating procedures (SOP) for organising concerts, specifically to curb drug use at electronic dance music (EDM) events.
Minister Hannah Yeoh said the move, with strategic partnerships with the Home Ministry and Health Ministry, is a proactive measure to curb drug abuse among youth and to ensure that entertainment activities are conducted in a safe environment.
The first three of the five SOPs are hydration points to overcome dehydration, having a medical team for emergency cases and visual reminders in the form of either trailer messages, posters, or videos on the dangers of drugs and steps to follow for the nearest person if an emergency occurs.
Fourthly, nearby hospitals are to be prepared to manage victims should any incident occur during a concert, and fifthly, the placement of K9 units for safety controls.
“Improving concert organisation SOPs are new conditions for EDM concert organisers, especially when it involves ministry facilities such as the Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia (PSM) and the Sepang International Circuit (SIC),” she told reporters during a media conference of the Drug-Free Youth campaign at Bukit Jalil Stadium yesterday.
Yeoh said that under the improved SOPs, the SIC and PSM will share their monthly concert schedules with the Royal Malaysia Police and the National Anti-Drug Agency.
She also encouraged all concert and event organisers at non-ministry facilities to use the SOP to ensure the safety and wellbeing of attendees.
As an integrated move, she said that the Malaysian AIDS Council would also create Safe Space as reference points on the dangers of drugs and banned substances for attendees.
The SOPs come after public outcry over four deaths at the Pinkfish New Year’s Eve Countdown concert in December last year, due to drug use.
One measure proposed by the Selangor government to curb drug use at such events is random urine tests on concertgoers. – April 22, 2025