KUALA LUMPUR – Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil has slammed the actions of certain parties behind a poster accusing him of allegedly instructing government-friendly parties to blame PAS for the cancellation of the Good Vibes Festival 2023 (GVF23) last Friday.
In a social media post last night, he said the Communications and Digital Ministry has instructed for reports to be lodged with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the police on the matter.
“On a day when we are mourning the loss of a close and esteemed colleague, there are still some who are not afraid to commit slander.
“How is it possible for those responsible for this poster not to have any fear of the law or the hereafter, by making slanderous statements like this? May Allah SWT protect us from slander and those behind them,” he wrote.
The poster, which has gone viral on social media, alleged that Fahmi had given instructions for PAS to be highlighted as an extremist party in a so-called desperate bid to shift the blame from him after approving the permit for British pop rock band The 1975 to perform in Malaysia.
The 1975’s performance at GVF 23 was stopped after its vocalist Matty Healy displayed vulgar and disrespectful actions before fans.
Healy was accused of holding a bottle of alcohol while on stage and making insulting remarks against Malaysia’s LGBTQ laws.
Fahmi said the permit application for The 1975’s performance was initially rejected by the Committee on Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (JK-Puspal) on June 23 over the band’s bad record.
However, he said on July 16, the organisers had appealed the decision and gave a written assurance, including one from the band manager, to take full responsibility for the group’s performance.
JK-Puspal allowed the appeal based on this guarantee, he added.
Fahmi said he had taken immediate action by strongly condemning the disrespectful actions of the group on Twitter and by calling for the organisers to provide an explanation at 10 am the next day, after which they had admitted their guilt and taken full responsibility.
He added that the instructions to cancel the festival, which had two more days to run, were also issued at about 1pm last Saturday, only about 14 hours after the incident. – July 25, 2023