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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysian Muslim party demands ban on Gwen Stefani |
| 2007-08-17 |
| Malaysia's Islamic opposition party demanded Friday that Gwen Stefani be forbidden from performing in the country, saying the U.S. pop singer would corrupt Malaysia's Muslim-majority youth. Kamarulzaman Mohamed, an official of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said Stefani's planned concert in Kuala Lumpur later this month would promote promiscuity, worsening an existing "teenage social problem." "The issue is that Gwen Stefani brings with her a bad image. The way she dances, the way she dresses — it's not proper," he told The Associated Press. "When our teenagers see this, it will induce them to behave improperly." Earlier Friday, members of the party, the only opposition party to rule a state in Malaysia, handed a two-page memorandum to the organizer, Maxis Communications Bhd., to call off the Aug. 21 concert. They also submitted a memorandum to the Kuala Lumpur municipal authorities. Their protest, however, is unlikely to have any effect, and preparations for the concert are well-underway, and Stefani has promised to dress modestly. Following a similar protest by the 10,000-member National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students earlier, organizer Maxis pledged that Stefani will follow the local code of ethics for foreign artists, which bans the unnecessary baring of skin. The Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry said enforcement officers would meet Stefani before the concert to remind her about local guidelines and monitor her stage act. I'm sure they'll all be scrutinizing her 'decency' very closely. Very, very closely. Under the official guide to performing in Malaysia, a female artist needs to cover from the top of her chest to her knees including shoulders. No jumping, shouting or throwing of objects on stage or at the audience is allowed. Performers can also not hug or kiss and their clothes must not have obscene or drug-related images or messages. A local company, which organized a Pussycat Dolls concert last year, was fined 10,000 ringgit (US$2,857, €2,091) after the U.S. all-girl group was found to have flouted decency regulations. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #10 Word, PlanetDan. Eggshell egos living inside a blender. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-17 15:40 |
| #9 OK, but it you get anywhere near Christina Aguilera you're going to have a mutiny on your hands! :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-08-17 15:18 |
| #8 MSM and Hollywood protests in 5...4... hey, where did all these damn crickets come from? |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-08-17 12:32 |
| #7 Ban on Gwen Stefani? What if she already uses Secret? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-08-17 11:20 |
| #6 Kamarulzaman Mohamed, an official of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said Stefani's planned concert in Kuala Lumpur later this month would promote promiscuity, worsening an existing "teenage social problem." He then asked for front row seats, a blanket, and a couple of gallons of hand cream... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-17 10:35 |
| #5 "Let's see. If we flout the decency rules, sales of albums and stuff goes up %1500. But we will have to pay a $3000 fine. Decisions, decisions. I guess we'll have to vie for 'artistic integrity' on this one. Is there any way she can have a 'garment malfunction' on stage?" |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-08-17 10:21 |
| #4 Something I just never understood: If their muslim values are so compelling, why do they have to worry about their adherents becoming corrupted? Wouldn't muslims just shun all these bad things on their own? Shouldn't they be expected to? Aren't they confident enough about their religion to believe that their people won't be drawn away from the magic of islam? Instead, they ban performers, music, TV, literature, art, etc., cover women from head to toe, get insulted when others eat pork, beat people for not praying, kill converts, etc. There is no compulsion in religion . . . yeah, right. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2007-08-17 09:33 |
| #3 A fatwa against Gwen? But she is just a girl! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-08-17 09:25 |
| #2 sounds like Kamarulzaman Mohamed got a tingling in his naughty parts while slo-mo'ing a Stefani music video, huh? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-17 09:08 |
| #1 Jeebus, I would say their turbans would explode when they get word that Christina A. and Beyonce are coming also, but then I remembered the Indonesian don't wear turbans. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-08-17 09:05 |