No 'Revealing' Outfits For Gwen Stefani's Malaysian Concert
U.S. pop singer Gwen Stefani will not wear revealing costumes during her concert in Malaysia, the show's organizer said Thursday, after protests from Muslim students about her sexy outfits and steamy acts.Maxis Communications Bhd. said it "respects the values and conventions of this country" and pledged that Stefani would follow the local code of ethics for foreign artists, which bans the unnecessary baring of skin.
"Gwen Stefani has confirmed that her concert will not feature any revealing costumes. She will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities," it said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Maxis, the country's biggest mobile phone company, said tickets were selling fast. Maxis hopes to attract some 9,000 people to the Aug 21. concert, which is part of the 37-year-old singer's Sweet Escape world tour that also includes Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.
The National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students, which has some 10,000 members, charged that Stefani's skimpy dressing and cheeky performances clashed with Islamic values.
"Her performance and her attire are not suitable for our culture. It promotes a certain degree of obscenity and will encourage youth to emulate the western lifestyle. The concert should be stopped," the union's vice president, Abdul Muntaqim, told The AP.
Ethnic Malay Muslims form about 60 percent of Malaysia's population, with ethnic Chinese and Indians of Christian, Buddhist and Hindu faiths forming most of the rest.
Siti Zaleha Baba, a senior official at the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, said the concert would go on but enforcement officers would meet Stefani before the concert to remind her about local guidelines as well as monitor her stage act. "There is no problem so far. (The concert promoter) has told us what clothes she will wear for the concert," she added.
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 after the U.S. all-girl group was found to have flouted decency regulations. (International Herald Tribune)
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Labels: Entertainment, Intolerance, Malaysia Boleh
posted by The Malaysian. at 8/03/2007 09:59:00 AM
9 Comments:
Get Gwen Stefani to perform for NUMMS members dressed in baju kebaya or baju kurung. With 10,000 members the could fill up Putra Stadium. They may have to pay though.
These are the guardian of our morality. For me they are just trying to find an issue to bring cheap publicity to themselves. From an obscure union they have now become the most talked about union.
The communication company could be at fault too for sending mass advertisements on handphones to popularise the event. I havent seen the clip but it maybe too sexy to these boys who have just reached the age of puberty. Obscene maybe too strong a word for some sexy clip. Doubt that they know the real meaning of obscene.
Am in one of the countries on Gwen's tour and heard her being interviewed on the radio. She mostly talks about her husband and child and all in all sounds like your normal mother and wife who happens to also be a popstar.
To the NUMMS, any woman not covered from head to toe is obscene. What do they want, only nasyid concerts performed by men-only groups where only men are in the audience? I think that's even wierder than any Gwen Stefani concert.
And HOW do they know she's sexy anyway? Didn't they lower their eyes as the Quran exhorts them to do? Or are they going by hearsay and gossip?
Gwen Stefani will be singing and dancing while veiled and dressed in a burqa. For all you know, a transvesite would be taking her place under that black tent.
All I can say is that these group of fellows are nothing more than a bunch of HYPOCRITES!
who are these people to impose their mores and values on others. if they find her dressings to be offensive, then dont go to the show. Isnt that hard to do?
btw, is this a sign of talibanisation of the country? Mr Snooze, did this show of protest has your tacit approval and in accordance with Islam Hadhari?
Hey you morons! Yeah, you...the one who hide under a shell, the one who has no iota of discipline in you to control your hormones, who are you to tell me what to watch? who gave you the authority to pass judgment on our values? Have you not heard o f the word TOLERANCE ? Do we have to give and not take all the time?
Tell you much about these people when a woman on stage is able to lead them the wrong path. Look inside yourself and ask yourself, 'How actually STRONG is thy faith?".
well well...if it isnt The National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students. To all the disappointed fans of Gwen Stefani that wanted a full on concert..all those that bought tickets to the show...all of u should stand up to this and really hantam this group of ppl.
or maybe this group of ppl are jealous that only foreigners come to Malaysia to perform and not their artists going elsewhere to perform. whatever it is..how dare they make decisions to impinge on other ppl's freedom...if they want to cover themselves up like a Egyptian mummy by all means but y do u have to make other do so against their own will...
its these groups that give all other moderate Islamic groups and communities around the world a bad name. So next time we shouldnt be selling pork in Malaysia? Looks like its heading that way!!!!
Errr, anyone expecting to be offended by any artistes performance doesn't HAVE to pay money to attend.
The 37th meeting of the fatwa committee for muslim affairs held on the 23rd Mac 1995 had issued a ruling stating that smoking is HARAM(not kosher) This ruling applies to all muslim in Malaysia.
My question is this:
"How many NUMMS member are smokers?"
Hypocrite to the core!
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