PAS rep says she objected to 'Thirst' concert due to complaints

PETALING JAYA: Amidst a dispute with her counterparts in DAP on the cancellation of the ‘Thirst 2015: We Are All Stardust’ concert, PAS Seri Serdang assemblyman Noor Hanim Ismail says she had to act on complaints from the public.

“I opposed it not just because I’m a Muslim, but I needed to be responsible to my constituents who had voiced their concern too,” she said, admitting penning an official complaint letter to the authorities that led to the last minute cancellation of the concert.

She said she felt compelled to oppose the concert to prevent any untoward incidents similar to that which occurred at Future Music Festival concert in Bukit Jalil in March last year that resulted in six dead from drug overdose.

“I’m more concerned about the safety of the people, and it was the authorities who made the decision to cancel it. As an assemblyman, I needed to give my views on this,” she told The Star Online.

An online news portal had reported that Noor Hanim had sent a letter dated Apr 24 to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ), a day before the concert was to take place.

The concert was to be held at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC) in Seri Kembangan, under the Serdang parliamentary constituency.

In the letter, Noor Hanim said the concert organiser tended to use different company names to apply for permits, but it was always the same people behind the scenes.

She then claimed that the organisers were the same people involved in the controversial Bukit Jalil concert and similar activities had been carried out in a proramme in SIC Sepang previously.

“The Sepang Municipal Council has blacklisted the organiser for violating the terms and for excessive entertainment. It was suspected that there was widespread use of drugs and other banned substances,” she said, describing the Thirst 2015 concert as a “mega disco”.

Noor Hanim, however, acknowledged that the concert’s cancellation has earned the ire of her colleagues in DAP, particularly Sri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah and Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming who had said that the decision was not fair to organisers.

“They are Chinese, but as a Muslim and a PAS assemblyman, we wouldn’t want any evil deeds to take place in front of our eyes,” she said.

The police, on Sunday, said they had withdrawn their support for the concert at the last minute for safety reasons, despite the initial green light given to the organisers on March 25.