Selangor is seeing a rise in questionable marriages involving foreign nationals and local women, allegedly to exploit a business licensing loophole.
State local government and tourism committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim said due to this, enforcement action was often complicated because the licences were registered under the Malaysian spouses’ names.
“During enforcement operations, the individuals concerned frequently claim they are only assisting their spouses in running the businesses,” he said.
“We face a dilemma in taking action because the licence is legally valid and registered under the name of a Malaysian citizen,” he said during a press conference at Bangunan Dewan Negeri Selangor in Shah Alam.
He said local authorities had limited grounds to revoke such licences unless there was evidence of licensing condition violations or other offences under the law.
“The state government will continue working with Immigration Department and relevant agencies to determine the best way to tackle the issue, which has been reported at several industrial and commercial hotspots in Selangor.
“These cases have been identified particularly in Sungai Rasau and Section 15, Shah Alam, which are hubs for commercial activities and business opportunities,” he said.
On a separate issue, Ng said the state government was considering placing indoor children’s playlands and education-themed parks under the edutainment category to reduce their annual licence fees.
This follows operators’ calls to review the proposed reclassification of children’s playlands under the entertainment licensing category, which would see annual licence fees rise nearly 13-fold.
“Some operators have raised concerns over the revised fee of RM6,390 per year, compared with RM500 previously, as they say their theme parks serve an educational purpose for children,” he said.
“When we visited some of the theme parks with local councils and Malaysian Association of Theme Parks and Family Attractions (Mafta), we found that they carried educational elements.
“Hence, the state will look for a way to introduce an edutainment licensing category without having to amend Selangor Entertainment and Places of Entertainment Enactment 1995.”
He said Penang government successfully introduced the edutainment category without amending any enactments.
“Selangor local councils have been asked to hold engagement sessions with their counterparts in Penang to learn from them.
“Support from Selangor Education Department is crucial to determine whether a theme park is truly educational.”
Ng was responding to Mafta’s proposal to retain indoor children’s playlands and theme parks under the recreational licensing category, with fee exemptions considered for facilities serving lower-income communities.
