PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will issue a show-cause letter to Crackhouse Comedy Club as it has been operating without the correct licence, says Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias.
He said Crackhouse has been operating in the city's Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) suburb with only a restaurant licence, not an entertainment licence.
“They need both. So they definitely violated the terms (of the licence)," he said when contacted on Monday (July 11).
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Jalauddin said the letter will be issued on Tuesday (July 12) and Crackhouse will have 14 days to respond.
“They can appeal within 14 days and apply for the entertainment licence, and this falls under the purview of the DBKL licensing committee.
“I will leave it to the committee to investigate whether the present licence has been abused,” he added.
Last weekend, a 54-second video circulated on social media showing a woman claiming to have memorised 15 juz of the Quran and then discarding her tudung and baju kurung, leaving her in a low-cut top and short skirt.
On Sunday (July 10), DBKL announced the suspension of the comedy club pending investigations of the premises' licence.
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Many had defended Crackhouse, saying that the suspension was a heavy-handed approach.
Live music venue Merdekarya, which regularly organises open mic nights, also urged DBKL to retract the suspension of Crackhouse.
Veteran actor Datuk Afdlin Shauki Aksan also felt DBKL’s shuttering of the venue was unfair as the incident had occurred during an open mic night.
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He also said venues such as Crackhouse had contributed a lot to the entertainment scene in the country, despite not being profitable.
“Places like this need to stay open. Crackhouse is a place where many stand-up comedians learnt their art,” he said in a recent Facebook post.
An open mic is an event where anyone is welcomed to perform music or stand-up comedy, depending on the venue.
