S'porean comedian's permit cancellation took into account police reports, says Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR: The cancellation of the permit for popular comedian Sharul Channa to perform in Malaysia by the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) was made after taking into account police reports lodged over an old video of hers that allegedly touched on race, religion, and royalty (3R) issues, says Fahmi Fadzil.

The Communications Minister said Puspal had received information from the police that several reports had been lodged regarding the video of the Singaporean comedian, which had been recently re-uploaded.

"I have been made to understand that the video uploaded to promote the performance was uploaded recently, and as a result of the video, several police reports were lodged, and those reports indicated that it was related to 3R issues.

"That may be an old video, but the police reports are concerning 3R issues. So Puspal received that information and made a decision based on that scenario," he told reporters after attending the gala night and press conference of the film Memoir Seorang Guru here Monday (May 20) night.

Earlier, Sharul expressed her disappointment in a video posted on Facebook after her permit for the comedy show "Just Joking" at the Petaling Jaya Live Arts Centre was cancelled by Puspal two days before the event.

Fahmi said Puspal's action also served as a reminder to both local and foreign artistes not to touch on 3R issues that could affect national harmony.

"In Malaysia, if we touch on 3R issues, the authorities will act, and that is the reminder I give to social media users and artistes.

"This issue falls within the jurisdiction of the police to investigate," he said. - Bernama