As Riyadh dances, PAS is out of tune

IT may be news to PAS – and they will hardly be able to believe it – but Saudi Arabia has been promoting international concerts, including even rave parties. Party-goers are even free to dance together.

Massive reforms are taking place in this once deeply conservative country but thanks to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, rapid and radical plans are being pushed ahead, leaving even some clerics aghast.

MBS, as he is known, has allowed women to drive while improvements are taking place in areas like employment and freedom of movement.

What’s more, over the past few years, especially before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, international concerts had already taken place in Riyadh, with men and women allowed to dance together.

Big acts such as Justin Bieber, Pit Bull, Jason Derulo, A$AP Rocky, Black Eyed Peas and Salman Khan have all performed in this Arab nation. Rave parties featuring French DJ David Guetta have also taken place.

In fact, South Korea’s biggest K-pop group, BTS, also performed in Riyadh – and they got VVIP treatment.

Saudi Arabia officially announced in December 2021 that it plans “to offer up to 600% more concerts”.

Over in Malaysia though, we seem to be regressing. We have PAS Youth threatening to stage nationwide protests unless the Federal Government cancels all upcoming concerts featuring international artistes.

Its Youth chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari claims the concerts will encourage “hedonism” – a PAS favourite term – and were not in line with the norms and values of Muslim life in Malaysia.

He said: “Our party will not hesitate to stir up resistance across the country if these are not cancelled.”

This is what happens when a little power gets into the head of PAS leaders. With just 18 parliamentary seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, it has become part of the Federal Government, only because of how the country’s political scenario has unfolded.

PAS leader Datuk Idris Ahmad now holds the religious affairs minister post. He was given a royal rebuke recently by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, after warning Muslims against attending the Japanese cultural celebration Bon Odori.

The Islamist party, which has long run the Kelantan government, has closed cinemas, banned concerts, and imposed gender segregation including at supermarket check-outs. Unisex hair salons are a no-no, too.

Now that is has squirmed into the Federal Government, PAS seems to be trying to push its luck – and authority – on the rest of Malaysia.

The Islamist party, which always seems soft and even apologetic when it comes to real issues like corruption, is always loud when it comes to the subject of lifestyles.

It has conveniently forgotten that Malaysia is a multiethnic and multireligious country and that it has no right to impose its interpretation of religious values on others. After all, religious freedom is guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, who is also the special envoy to West Asia, should be explaining to his party members and supporters why huge changes are taking shape in Saudi Arabia.

He might want to start with the news – which will be heartbreaking for the PAS folk – that Saudi Arabia has even staged the MDLBeast Soundstorm festival, its version of Tomorrowland, a Belgian electronic dance festival.

In Riyadh, the party went on for four nights with non-stop entertainment, dancing and electronic tunes, with 500,000 people attending.

Perhaps, PAS needs to organise a lawatan sambil belajar (study tour) to Saudi Arabia soon to see all these purportedly hedonistic concerts, featuring foreign acts.

But then, PAS might be more interested in visiting the Taliban in Afghanistan.