Malaysia cans October beer festival as Muslims object “vice”
The Better Beer Festival, Malaysia’s biggest annual craft beer event roughly modeled after Munich’s famous Oktoberfest, has been scrapped after an influential Muslim party voiced its anger in a Facebook campaign.about what it perceives as a “vicious event” in the Muslim-majority country.
The festival, which was due to take place on October 6 and 7 in its sixth year in a row at a shopping mall on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, has come under fire from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) which claimed the events was “Western” and “un-Islamic” and would turn Kuala Lumpur into “the biggest center of vice in Asia”.
A member of PAS’ central committee, Riduan Mohd Nor, claimed that there was “no guarantee that such events would not lead to criminal acts, rape and free sex” and that the festival was “shameful for an Islamic country like Malaysia,”
Drinking alcohol is common among the large ethnic minorities, namely Chinese and Indian, in Malaysia but there have been a growing number of protests against related activities and events by Muslim politicians and hardliners.
The organisers on September 18 announced “with disappointment” that the festival would not go ahead after Kuala Lumpur City Hall instructed them to cancel it due to licensing issues and “the political sensitivity surrounding the event”.
Around 6,000 people had been expected to attend the two-day festival, which would have featured craft beers from a dozen countries.
The Better Beer Festival, Malaysia's biggest annual craft beer event roughly modeled after Munich's famous Oktoberfest, has been scrapped after an influential Muslim party voiced its anger in a Facebook campaign.about what it perceives as a "vicious event" in the Muslim-majority country. The festival, which was due to take place on October 6 and 7 in its sixth year in a row at a shopping mall on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, has come under fire from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) which claimed the events was "Western" and "un-Islamic" and would turn Kuala Lumpur into "the biggest center of...
The Better Beer Festival, Malaysia’s biggest annual craft beer event roughly modeled after Munich’s famous Oktoberfest, has been scrapped after an influential Muslim party voiced its anger in a Facebook campaign.about what it perceives as a “vicious event” in the Muslim-majority country.
The festival, which was due to take place on October 6 and 7 in its sixth year in a row at a shopping mall on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, has come under fire from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) which claimed the events was “Western” and “un-Islamic” and would turn Kuala Lumpur into “the biggest center of vice in Asia”.
A member of PAS’ central committee, Riduan Mohd Nor, claimed that there was “no guarantee that such events would not lead to criminal acts, rape and free sex” and that the festival was “shameful for an Islamic country like Malaysia,”
Drinking alcohol is common among the large ethnic minorities, namely Chinese and Indian, in Malaysia but there have been a growing number of protests against related activities and events by Muslim politicians and hardliners.
The organisers on September 18 announced “with disappointment” that the festival would not go ahead after Kuala Lumpur City Hall instructed them to cancel it due to licensing issues and “the political sensitivity surrounding the event”.
Around 6,000 people had been expected to attend the two-day festival, which would have featured craft beers from a dozen countries.
