Cops force last minute cancellation of Thirst concert, says Serdang MP

DAP's Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming says the only reason for the cancellation of the Thirst 2015: We Are All Stardust concert presented by Heineken was the last-minute pull-out on the part of the police from supporting the event. – The Malaysian Insider pic, April 26, 2015.The Thirst 2015: We Are All Stardust concert, scheduled to take place last night, was cancelled because the police withdrew their support for it at the last minute, Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming said.

He said the police sent a letter to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) on Friday saying they would not support the concert, leaving the council no choice but to withdraw the concert's permit at the 11th hour.

"On the afternoon of Friday, April 24, the police sent a letter to MPSJ stating that they would not support the concert. As a result, MPSJ was forced to withdraw the entertainment permit to the organisers of the event.

"The reason for the withdrawal of the police support for this event was not stated. This is the ONLY reason why MPSJ withdrew the entertainment licence," Ong said in a statement.

He said the Serdang IPD had initially issued a letter on March 25, 2015, saying that they had no objections to the staging of this event.

This had led MPSJ to issue a temporary permit to the organisers, Future Sound Asia Sdn Bhd, on April 21, to stage the concert, subject to certain conditions being fulfilled, including ensuring that there would be no one under the age of 18 attending the concert and ensuring that no Muslims would be allowed to attend the concert, Ong said.

Ong condemned the police's decision to withdraw support at the 11th hour, saying that it was unfair to the organisers.

"It is very disappointing for the ticket holders, the organisers, the performers and all the other stakeholders that this event had to be cancelled at the last minute.

"It also dents the reputation of Malaysia as a destination to hold international level entertainment events because of the possibility that such events may have to be cancelled at the last minute due to the withdrawal of permits."

He said the organisers had already obtained the support of the Anti-Drugs Agency and the Narcotics Division, which would place their officers on duty on the night of the event.

He added that the sponsors had already spent millions of ringgit to organise and promote the event.

"At the very least, I hope that the police can come out to give an explanation on why they withdrew their support for this event at the last minute.

"Moving forward, I call for a transparent Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on the part of the police for such events so that all stakeholders can take the necessary steps to prevent such a cancellation from happening again, without legitimate reasons given."

Heineken's Thirst 2015: We Are All Stardust concert was scheduled to take place last night at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC).

Future Sound Asia said in a statement yesterday that all necessary permits had been obtained for the festival, but they were told that some of permits were revoked yesterday afternoon.

“We have worked tirelessly through the night and all morning to resolve these issues, unfortunately our attempts have been unsuccessful.

"It is particularly disappointing for us as we have worked very closely with all the relevant government bodies and agencies to ensure that all regulatory requirements were met on time and in full," the organiser said.

The organiser said they were working on a process to refund purchased tickets and would share more details within the next three days.

- TMI