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https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/blackpink-malaysia-preacher-protest-ramadan-3388920
An independent Malaysian Muslim preacher has called for fans of BLACKPINK to be blocked from attending the K-pop group’s upcoming Kuala Lumpur concert in March.
On January 25, the preacher, who goes by the moniker PU [pencetus ummah or “rouser of the faithful”] Syed, posted the call on his Instagram page, calling on believers to “make an effort to protest and completely oppose the organising of this nonsense concert”. His statement then asks believers to “block [BLACKPINK fans] from showing up” to the concert, asserting that modern fashion and entertainment are “going too far”.
The preacher shared that he has been organising protests against concerts in Malaysia since October last year, adding in his attached video that part of his objections against the concert was its proximity to the holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin on March 22.
The reaction from netizens in comments in the preacher’s post were mixed, with a significant portion leaning against the call for protests. “Go la protest for corruption. Child marriage, local public transport system like trash… but no, oh concert is the main concern here,” one user wrote. Another pointed out that the concert had been approved under the leadership of the previous rightwing government, writing, “I’m not a fan of Kpop & BLACKPINK. but why not from the beginning, when PAS became the government. You’re also a PAS member, you can have your say. Already approved, so who’s at fault?”
The political party in question, the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), called for a ban on international concerts with a threat to protest in response to Billie Eilish‘s Kuala Lumpur concert in August last year.
BLACKPINK’s Malaysia concert is set to be held this March 4 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium as part of the group’s ongoing Born Pink World Tour Asia. The tour has taken BLACKPINK to Bangkok, Thailand, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, with shows in Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong still to come.
BLACKPINK dropped their sophomore studio album ‘Born Pink’ in September last year. In NME’s three-star review of ‘Born Pink’, Tanu I. Raj wrote: “Now that BLACKPINK seem to have whetted their appetite for experimentation, let’s hope they go all the way on the next record – flip the script completely, propelled by the confidence that no matter what they do, they’ll come out on top.”
