Party pooper Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad, a member of the political Islam advocacy party, Amanah, has gone on the record this morning to let you know that he plans to ring in 2019 with a new edict: Entertainment outlets in the city center will no longer be able to operate past 1am.
He added that it will be strictly enforced, though he did carve out a caveat for granting special permission to outlets that cater to foreign tourists to be allowed to stay open until 5am.
For the life of us, we can’t think of any outlet that targets an exclusively foreign clientele, nor does the notion sound particularly appealing to us, but you know – different horses for different courses!
Khalid spoke to members of the media at the Parliament lobby, telling that that officials were shocked, dare he say SHOCKED to find that some outlets with “special permission” were “merely catering to locals.”
“We will have to check again on these special permission outlets. We don’t want it to be abused, especially complaints from the public,” he said.
His words come hot off the heels, and echoing in sentiment, of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan having said that they will propose to limit operation hours within the city center to 1am.
“Most of these entertainment premises that operate after hours are frequented by locals, not foreigners.
“Therefore only a select few entertainment outlets that are frequented by tourists would be allowed to operate until 5am,” he had said.
Cue, Cyndi Lauper: Locals just wanna have fu-uun.
An interesting move for a reportedly broke government to turn their backs on the revenue generated by a lively nightlife scene, with consumer spending, taxes and SST adding to what we have been led to believe, is a current worrying state of affairs.
With our finger, ever on the pulse of things here, we went out and asked some of our city’s leading nightlife figures what they thought of the propose move, in one sentence or less.
Coconuts KL: Hey, so what do you think about the proposed 1am closing time?
The Nightclub Owner: I do not understand the rationalization of locals having to go back early, and only foreigners being allowed to stay on late. New Malaysia seems to be killing a lot of businesses.
The Music Director: The hardest thing about being in this industry is the fact that all we do is try to make people happy, but all that gets thrown at us is pain, and heartbreak.
The Marketing Head: I think by taking a step forward, we are taking two steps backwards. The entertainment industry works better united, and entertainment is a big source of legitimate income. This situation is digressive.
The Corporate Party Boy: Typical of conservatives to continue pandering to foreigners – not only are there more expats than tourists at these outlets, the majority of the patrons – and hence income generators – are locals. The urban professional demographic was a major chunk of those who wanted a Malaysia Baru and we certainly weren’t looking to to vote for a nanny state
Our mum: Are you serious? 1 am? I’ve not even finished dinner by then.
