Yes, me. No, I’m not a fan, just an aunty who was there to chaperone my niece and her friend, who she invited to come along as my nephew decided not to go because he had to prepare for his examination.
I believe I was not alone in doing that. I saw parents with their children and guardians with their wards at the concert. Some made it an all-girls’ night, as like my niece puts it, “not all boys like Selena Gomez’s songs”. But there are those who dragged their husbands and boyfriends.
The national anthem was played before the start of the concert.
The multiracial crowd sang the Negara Ku with such gusto. It was a night of screams. When the lights came on, the girls screamed. When it was off, there was another round of screams. The same thing happened when a band member took his position on stage. When Selena finally appeared on stage, the crowd went wild.
Our seats were located behind the Pit Zone (standing room only), which was in front of the stage. So, when the concert started, there was no way we could see the stage if we remained seated behind the Pit Zone. We resorted to standing on the chairs instead, only I (and some of the other adults) did that for the first half of the show. I remembered that the last time I stood on a chair was in Standard Four when I couldn’t remember the lines in a poem in Mrs D’Cruz’s English class. It was a torture, not only having to stand the entire period of English class but having to stand on a chair. We sang and danced and when Selena sang a Eurythmics’ classic, Sweet Dreams, the adults were on their feet and singing along. That was probably the only song we could relate to that night.
Selena was dressed in a black long-sleeved turtleneck and loose silk pants during the first few songs. She then changed into a gold sequin midi dress that was bared at the back and two songs later, she was in a sleeveless black top and pants and a cardigan of sorts until the end of the show.
It was a wholesome fun night for the concert goers.
And what was so wrong with that? Most importantly, Selena was dressed and conducted herself appropriately and not provocatively as per the Communications and Multimedia Ministry’s guidelines on application for filming and performance by foreign artistes.
And, I believe the members of the Central Committee for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes attending the concert — under the guidelines, the concert organiser has to allocate 20 tickets and any number of passes to the committee for the purpose of monitoring — saw that the Revival Tour concert met the ministry’ requirements.
Well, some 20-odd men — reported to be members of Pertubuhan Kebajikan Darul Islah Malaysia — didn’t think so, even before the concert took place. One of them, using the loudhailer, told the concert-goers, especially the Malay crowd, why they should not go to the concert. We also saw them while walking towards the car park after the concert ended. We read later that they held hajat prayers and recited the Yassin outside the stadium.
And, I have a feeling that some quarters were disappointed that no untoward incident happened. I don’t know what they had achieved that night but I thought it was a cheap stunt at getting publicity.
The ministry defines entertainment as, one, a happy, joyful, pleasant and peaceful feeling that a person experiences as a result of something; two, an art, ability and capability to entertain and provide satisfaction in any reasonable manner to delight anyone; and three, an artistic and cultural performance exhibited and performed before an audience.
Now, why shouldn’t we support the entertainment/music industry as an extension of the tourism sector?
Currently, its potential as a revenue earner to the country is generally ignored. Concert organisers, for example, have to make payment of the foreign artiste’s withholding tax (the rate of withholding tax is 15 per cent of the foreign artiste’s gross income) to the Inland Revenue Board. And there are other fees to be paid, too, to the authorities.
Also, if the concert is held only in Malaysia, there is a likelihood that those in neighbouring countries would travel here to catch the show, like what some of us do when there are international stars performing either in Jakarta or Singapore. That would definitely translate into tourism ringgit as the foreigners would be spending on food and accommodation and maybe a spot of shopping while they are here.
It was reported that an estimated 10 million people travel internationally each year for the main purpose of watching or participating in a music or cultural festival. In the UK, for example, music tourism alone contributed £3 billion to the British economy in 2014.
As such, we should facilitate the concert organisers, not make it difficult, for them to bring in the foreign artistes for their own solo concerts or to be part of a music event.
Furthermore, music is also a powerful way of connecting people if we know how to utilise it.
No comments:
Post a Comment