OKTOBERFEST events can be held if organisers apply for a permit and follow guidelines set by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) which include prohibiting Muslims from attending, the Federal Territories Minister said today.

Khalid Samad said that to date, there have been no applications made to hold the annual beer event.

“DBKL will have to check and verify the event and meet the organisers first,” he told reporters at a press conference at DBKL.

Khalid was asked about beer festivals reportedly being organised at Mid Valley and in Kepong.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Nor Hisham Dahlan, who was also present said DBKL would check on reports about the two festivals.

There was a furore last year over beer festivals planned in conjunction with Oktoberfest, with Islamist pasty PAS slamming such events saying that they promoted vice.

The popular Better Beer Festival at Publika, an annual event for five years, was cancelled last year after DBKL rejected the organisers’ application to hold the event.

But police later said that the decision to withhold approval was based on intelligence about potential militant threats. – October 9, 2018.