SEGAMAT MP Hannah Yeoh has joined calls for Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to unseal the premises of Crackhouse Comedy Club and let it resume operations, saying the local authority was punishing the wrong party.

She said the venue, where a woman allegedly insulted Islam with her open mic spot, is only a platform while the content creator was the offending party who has now been “rightfully arrested”.

Tagging DBKL in a tweet, Yeoh said it should now “unseal that place once the investigation is done. Punishing a platform is like sealing a cinema because of a bad movie”.

“Punishing a platform is like banning TikTok for some offensive uploads by other users. Punishing a platform is like sealing Parliament for an offensive speech made by a politician.

“Authorities and Malaysians in general need to do better in not taking shortcuts when addressing problems. Analytical skills need to be emphasised in our education system,” said Yeoh.

News of the incident at the comedy club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur has dominated social media since yesterday following a viral video of an open mic participant removing her hijab and other clothes to reveal a spaghetti top and miniskirt underneath.

DBKL’s closure of the comedy club on the grounds of disrespecting the sensitivities of religion has been criticised by some on Twitter, especially those in the performing arts community. 

Actress Sharifah Amani was among them, tweeting that Crackhouse was innocent and it was the woman who was in the wrong.

“It is a place where all races come to laugh at ourselves. I’ve performed and watched many improvs and stand-up comedy acts (here). 

“It’s not Crackhouse’s fault, it’s the fault of the individual. Please be fair to our local art venues as they’re already struggling,” Sharifah said. 

In her open mic performance, the woman known as Siti Amira or Amy, said she was 26 years old, identified as Muslim and had memorised most parts of the Quran, before proceeding to remove her attire.

Her actions have been condemned as insulting to Islam, and the operators of the comedy club have lodged a police report. The woman has been arrested and is in remand for 3 days. 

It has emerged that the woman is part of a “husband-and-wife” pair who have stirred trouble at another establishment, Merdekarya, according to its founder Brian Gomez. 

“The couple were such a nuisance to the extent that other patrons wanted to beat up the man. The couple also refused to pay their bill after dining there, threatened to burn down the place, and sent death threats via WhatsApp and social media, Gomez said.

He added that Merdekarya lodged police reports and the man, known as “Alex” was arrested, pleaded guilty when charged and was fined RM100. – July 11, 2022.