THE Good Vibes Festival (GVF) organiser cannot entirely be faulted and should not be punished for acts out of its control, Lawyers for Liberty said.

Its director Zaid Malek said some of the responsibility lies with the Central Committee for the Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal), an agency under Fahmi Fadzil’s Communications and Digital Ministry.

“While the actions of the foreign band that occurred during GVF was uncouth and unacceptable, the decision to entirely cancel GVF was arbitrary and an overreaction that has ramifications to local artistes and crews of GVF who depend on the festival for their livelihood.

“They should not be punished for acts out of their control.

“The organiser had the approval of relevant authorities for the band to perform at the festival, and they cannot entirely be faulted for spur-of-the-moment actions of the band that happened onstage.

“According to reports, the band’s performance was cut short after the incident occurred, so necessary action was taken immediately by the organisers,” said Zaid in a statement.

Yesterday, Fahmi ordered the immediate cancellation of GVF and said there would be no compromise with any party that challenges, belittles, or violates Malaysian laws. 

The decision was announced after Fahmi met with GVF organiser Future Sound Asia to explain the controversial incident involving British band The 1975 during the festival at Sepang International Circuit.

The media reported the band’s performance at the festival was cut short after frontman Matty Healy’s disrespectful actions – performing while holding a bottle of alcohol and afterwards slamming Malaysia’s LGBT laws before kissing his male bandmate.

Zaid questioned why the government immediately banned GVF, and whether the decision was in hopes of garnering the support of conservative voters in the state polls. 

He urged the government to review its criteria and options in responding to future infractions by individual performers and bands.

He said leaders like Fahmi must be restrained in exercising ministerial powers to cancel or ban events.

“Is the cancellation related to the state elections? If so, this only further solidifies extreme conservatives by pandering to their sensibilities and encouraging their tendency to impose their narrow world views on the entire country.

“Instead of clamping down on the organiser, there is a need for the government to ensure that the incident will not be utilised by any quarters for vilification or violence against the LGBT community.

“There is a genuine fear that the political grandstanding of the government to showcase their hard stance on this issue will only legitimise the vilification of the LGBT community, especially now with the upcoming state elections.

“It is the unkindest cut of all that this hard stance against GVF, with its expected fallout upon the LGBT community, was taken by Fahmi Fadzil, once the poster boy for the Bangsarite liberal crowd,” Zaid said. – July 23, 2023.