KUALA LUMPUR: Religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar said the Kepci Music Fest held in conjunction with the golden jubilee of fast-food restaurant KFC in Shah Alam last Saturday was not organised by the government.
A video uploaded on social media showed hundreds of tahfiz students attending the event, and this has sparked some controversy.
“We have contacted the organisers and asked for an explanation. They have said that the invitation to the (tahfiz) students to attend the carnival programme and concert was made by a third party.
“The third party is believed to be a sponsor of underprivileged communities, including tahfiz students who are from a madrasah for the Rohingya community in Shah Alam,” he said in a video uploaded on Facebook today.
Na’im urged all parties to be more aware of religious sensitivities, etiquette and Eastern values and practices when organising any event.
He called for event organisers to take into account content appropriateness and its audience, especially those involving tahfiz students and youngsters.
“My advice is to make it (the issue) a warning to everyone to ensure that they follow the guidelines that have been prepared.
“I have asked Jakim to contact the relevant parties and to take appropriate action,” he said.
Yesterday, businessman Andrie Ung said he had brought the tahfiz students to the concert.
He said he was giving the opportunity to orphans and underprivileged children to experience an event of this type.
Ung said the children were from Watahfiz al-Quran Rohingya madrasah in TTDI Jaya and that they are Muslim Rohingya refugees with little knowledge of Bahasa Malaysia.