A hotel in Kuantan confirmed today that it had been directed by "someone from the top" to cancel an opposition party's function scheduled tonight.

"We were told by the management to cancel the event at the last minute," said an official from Hotel Vistana, who declined to be named.

"We feel bad because this affects our business," he said, adding that he thought the matter was unfair because "business is business" and he was willing to do business with anyone, even the opposition.

The source also told malaysiakini that his superior received a telephone call from a government officer who asked: "Why are you renting out your ballroom to the opposition? They have a large crowd and are bound to make trouble."

The "Tok Ampoo" ("brown-nosing") theatre group comprising independent young artistes, mainly university students from Kuala Lumpur, was to have performed at the hotel at the invitation of Keadilan's Pekan branch.

Directed by freelance writer and malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais and produced by Harakah cartoonist Zunar, the performance is a Malay satire and humour of the country's current state of politics. The group has performed several times in Kuala Lumpur.

"The cancellation has caused us a lot of trouble," said the party branch's Youth vice-chief, Aznan Abu Bakar, who is in charge of the function.

"We have to refund the money to all those people and it is a shame because everyone was looking forward to the event," he added.

He said that more than 300 tickets have been sold and a few hundred people have made prior bookings.

Aznan said that Keadilan viewed the matter seriously and would be considering legal action against the hotel. They had been told by the hotel management that everything was settled and if there were any cancellations, the party would be notified two weeks ahead of the function.

Unforeseen circumstances

On Wednesday, Aznan received a letter signed by hotel manager Joseph Chan informing him that the hotel was unable to accommodate the function due to "unforeseen circumstances".

Aznan said that Keadilan was dissatisfied with the excuse given by the hotel.

He said that despite the hotel's promise to refund the RM750 deposit to book the ballroom, the party has yet to receive it.

"When we take legal action, the hotel will definitely have to tell us the truth in court.

"The hotel management would have to reveal who was that 'someone from the top'," he said.