Tourism Malaysia Promotion Board chairperson Dr Ng Yen Yen has risen in defence of the planned Oktoberfest event, which has provoked the ire of religious groups.

Ng ( right ) said such an event attracts people from all over the world, including Germans, and had never been an issue before.

"If Oktberfest is banned, then we can never have any such programme (where beer is served)," she is quoted as saying by The Sta r.

Oktoberfest is a beer festival with its roots in Germany.

Ng, a former tourism minister, said her agency would not back any ban on such events, adding that it was up to individuals whether or not they wanted to participate.

She was responding to PAS' Temerloh MP Nasrudin Hassan who first turned the spotlight on the event, demanding that such events not be promoted in a Muslim country.

Nasrudin had said such promotions, even if the events take place behind closed doors, challenged Islamic sensitivity and likened it to pre-marital sex and prostitution.