Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom said the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) will aid the government to prevent ‘un-Islamic incidents’ at concerts.

He said this in a parliamentary reply to Marang MP Abdul Hadi Awang who asked what measures were undertaken by the government to ensure compliance with Jakim’s entertainment in Islam guidelines so as to prevent ‘incidents’ at K-Pop concerts.

Abdul Hadi was referring to an incident in January where male members of a K-Pop band hugged a few tudung clad girls during a mini concert in Kuala Lumpur.

Jamil Khir said approval of foreign artistes to perform in Malaysia comes under the Communication and Multimedia Ministry’s Central Agency Committee for Application for Filming and Foreign Artists Presentations (Puspal).

“To assist this committee, Jakim has prepared entertainment in Islam guidelines which are meant to maintain the ethics and morality of performers and audiences according to Islamic law.

“Among the content of the guideline are for performances not to contain words that are against faith and Islamic law, interaction between artistes and audiences must be decent and must build good human values,” he said.

In the January incident, a video recording of male members of the K-Pop group B1A4 embracing Muslim girls sparked outrage among the conservative Muslim community.

The Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) subsequently investigated the girls for public indecency.