Secular group Bebas has submitted what it described as the “Save Oktoberfest” petition to the Petaling Jaya mayor Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain today.

This comes after Selangor Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Armada started an online petition objecting to the German beer festival scheduled to take place at the 1 Utama shopping complex.

“We are Malaysians and we believe that Oktoberfest is very much in line with our celebratory culture of food and drink.

“In fact, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia’s official opening was officiated by then-prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein,” Bebas said in a statement today.

This showed that the country’s founding fathers understood the importance of diversity and unity, they said.

“If anyone does not wish to go for Oktoberfest, they are free to stay home,” they added.

The group said their online petition to save the festival was started last Thursday, and has thus far garnered 2,707 signatures at the time of writing.

Bebas’ petition was presented today to the Petaling Jaya mayor by co-founders Boo Su-Lyn and Azrul Mohd Khalib, and was witnessed by local councillor Sean Oon and Oktoberfest organiser, CIA International Malaysia chief executive officer Ben Yap.

Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that Selangor Bersatu Youth said their online petition against the beer festival, which was started last Friday, has managed to collect over 10,000 signatures.

They will be handing over the results of their petition, titled “Hapus Budaya Pesta Arak di Malaysia” to Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali, relevant local councils, as well as the Pakatan Harapan leadership.

This contention over Oktoberfest comes in the wake of the furore over the “Better Beer Festival 2017,” an event aimed at promoting smaller breweries.

After the uproar triggered by PAS central committee member Riduan Mohd Nor, complaining that the event would lead to reprisals from extremists, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) refused to greenlight the event, citing political sensitivities.

Meanwhile, organisers of a “German F&B Festival” at a mall in Klang are awaiting advice from the authorities before deciding on whether or not to proceed with the event.

Organisers had initially obtained permission to conduct the festival from both the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) and the North Klang district police, but the police later clarified that the approval letter was a fake.