Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Organisers call off music event after drug-related deaths at KL concert

SINGAPORE — Following drug-related deaths at last weekend’s Future Music Festival Asia 2014 held in Kuala Lumpur, organisers of another large-scale music event across the Causeway have called off the show out of “respect for the country and people of Malaysia”.

Scene from Day 2 of the Future Music Festival Asia, held in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Future Music Festival Asia Instagram

Scene from Day 2 of the Future Music Festival Asia, held in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Future Music Festival Asia Instagram

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — Following drug-related deaths at last weekend’s Future Music Festival Asia 2014 held in Kuala Lumpur, organisers of another large-scale music event across the Causeway have called off the show out of “respect for the country and people of Malaysia”.

The Life in Colour concert, a global music event that touts itself as the world’s largest paint party, was originally scheduled to be held on April 19 at the Sepang International Go-Kart Circuit in Selangor.

But in a statement yesterday, the organisers — Life in Color, Future Sound Asia and Zouk KL — referred to the “unfortunate events that took place this past weekend” and announced that they have decided to cancel the concert. Apologising for the move, they added that all ticket holders will receive a full refund. Details of the refund process will be made available in the next few days.

Last weekend, six Malaysians died after reportedly taking drugs at the Future Music Festival Asia, which was held in Bukit Jalil Stadium. The music festival was cut short by a day following the deaths.

Eight Singaporeans remain warded in a Malaysian hospital, while two other Singaporeans were among 14 foreigners charged for allegedly taking drugs during the event. Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau has said it is investigating the alleged drug abuse cases. Under the law, any Singapore citizen or permanent resident, who has been found to have consumed a controlled drug outside Singapore, may be dealt with as if the offence was committed within Singapore.

The incident led to the Selangor branch of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party’s youth wing to demand that the “wild” and “sinful” Life in Colour concert be cancelled but Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told local media yesterday — before the cancellation of the Life in Colour concert was announced — that banning concerts or raves will not stop substance abuse. Referring to the drug abusers, he said: “They lost their lives because of their own personal choices ... because there were irresponsible people who trafficked drugs.”

The Life in Colour concert was set to feature prominent disc jockeys including Holland-based duo Firebeatz and Zouk Singapore’s resident DJ FORMATIVE.

DJs here TODAY spoke to said the incidents — including the death of a 26-year-old Singaporean on Sunday after reportedly taking drugs at a Jakarta music festival — has cast a pall over music festivals in the region.

Mr Aldrin Quek, 44, felt that music lovers could be put off buying tickets to coming music festivals given the uncertainty. Instead of cancelling the events, he suggested organisers and the authorities create more awareness about the consequences of drug abuse.

“It’s better to (raise) more awareness of what to avoid and to give as much information to people as they can,” said Mr Quek, who has performed at the recent ZoukOut at Sentosa, as well as at international music festivals in Korea, the United Kingdom and India. He felt that organisers could be more stringent with security measures. Nevertheless, he pointed out that revellers could bypass security checks by consuming the drugs before they enter the event location.

Mr Mathan Raj, 23, a freelance videographer who shoots videos at music festivals, attended the Future Music Festival Asia in Kuala Lumpur last weekend for work.

“People now think these music festivals are places where it’s bad to be. The whole thing exploded out of proportion, and now it will be quite hard for people to bring (the) acts (from overseas). Even the artists themselves, they might feel reluctant to come to Malaysia or South-East Asia as the shows may be cancelled,” he said.

Still, Mr Raj felt the cancellation of Life in Colour was a good move as it was quite risky to hold the event so soon after the deaths. “It’s not really the organisers’ fault ... you’d want what’s best for the people. So (the organisers) didn’t really have a choice,” he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JOY FANG

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.