No “cross-dressing” or “only underwear” attire on stage in Malaysia

Malaysia’s Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) have added new rules to their guidelines.

Among the new rules is the prohibition of large-scale concerts and live performances by international acts to be held the night before or on the day of Islamic public holiday — unless permitted by the “respective Islamic authorities”.

It goes without saying that no such events will be held during the holy month of Ramadhan either, which was also included in the previous guidelines from 2019.

In addition to regulating the dates of live performances, the updated rules are also set to control what a performer wears when on stage.

Male artists are prohibited to “cross-dress” when performing in the country.

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Female artists are also being regulated, with prohibitions on wearing clothes that “widely expose the chest area” and those that are “too high above the knee”.

Wearing minimalistic clothes that can be seen as “only underwear” is also forbidden.

On a lighter note, the new guidelines have reduced “blackout dates” on which events aren’t allowed to take place on.

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Previously, no concerts or large-scale celebrations were allowed to be held for the duration of three weeks, from August 25 to September 16.

The updated guidelines, which were published on the Puspal website on New Year’s Eve, now mention that such events are only prohibited on August 30-31 and September 15-16 in regards to National Day and Malaysia Day.

An official from the ministry mentioned that they are still engaging with stakeholders and expect to introduce a second phase of updates to the guidelines, which is planned to be enforced in 2024.

[Via: The Star & Channel News Asia]