Just when many in the unity government were scrambling to contain the fallout from the controversial withdrawal of the "Allah" appeal, quite unintentionally it would appear, they found an unlikely saviour in the form of the British rock band Coldplay.
Well, actually it all started when a prominent leader from the opposition camp called for the band's upcoming concert to be cancelled alleging that they might be promoting the "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)" agenda. However, this triggered an unexpected backlash from netizens as well as from some high-profile public figures. As it turned out, it quickly became the new "controversy" to grip the nation!
Apparently what some leaders from the other side of the political divide may not be aware of is that Malaysians by and large are a loyal, sensible and fun-loving lot willing to embrace everything from K-pop to popular Japanese cultural festivals like Bon Odori. Moreover, they seem to know their limits and don't quite like to be lectured on what is right and wrong.
Coming back to the Coldplay concert, some religious leaders and their sympathizers may be shocked to learn that the band actually held a concert in Amman, Jordan in 2019. They even had a song entitled "Orphans" in their album Everyday Life which alluded to the plight of the refugees from the Syrian civil war. Strangely enough another composition from the same album comes with the title "Arabesque!"
In fact, way back in 2009 the band had actually staged a successful concert in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates drawing close to 20,000 passionate fans. Yes, a sell-out concert held in a Muslim country right in the heart -and heat - of the Middle East without any fuss.
If only those who had opposed the concert had done their homework first and got their facts straight before opening their mouths. This is especially so with key state elections coming up soon... including that in the "gold mine" states of Selangor and Penang.
As for the alleged LGBT agenda, did they actually filter the band members' background and the group's history? Or did they just "judge the book by the cover" on account of some photos found in the internet? Moreover was the group actually practising and promoting LGBT lifestyle or were they merely making some kind of a general statement against discrimination and harassment of that particular community?
True, their frontman Chris Martin had previously confessed that in his early teens he did struggle with sexuality issues. However he soon grew out of it and eventually married the renowned actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The band is also known to support environmental campaigns - as was rightly pointed out by PM Anwar who clearly did his homework!
As for those from the opposition who had claimed that the rock band will be promoting hedonism and perverse culture in this country, maybe they had forgotten that when they were part of the previous government they actually allowed foreign acts like Blackpink, Billie Eilish and Justin Bieber to perform here.
Interestingly, even ex-Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin seemed to agree with PM Anwar that Coldplay's concert here will bring about plenty of economic benefits - something we need badly. Of course, the other good thing was that even those from neighbouring countries might travel to our country to catch the show. Surely, a much-needed shot in the arm for our floundering tourism industry!
Furthermore, somewhat echoing what another government minister Nga Kor Ming had said earlier, KJ stressed that those who objected to the concert should just lay off - "don't go!"
Touching on LGBT, in western societies with their open-minded culture, people may have no qualms about declaring their sexual orientation and participating in gay pride events. This of course is in stark contrast to eastern cultures where people generally are staunchly loyal to age-old religious and traditional values. Here the sanctity of the conventional family institution is greatly cherished and considered the bedrock of sustainable human civilization.
Moreover rather than cancelling some foreign rock or pop concerts on "moral grounds" maybe the authorities can set some sort of guidelines (if there aren't any now) which all foreign performers have to comply with. At least, this way it could help to preempt some of the "ultra-religious" ones from exploiting sensitive issues and causing disharmony among the people here.
By the way, is there any major religion in the world that promotes homosexuality, bisexuality, and the like? If anything, all religions require their adherents to show love and mercy to their fellow humans beings - and treat everyone with dignity. But of course, in every religion there are bound to be deviant groups with leaders who deliberately interpret things to justify their own self-interests and actions.
Regardless, whether it's a "green wave" or a Mexican wave, keeping silent against religious opportunism is not an option in a country like ours. Thankfully, the unlikely combo of PM Anwar and KJ seemed to have K.O'd home the point very aptly.
JK Joseph is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
