Malay K-pop fans defend band, say authorities overreacting

Malaysian K-pop fans have condemned the threat by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) to arrest the tudung-clad Malay girls who were hugged and kissed by members of a Korean pop band at a concert last week, saying the religious authority was overreacting to the incident.

They also said Jawi’s decision to haul up the event organiser of the concert featuring South Korean pop band B1A4 was inappropriate as the band should not be faulted for what occurred at the concert.

A fan, who wished to be known only as Farah, said the artistes had sought permission from the girls before proceeding with a "parody" scene from a Korean drama.

“Not that they (B1A4) do not know about Malaysian culture, as they had been informed by the organiser, that’s why the group asked the girls permission first before they proceeded with the act and all the five girls agreed,” she said.

She expressed disappointment over accusations against the K-pop group of molesting the Malay girls, adding that not only were the allegations unfair, but they also did not reflect what actually occurred that night.

“It is common for organisers to arrange for fans to meet artistes,” she said, adding however that this was the first time she had seen such a scene staged for fans.

“As I recall, this is the first time there is scene like this, but if we talk about the hugging, honestly, it is common.

“I think it is because the organisers featured a romance parody from a Korean drama, so the scene was spontaneous and B1A4 was trying their best to please the fans,” she said, admitting it would not have been an issue if it had not involved tudung-clad Malay girls.

A video posted on the Facebook page of Sukan Star TV showed three tudung-clad Muslim fans being hugged by K-pop artistes at the concert last week. The video with the title "Perempuan melayu dicabul atas pentas oleh mat kpop semalam" has since received much attention and criticism from those who ticked off the girls for allowing themselves to be embraced and also criticised the artistes for doing so.

Another fan, who gave her name as only Siti, said that many other K-pop fans had also hit out at the reactions to the hugging incident, and that some accused the authorities of double standards.

“This thing affects all K-pop fans, they say we are irrational, but when other parties do the same, no action is taken.”

“For me, what had happened was wrong... what they (Malay girls) did was wrong... but the authorities cannot look at this from one angle only, they have to look at all angles like drama on television, the hugging scenes, why no action taken?” said Siti, who is from Sabah, admitting that she used to feel excited when meeting her favourite K-pop artistes before this.

She added, however, that not all K-pop fans were like that as they knew their limits when attending concerts or fan-meet events.

“There are Muslim K-pop fans who know their limits and the K-pop artistes also respect their beliefs. Muslim fans also observe their prayers when they attend programmes like this, and we know our limits,” she said.

She criticised Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin over his statement on Twitter that Malay girls should look for tall, dark and handsome men instead of pale, skinny and pretty men, calling it extreme and racist.

“They did not ask to be pale and skinny, it is their heredity,” she said, adding that international K-pop fans also felt that Khairy’s statement was racist.

She said K-pop fans were also like followers of other music genres, adding that the main attraction of K-pop was the music itself.

“For me, it just a music genre that people listen too, others listen to R&B, pop, for us, we like K-pop.”

Siti, a fan of K-pop group "Beast", said she had never attended concerts due to financial and time constraints, but had gone to a few free performances.

She also said that the majority of K-pop fans would not download K-pop music illegally but would pay for the copyright version.

She said they would buy the original music or album through the "fanpage" of the respective artistes, and they would receive the album in two or three weeks.

Lily (not her real name), said threatening to take action against the Malay girls shown in the video was unfair as the authorities were judging them based on a recording.

She claimed the furore over the hugging incident had attracted international attention.

“Now the world is not only looking at the girls, but they are also looking at our country and religion.

“The issue has been exaggerated and and now the international community has denounced Islam,” she said.

A fan of K-pop music since 2004, Lily said she would pay for a front row seat if she were to attend a concert by her favourite K-pop band.

But she said she knew her limits as a Muslim and a woman and believed other fans shared the sentiment.

“There was one concert where a fan was invited to dance on stage but she declined because she wore tudung and the artiste respected her decision.”