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KUCHING, Aug 10: Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, And Performing Arts, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is confident and has no qualms about the invited artistes set to perform at the Borneo Sonic Music Festival 2023 (BSMF 2023) at Sarawak Stadium on Oct 6 and 7.
Abdul Karim said they have checked the background of each artiste scheduled to perform during the two-night music event.
Among the renowned foreign artists performing are K-pop artistes from South Korea – Taeyang, CL, Suho, HYO, Australian artist Havana Brown, American rapper and Grammy Award Winner Fatman Scoop.
“We have confidence in those names that we have invited. We do not want artistes that have created havoc and controversy,” he told reporters during a press conference on BSMF 2023 at his ministry today.
Abdul Karim was referring to the British band The 1975, whose performance was cancelled in Kuala Lumpur due to controversy after the band’s lead singer, Matt Healy, criticised Malaysia’s anti-LGBT laws during their performance.
Earlier, he was asked by a reporter whether those artists performing at BSMF 2023 have been screened or imposed with any restrictions.
Abdul Karim also asserted that Sarawak Stadium is ideal as it could accommodate up to 30,000 people.
“In fact ,Sarawak Stadium has a 40,000 sitting capacity, but due to the big stage on one end inside the stadium and all the big screens, the crowd will have to be on the field to watch the music event,” he explained.
Asked whether a music event like BSMF 2023 would become an annual event, Abdul Karim said that the Sarawak government needed to assess the music event first as they would not like it to be controversial but remained optimistic about any homegrown events.
“I am confident in Asian artistes as they are much more disciplined and easier to manage. If they do well this year, they may come again next year, we will look into it,” he said.
His deputy Datuk Snowdan Lawan, ministry permanent secretary Datu Sherrina Hussaini, Managing Director, BME (International) Sdn Bhd and Organiser of Borneo BSMF 2023 Steven Au, the Chief Executive Officer of Place Borneo Sdn Bhd and official event management company of BSMF 2023 Mona Abdul Manap were also present. — DayakDaily
