WM Entertainment has released their statement after The Let’s Fly with B1A4 special fan-meet held in Kuala Lumpur stirred up heated controversy among Muslim netizens with a viral video of the B1A4 members and several fans showing friendly skinship.
WM Entertainment spoke up about the issue, releasing a statement saying, “The event took place after consent from those who participated. The video in question was from the fan-meet’s special corner ‘Imitating famous moments in K-Dramas.’ The atmosphere during the event was great and the MC asked the girls once more of their consent, being considerate of their Muslim culture. We understand that it could be perceived in such a way from certain perspectives and from now on we will take cultural differences into careful consideration in order to provide a more global fan-meet that all fans from different cultures can enjoy.”
On the other hand, JAKIM, a local Malaysian post, has stated that the host of the event (TGM Events) must be held accountable for the incident. It further stated that the host for the event will have to further explain their actions to the Malaysian Muslim community as well as be held responsible for their actions.
Not only are the host organizers and event promoters (TGM Events) being blamed and asked to be held accountable for their actions, but the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity (ISMA), chief of PAS information Mahfuz Omar, and minister of youth and sports Khairy Jamaluddin have all spoken up with their dislike towards K-Pop.
The ISMA wrote an article on their official website pertaining to the topic of K-pop and Christianity, stating that, “Many K-pop artists are secretly ‘church activists’ who have been directly involved in proselytisation programs abroad,” while claiming that most Korean pop artists most likely began their singing careers as a member of the church choir during their pre-debut, teenage days. It was also alleged by ISMA that K-Pop is only an evolved version of the Korean Contemporary Christian Music (KCCM) genre.
Chief Mahfuz Omar has also voiced out that the Let’s Fly with B1A4 event may have been an attempt by the Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations to discredit and vilify Muslim women.
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin posted a tweet onto his official Twitter account, stating, “A lot has been said about K-pop. I hope Malaysian girls return to tall, dark and handsome men and not pale, skinny and pretty men. Those are not real men.”
Source: Star News, Top Star News, Kini TV, The Malay Mail, and Twitter.
