Malaysia: Bid to ban Oktoberfest

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-29520917

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Some Muslim groups in Malaysia are trying to get the country's Oktoberfest banned on the grounds that it's offensive to the community, it appears.

An MP is heading a campaign to get the federal and state governments to halt the annual beer festival, which he describes as part of a culture of "evil and sin", Malaysia's Daily Express newspaper reports. While not denying the right of non-Muslims to consume alcohol, Nasrudin Hassan of the Pan-Islamic Party says that it "should be done privately and neither promoted nor feted any further in this way". In a Facebook post, he compared the event to "mass-promoted adultery". However, Nasrudin's PAS colleague Khalid Samad said the festival had every right to take place, as long as it was targeted at non-Muslims.

Apart from issues surrounding alcohol, one of the major bones of contention appears to be a publicity poster for the Carlsberg Malaysia-backed festival, showing a waitress in a low-cut German costume carrying six steins of beer. Publicity stunts leading up to the festival also featured Malaysian women in similarly low-cut mini-dresses in company colours.

Backing the argument that the event should be banned is law professor Datin Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, who claims that the festival is "unconstitutional" as events with alcohol cannot be organised in open spaces, the Malay Mail reports.

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