Yesterday, it was announced that all entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur must be closed at 1am starting January 2019, except for outlets that cater to foreign tourists as they will have special permission to operate till 5am.
Upon learning about the news, Malaysian netizens were shocked because the “1 am closing time” is fairly early for entertainment outlets. Do you agree with them?
Many of them were asking for an explanation behind the move and, recently, the Federal Territories (FT) minister has addressed this and provided several reasons for the shocking move.
Source: FMT
According to FT Minister Khalid Samad, the entertainment outlets must obey the closing time as stated in their licence “in a move to enhance family time”.
Furthermore, he said that the KL City Hall (DBKL, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur) will assess the operation hours of certain outlets that were given “special permission” to open until 5am.
Khalid revealed that these outlets, which were given the permission, had misused the privilege because most of their customers were actually locals.
Source: Backpacking Malaysia
On the other hand, Khalid reckoned that this enforcement should serve as a reminder for people in KL as they should spend time and money with their families instead of at entertainment outlets.
At a press conference, he was quoted as saying,
“We have a lot of entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur which are supposed to close by 1am according to their licence, but they disregard it. Many carry on until 5am in the morning.”
“There are a very limited number of outlets that have been given special permission (to close after 1am) because most of their clients are foreigners. This is meant to cater to the tourists. But we find that most of the patrons are locals.”
“We’ll review the outlets which have been given special permission to carry on until 3am or 5am, and see whether that special permission should still be given.”
Source: Time Out
Following that, he warned all entertainment outlet owners that the regulations will be strictly enforced, starting next year in 2019. Khalid also didn’t forget to mention that DBKL had received loads of complaints from the people about noise and other disturbances from the entertainment outlets.
Hmm, could this move possibly hurt our tourism industry, especially in places like Changkat Bukit Bintang?
What are your thoughts on the FT minister’s statements? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: Starting January 2019, Entertainment Outlets in Kuala Lumpur Will Close At 1am
