The Selangor government should retract its
ill-devised and unreasonable blanket policy on entertainment outlets
Press Statement
by John Chung
(Petaling Jaya,
Friday):
The decision by the Selangor government to limit entertainment outlets to
one for every 200,000 people in the state resulting in the revocation of 520
licenses for such outlets is ill-devised and unreasonable. While the
objective of the state government's Ops Kelawar campaign to curb social ills
such as prostitution and GRO activities in entertainment outlets is
laudable, it should not be at the expense of outlets which carry out clean
and decent business.
One of the reasons for such social ills is the lack of enforcement by the
authorities concerned, resulting in the proliferation of unlicensed
entertainment outlets which engage in prostitution and other vices. It is
such outlets that the state government should clamp down on instead of
arbitrarily revoking the licenses of legitimate outlets.
The blanket measure adopted by the Selangor government is the latest in a
series of ridiculous policies previously announced such as the imposition of
curfew on youth under 18 years by the Perlis Mentri Besar and the ban on
liquor advertisements in food outlets by the Selangor Mentri Besar which
raises the question as to whether BN state leaders are trying to out-Islam
their PAS counterparts.
Members of the DAP Consumer Affairs Bureau had visited a number of pubs in
Subang Jaya and USJ last night and found that they conduct decent business.
The interior of the pubs were clean and well-lit with notices displayed
outside barring those under 18 from entering. In the Taipan area, where
there are five pubs operating, all of which carry out legitimate business,
only two were given licenses to operate while the other three were not. Can
the Subang Jaya municipal council reveal what are the guidelines used by
them to decide whether to approve or disapprove the granting of license?
As the livelihood of hundreds of legitimate operators of entertainment
outlets and their employees are at stake, we urge that hll decent and proper
entertainment outlets that comply with the necessary requirements should be
allowed to operate. Otherwise, the operators of such outlets may be forced
to go underground which could lead to even more social ills. As it is, there
are many outlets operating without license already.
The sudden closure of hundreds of entertainment outlets will lead to a surge
in unemployment. The suggestion by the state government that those who work
in such outlets can find other jobs or work in factories is not particularly
helpful considering the present economic situation and the high retrenchment
rate where 505 employees are laid off weekly (The Star).
Such a drastic move would also result in various legal complications where
entertainment outlet operators will run into problems in their tenancy
agreement with their landlords and their contracts with their food and
beverage suppliers. Besides, the limit on the number of entertainment
outlets will have an adverse effect on the country's effort to attract more
tourists into the country.
Hence, the Selangor government should retract its ill-devised and
unreasonable blanket policy on entertainment outlets and instead focus its
efforts on taking strict enforcement actions against those outlets that
flout the law. Legitimate entertainment outlet operators who have had their
licenses revoke can contact the DAP Consumer Affairs Bureau secretary C.S.
Khong (017-8782881) or DAP Selangor state secretary Ronnie Liu (012-2013656)
for assistance.
(17/1/2003)
*
John Chung, DAP National Publicity Bureau
Assistant Secretary
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