Because the tour is being sponsored by Irish beer giant Guinness. Or stout giant, whatever. No kidding. Story here.
A multicultural society, Malaysia is nevertheless cracking down on drinking among Muslims. A well-known local model was recently sentenced to six strokes of the cane for having consumed beer in a hotel lounge two years ago. (The punishment has been deferred until after the end of Ramadan.) This sort of thing is usually limited to the more fundamentalist states in the northern part of peninsular Malaysia.
I always hear people say that Malaysia “isn’t like those other Muslim countries”, i.e. Saudi Arabia or whatever. But if it does impose religious-based restrictions on its people, then as far as I’m concerned it is still a theocracy. There are elements of American government that are also theocratic; for example, not being able to buy alcohol on Sunday in Indiana, and the ban on gay marriage.
There really is a greater amount of freedom in Malaysia. There has to be, since there are so many different religions. But the states in the northern part of peninsular Malaysia – especially on the Gulf of Thailand side, such as Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang – are controlled by fundamentalist Muslim groups and not really representative of the rest of the country from my experience.
Eh. Just the ruling party being hypocritical again. They’re trying to be more Muslims than PAS (the Islamic based opposition party) but they don’t know how to go about doing it. It is to laugh.
It’s like that model sentenced for drinking. Sure, punish her but what about the muslims who own pubs and liquor licenses? Why aren’t they being punished? Because more often than not, those guys know someone in the ruling party so they get special treatment. Also, they just pay off the cops.
And it’s not quite as draconian as it sounds at first. The wife and I have spent some very nice time on Perhentian Kecil, an island about 1-1/2 hours off of Terengganu state by boat. Not a drop of alcohol to be found, but it would have been perfectly okay if we had brought our own. Indeed, the proprietor of the place we stayed at seemed a little disappointed we didn’t bring any, as apparently he was not averse to sharing his guest’s hooch.
This ban on the Black Eyed Peas. Well, at least they’re boycotting and not car bombing! That’s the way to go. They’ve made it clear non-Muslims can go and have a good time. Sounds to me a lot like the old Catholic “Banned in Boston” tag. I’m curious exactly how they’re going to manage to enforce this, or indeed is it just for show?
Great news! The concert was held this past Friday night, the Malaysian government rescinded its ban on Muslims attending, and a good time was had by all. Fergie had to cover up, though. Stories here and here.
Besides restricting music, I believe cyber cafes are at one time banned too, and so are video game acrades. They are only allowed at gasp tourist areas, like Genting Highlands, if I remember correctly.