No Application Received On Ballet Performance

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) -- Information, Communications and Culture Minister of Malaysia Dr Rais Yatim on Thursday denied that the Central Agency for the Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) had rejected an application by a Singapore ballet troupe, due to perform here this weekend. He revealed that there was no application made by anyone to obtain approval for the performance, thus the issue of cancellation or rejection did not arise. He was responding to a report in Singapore's Straits Times which quoted Singapore Dance Theatre's artistic director Janek Schergen as saying that its application for a permit for a ballet performance at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) was rejected by Puspal due to the costumes being too revealing. "There is no cancellation or rejection. And if the parties concerned would like to drop us a note, we will be happy to assist," the minister told reporters at Angkasapuri, here. Rais said the ballet performance should be allowed to proceed as planned and Malaysians were free to attend the performance. He said there should be no problem for the organisers to obtain the permit as long as they met the dresscode guideline. "I think there are ways of doing things, like your attire must not bare all. "But if they are just a bit glaring, what's wrong with that? I mean ballet doesn't go with big gowns, does it?" he added. Meanwhile, a statement from the ministry's Policy and Strategic Planning Division said a news report picked up by The Malaysian Insider portal on the application to hold the show being rejected, was baseless. The statement said KLPAC which was represented by Tan Hong Lit only handed in their application for permit at 12.30pm on Thursday to the Puspal counter. -- BERNAMA