KUALA LUMPUR – Live music venue Angkasa Event Space was suspended because it had been operating without a valid entertainment licence, said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
The local council said it found that the venue’s entertainment licence had expired September 25 last year during a raid of the premises in Bandar Sri Permaisuri on July 24 at 7.30pm.
“Based on observation and investigation by DBKL, the premises were found to have conducted entertainment activities (live DJ) without a valid licence from the Kuala Lumpur mayor,” it said in a statement yesterday.
It added that there were 80 patrons in the premises when it was raided.
Besides that, DBKL said the matter is being investigated under Section 4(1)(a) & 4(1)(b) of the Entertainment (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) Act 1992 for operating and conducting entertainment activities without a valid licence.
A DJ’s board was also confiscated during the raid.
Speaking to The Vibes’ sister portal Getaran yesterday, venue co-founder Mohd Zulhelmie Zullifan, or Elmi, lamented that running costs for small live music ventures in the city centre are extremely unreasonable as operators need to prepare at least RM77,000 to obtain an entertainment licence from DBKL.
He said that those who wish to open such an establishment must pay a RM50,000 deposit – which can allegedly take up to three months to be returned – and another RM27,000 to secure an entertainment licence.
He also expressed his disappointment with the suspension, claiming that the venue does have the appropriate hall licences, which are used for events organised by a third party, for the event that night.
However, he said DBKL enforcers had dismissed the licence as not being the correct one as the event featured a DJ and appeared to be a nightclub show, and therefore required another permit.
Elmi added that DBKL had issued a RM50,000 compound and that it could be reduced by half if the management appealed. However, the amount was still too high to retrieve the venue.
Earlier on, it was reported that DBKL had closed down Angkasa Event Space, a location which has served as a hotspot for Malaysia’s independent music scene.
In a late night post on Twitter, Elmi said he was giving up on managing the event space, adding that he will refund tickets and deposits for future events. – The Vibes, July 26, 2022
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