KUALA LUMPUR – Running costs for small live music venues in Kuala Lumpur are extremely unreasonable as operators need to prepare at least RM77,000 to obtain an entertainment licence from City Hall (DBKL), the operator of the suspended Angkasa Space lamented.
The venue’s co-founder, Mohd Zulhelmie Zullifan, also known as Elmi, said those who want to open such an establishment must pay a RM50,000 deposit and another RM27,000 to obtain an entertainment licence.
“It’s not that we want to run away (from licences) or do not want to pay at all, but the amount is too high and unreasonable for any owner of a small venue,” he told The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister publication Getaran yesterday.
I’m not the only owner feeling the pinch, but other event spaces are also experiencing this issue.”
On Sunday evening, DBKL suspended the operations of Angkasa Event Space, closing down the live music venue that has served as a hotspot for Malaysia’s independent music scene.
The closure came after the local authorities raided the premises in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, locking its doors and sealing off the premises.
Following the raid, Elmi took to Twitter to explain that the suspension was related to licensing issues with DBKL. He also said that he could no longer continue to operate Angkasa Space due to the costs involved.
Elmi also noted that it may take up to three months for deposits to be returned to the venue by DBKL.
He said authorities should not treat his venue similar to nightclubs, adding that the RM50,000 deposit should be better spent on supporting activities involving local music artistes.
Elmi said the premises were raided at about 7.45pm on Sunday while the venue was hosting a show featuring hip-hop artistes.
He claimed that the venue did have the appropriate hall licences – which are used for events organised by a third party – for the event, but DBKL enforcers noted that it was not the proper licence, as the event featured a deejay and appeared to be a nightclub show, and therefore required another permit.
“We are really disappointed as this is the first time we have made a ‘mistake’, and DBKL had sealed off the event hall without any warning,” Elmi said.
Furthermore, we do not have the means to pay for an entertainment licence, but rely on a hall licence for events such as these.”
Elmi said 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.
He also said he had also applied for other specific entertainment permits for individual events in 2018, and although the permit costs RM49, Angkasa Space still needed to prepare RM30,000 deposits for international acts, and RM10,000 for local artists.
Elmi also said reimbursements of these deposits could also take several months.
“There was once where I was forced to come up with a support letter to seek the return of the deposits because I needed to pay staff salaries,” he said. – The Vibes, July 26, 2022
