Questions are being raised about the motives of a Muslim group in Georgetown in appealing to the Agong to stop the Hungry Ghost festival in Penang.
        
State exNONEco Abdul Malik Abul Kassim (left), who is in charge of religious affairs, said the group had “blown the matter out of proportion” in highlighting its complaints about the loud music and sexy antics of performers known as ge tai.

“I question the intention and motive of the group especially after a series of allegations against Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, for example, the issue of his name being used in a Friday sermon and the fake photo of him slaughtering a cow,” he told Malaysiakini.

“There seems to be a trend to make Guan Eng and the state government look bad. I'm sorry to say this, but I feel that these people have been made use of.”

The group represents the Jalan Kapiten Keling and Lebuh Melayu Aceh mosque committees and several Muslim associations and NGOs.

A number of stages had been built for the celebration, which ended last week. These were located less than 30m from the two historic mosques.

For the past month,NONE there have been performances during which young, scantily clad girls sang Chinese, English, Malay and Hindi pop songs to ear-piercing music.

Abdul Malik said the issue had cropped up in previous years, but that it had always been resolved amicably between the organisers of the festival and mosque committees.

“Is this the way to resolve the issue (by holding a press conference)?” he asked.

“Everyone wants to co-exist. The festival wants to exist and so do the mosques. So I feel everyone must be able to discuss and dialogue with each other to resolve the matter. If they had come to me, I would have helped them as this is part and parcel of my work.”

Dialogue set up

Tanjung parliamentarian Chow Kon Yeow said a dialogue would be arranged between the group and the organiser of the festival.

As both groups have agreed to attend the session, a date will be fixed after Masjid Kapiten Keling chairperson Meera Mydin returns to Penang.

"I have spoken to Meera, who has agreed to the meeting,” said Chow, who heads the local government, traffic management and environment portfolio.