Lady Gaga: A Muslim woman holds a poster bearing a defaced picture of U.S. pop singer Lady Gaga during a protest against her concert that is scheduled to be held on June 3, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday. Lady Gaga might have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia because police worry her sexy clothes and dance moves undermine Islamic values and will corrupt the country's youth. The writing on the poster reads "Infidel". (AP/Tatan Syuflana)
The lawyer of Lady Gaga’s Indonesian promoter says that police should be consistent when discussing the US pop singer’s planned concert permit.
Big Daddy Entertainment’s lawyer, Minola Sebayang, said on Friday that from the start there had not been any discussions between his client and the authorities on age restrictions – one thing that could cause another headache in the already ongoing debate.
“We are merely discussing all the necessary documents for the concert. To say my client agrees to age restrictions, what’s next on the table?” he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the promoter never had imposed age limitations for the Jakarta concert.
The lawyer was responding to an earlier statement by Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto that the police would consider imposing age restrictions after the concert permit was issued.
On March 10, when the tickets were openly made available for the first time, Big Daddy provided a payment plan for students who wanted to buy the tickets, allowing them to buy the tickets at half price on the first day before paying the remaining half the following month.
Commenting on this, Minola said that in general, music concerts in the country had never been censored unlike movies that were monitored by the Film Censorship Board (LSF).
He also said that it was the job of the parents to supervise their children’s preferences for entertainment shows.
“However, we are ready to discuss all options for the concert to go on as scheduled – as long as the authorities are consistent,” he said.
Separately, Big Daddy’s spokesman, Arif Ramadhoni, said that the promoter was still taking into consideration the inputs from different groups regarding the June 3 event.
In late April, The Korea Media Rating Board gave an over-18 rating to Gaga’s concert in Seoul, amid protests from conservative Christian groups accusing her of advocating homosexuality and pornography.
Gaga’s controversial artistry has sparked similar protests from Indonesian hard-liner groups, causing the concert to be in doubt.
Benny Susetyo, a social observer who is also the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (KWI) rights commission secretary, earlier said that the authorities should follow South Korea’s example by limiting the concert to 18-year-old fans or older to end the brouhaha, instead of cancelling the gig. (asa/mtq)
