KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Approvals for concerts held inside public and private higher education institutions must comply with federal as well as local council laws with regards to religious sensitivities.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mohammad Yusof Apdal said approvals are not granted according to the whims and fancies of each institution but is based on the current guidelines for all higher education institutions — known by their Malay abbreviations as IPTA for public and IPTS for private.

“Of course, in whatever guidelines we convey to the IPTA and IPTS, we will monitor them according to the appropriateness, for instance, the Federal Constitution.

“We don’t want these IPTA and IPTS to approve an application based on their whim and fancies.

“The powers that the IPTA and IPTS have must be aligned with federal laws,” Yusof said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to Parit Buntar MP Mohd Misbahul Munir Masdsuki from PAS who asked the government about the guidelines to approve concerts at IPTA and IPTS, whether they feature local or international artistes

Yusof said the law applies to IPTA and IPTS in all states, regardless of whether or not it was under the unity coalition’s control or under Perikatan Nasional.

The issue first made local headlines in June after a 37-second video was widely shared on the internet showing male and female students at an IPTA in Kuala Nerus in PAS-run Terengganu standing in close proximity to each other during a concert.

News outlet Sinar Daily reported back then that the Terengganu IPTA was fined RM25,000 by the local government purportedly for hosting a concert without its permission and in violation of the Kuala Terengganu City Council Entertainment and Environment Enactment 2002 By-laws.

That same month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he would meet with the Higher Education Ministry to give more leeway for such cultural events in IPTA and IPTS, provided they were held in a small scale and controlled manner.

On September 1, The Star reported the ministry saying guidelines on entertainment activities and concerts at IPTA that called for gender segregation will be reviewed by an internal Higher Education Department and the Universiti Malaya Cultural Council.

Yusof told Parliament today that there have been no such concerts where attendees were segregated by gender since the incident in June.

He added that while there are no restrictions on IPTA and IPTS hosting concerts starring international artistes should adhere to local guidelines and not those overseas.

“We don’t want that,” he said.