KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should welcome international artists and celebrities to the country, said former Umno man Khairy Jamaluddin.
Speaking about the Music Of The Spheres World Tour (MOTSWT) concert by Coldplay later this year, the 47-year-old Hot FM radio announcer said the presence of internationally renowned stars will also bring positive effects to the country, especially from the economic and tourism point of view.
"If we block the presence of international artists, we will lose from the economic and tourism point of view.
"In addition, it will also be a loss for local artists to be inspired by their appearance," he said at a press conference at Hot FM Hari Raya Open House today.
He said that Malaysia has always been known to have people with diverse background and beliefs from the conservative and to liberal.
He said the conservatives have always had issues against organising concerts and this is well known in the entertainment industry.
"For me, I stand by the stance that Malaysia should be a country that welcomes the presence of internationally renowned artists," he said, adding that he managed to purchase tickets for the Coldplay concert on Nov 22 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here.
Meanwhile, on the issue of scalpers, Khairy suggested that local concert organisers follow the footsteps of their overseas counterpart.
"For example, tickets sold need to be printed with the name and identification number so that they are not resold by unscrupulous individuals.
"If one is unable to go, the buyer will have to sell it back to the organiser.
"I think this problem does not happen only in Malaysia. Maybe what happened can be used as a lesson.
"After this, the government can put conditions on the organisers to come up with a ticket sales strategy." he said.