As pop singer and star Lady Gaga is touring Southeast Asia this week, questions are raised about the degree of openness of the region…
(BANGKOK/JAKARTA)- As pop singer and star Lady Gaga is touring Southeast Asia this week, questions are raised about the degree of openness of the region. You might like or not the singer but Lady gaga appears as a good test for the ability of Southeast Asian cities to turn into global sophisticated metropolis. Out from the race was immediately Kuala Lumpur where Lady gaga did even not attend to produce herself. Malaysia is turning increasingly conservative over the last decade. For example, yoga was recently deemed as non-conform to Islam principles. So it came at no surprise that Lady Gaga would not be allowed into the country. In Manila, the singer was greeted by Christian over-conservative groups who were held at distance by the police during the concert. But it was still allowed as the Philippines government already gave the green light. Then comes Bangkok, where an enthusiastic crowd is expected on May 25 and which will bring a large number of travellers just for this event. “I am just going to Bangkok to see the concert.This is a unique opportunity,” said Lay, a young bartender from Vientiane in Laos.
Then come the turn of Indonesia. A concert is due on june 3 but it has since raised polemics with some Islamic groups asking for the cancellation as they see Lady Gaga “bringing the faith of Satan to the country and thus would destroy the nation’s moral”, according to an interview of a representative of the Islam defenders Front to the daily Jakarta Post. The concert’s fate is still hanging in the balance but the national police earlier this week said that they are likely to cancel the event. Indonesian Coordinating Political, Law and Security Minister said that the concert could go on so far as long as Lady Gaga would adhere to some moral principles fixed by the authorities. The singer already raised questions about the pluralistic image of Jakarta, while the Bali Tourism Agency stepped into the debate by offering the singer to change the venue from the capital to the Island despite the lack of facilities for such a massive event. As security questions were raised all over the week end with even fundamentalist Islamist groups threatening to impeach the Pop singer to set a foot at the airport, announcement was finally made on Sunday night about the concert’s cancellation. Some 50,000 people had bought tickets including some 12,000 foreign travellers from the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia and the Middle-East.
“It was a great time for people to enjoy. Most of the participants see it as an opportunity to dress up, have fun and enjoy themselves a little bit like during the carnival,” tells Ark Saroj, a Thai artist and big Lady Gaga fan who went to the concert costumed. Is it indeed not the purpose of a performance to just entertain people? And also a great way to promote an open-minded cosmopolitan image of a metropolis ? Jakarta seems to then have missed an opportunity.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
