Malaysian Fan Girls Threatened With Jail Time Over Public Hugs From K-Pop Stars · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Screenshot of YouTube video by KPop Blitz
K-pop boy bands have enjoyed overwhelming popularity not only in South Korea, but also throughout Asia for many years now. But in Malaysia, not everyone is a fan of the pop stars or their female following.
Authorities in majority Muslim country ordered an investigation into a group of female fans of K-pop boy band B1A4 for alleged “indecent” public acts in violation of the Syariah code of conduct after members of the band hugged and kissed them on the forehead in mid-January 2015.
The pop stars had been re-enacting scenes from a popular Korean soap opera with the young women onstage during a fan meeting. The organizers said the fans were selected randomly and gave their consent repeatedly, but one Malaysian TV channel posted a YouTube video of the event nonetheless with a title accusing the band of having “molested Muslim girls”.
The investigation focused on whether the re-enacting violated the Syariah Criminal Offenses; Section 29 of the law states that “indecent manner in any public place is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both”. On January 21, the Federal Territory Religious Department (JAWI) of Malaysia admitted that there was no legal basis for sentencing the girls to prison and they could only issue them a warning.
South Korean news outlets picked up the story, especially after Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tweet on the matter went viral:
Banyak dikatakan ttg Kpop. Harap gadis2 Msia kembali kpd lelaki tall, dark & hensem. Bukan pale, skinny & pretty. Itu bukan lelaki sejati.
— Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) enero 11, 2015
A lot has been said about K-pop. I hope Malaysian girls return to tall, dark handsome men. Not pale, skinny and pretty [like K-pop stars]. Those are not real men.
The case opened a heated debate online among Koreans over the incident. Some annoyed male Internet users pointed out that the average height of Korean men is actually higher than that of Malaysian men. Many expressed disbelief at the notion that being hugged by a singer could be punishable by law in Malaysia, while others accused the organizers of insensitivity to the religious and cultural norms there.
인도네시아인가 말레이시아인가 b1a4팬미팅 건 터진거 보면서 동남아에 대한 무지로 터질 일이 터졋다고 느낀 건 나뿐인가? 그 여자애들 채찍질이나 자칫 외간남자일로 징역이상 받으면 어떡하냐
— 지는 남자 (@highcrown) 2015년 1월 15일
While watching the B1A4 fan meeting fiasco, is it only me who almost expected to see something like this happen due to people's ignorance of southeast Asia? What if these girls receive heavy punishment like a whipping or something heavier than a jail term?
이번 말레이시아 B1A4 사건을 통해 가장 놀라웠던건, 말레이시아가 이슬람 국가였다는거…… 이렇게 타 문화권을 모르고 있구나 싶었고 막.
— 쭈놈 (@oneNonlyJOO) 2015년 1월 16일
One thing that surprised me most about this whole B1A4 Malaysia controversy was the fact that Malaysia is an Islamic country — which made me realize how shallow my understanding is of other cultural regions.
On the Nate Pann site, a popular South Korean online venue, “Heu” commented:
애초부터 이슬람 국가에서 저런 내용의 행사 자체를 기획한 주최측이 문제지
It's actually the organizer who is to be blamed for this fiasco for coming up with this idea in an Islamic country.
K-pop fans discussed the incident on various sites dedicated to the music genre. On one of the biggest K-pop sites, Soompi, users remarked:
tdjunlimited: i don't blame the girl…i definitely not blaming my boys B1A4. this fanmeeting thing is normal and hugging and the kiss (member Baro kissed the girl's forehead coz it's her birthday that day) happened everywhere in the world and no one talks about it. evn muslim populated countries like istanbul is more likely to tolerate such things. the one to blame are the ones making this whole issue get blown out of proportion..those people on facebook who headline their page “islam girls molested/harrassed by kpop group B1A4″.. .
Zurra Yasmin Shamsul Kamar: its okay. i'm a muslim and a malaysian and i didn't blame b1a4 in this issue. it was clearly the muslim girls’ fault because they are muslims and they should know better what is allowed and what isn't allowed in their religion and culture.
sujin.cho: I'm not exactly blaming the girl, but she should have been more responsible. But you can't blame a teenager and especially one who is a girl in front of her idol :P […]