KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's government has told promoters of a concert by Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne to postpone the show because it could mar the country's National Day celebrations.

The decision came after the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) objected to the Aug 29 concert in Kuala Lumpur, saying that mainly Muslim Malaysia should not ape Western values and cultures.

A BADLY-TIMED ACT 'It is not timely. It's not in the good spirit of our National Day. If we go ahead with the concert, it is contrary to what we are preparing for.' - Mr Shukran Ibrahim, a senior official from the Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry's department that vets all foreign artists THE SHOW WILL GO ON 'As far as we are concerned, the show is still on.' - A spokesman for the organisers ... more

The Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry said yesterday that the show's promoters now have to find another slot for Lavigne.

'It is not timely. It's not in the good spirit of our National Day. If we go ahead with the concert, it is contrary to what we are preparing for,' said Mr Shukran Ibrahim, a senior official from the ministry's department that vets all foreign artists.

A spokesman for the organisers said more than half of the tickets had already been sold.

'As far as we are concerned, the show is still on,' he said.

Malaysia marks its 51st year of independence on Aug 31.

Although Malaysia is a moderate Muslim country with sizeable non-Muslim minorities, conservative groups often frown upon departures from strict interpretations of the Quran.

Mr Kamarulzaman Mohamed, a PAS youth official, said on Monday that Lavigne's show was 'considered too sexy for us' and would promote the wrong values just before National Day.

'We don't want our people, our teenagers, influenced by their performance. We want clean artists, artists that are good role models,' he said.

Lavigne, who became famous with her 2002 debut album Let's Go had planned to launch her month-long Asia tour in Kuala Lumpur. The 23-year-old Grammy winner is scheduled to perform in Singapore on Sept 7.

She is not the only artist to have had a performance affected. Indonesian dangdut singer Inul Daratista's concerts in Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur were cancelled last month following protests that her show was too sexy.

But she finally performed on Sunday, albeit within the confines of the Indonesian ambassador's residence in Kuala Lumpur.

Last October, American R&B star Beyonce Knowles axed her debut concert in Malaysia in protest against the country's ultra-strict dress code and over fears of a Muslim outcry over her show.

But a year ago, singer Gwen Stefani, also from the United States, performed in Malaysia despite calls from Muslim students to cancel the concert because they deemed it too obscene.

REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK