Ceramah postponement not due to K-Pop concert, says Shabery
TANJUNG MALIM, May 29 — Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek today refuted claims that the postponed ceramah by motivational speaker Ustaz Azhar Idrus, that was scheduled for May 26, at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), was due to a K-Pop concert.
Instead, he said the event was postponed due to traffic issues as both programmes were held on the same day and required additional components in managing traffic.
“The ministry has no hand in this (cancelled ceramah) and it is not due to the concert, as the PICC management felt that the ceramah should be postponed following traffic issues,” he told Bernama after officiating the 5th Research
Findings Seminar themed ‘Sports Research Innovation’ at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, here.
He was asked about claims made online by the opposition that the ceramah was postponed to make way for a K-Pop concert at the One Million Youth Gathering 2012, which they alleged would not fare well competing with the ceramah.
On the lack of support for the gathering should the ceramah have taken place simultaneously, Shabery (picture) said a youth convention was also held on the same day in Shah Alam which unfortunately saw a poor attendance.
“The organisers had hoped that youths will flock to the youth convention in Shah Alam, and it is understood that their leaders who were supposed to officiate the event didn’t show up. In the end only 150 people came compared to the crowd in Putrajaya,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his speech, Shabery said the public’s response towards the gathering was positive, especially for traders as many of them made enough profit to pay rental for the booth.
“More than 2,000 traders took part and when I visited a sports booth selling shoes, T-shirts and more, I found they broke even on the third day and could pay rent for the first day.
“The trader could sell 12,000 items a day. I believe their sales increased from 18,000 to 20,000 items on the last day,” he added. — Bernama
