Organisers of an ethnic Chinese festival on Malaysia's resort
island of Penang said Tuesday they have banned scantily clad
showgirls who put on suggestive performances to entertain
crowds.
The Penang Tiong Guan Association, which heads 228 committees
organising the annual "Hungry Ghost" festival, said young women
"wearing underwear on the stage, showing too much skin and being
sexy, sexy," would be axed.
"We have encouraged the various committees to stop these girls
in swimsuits and sexy outfits and with sexy gestures from
performing," Lim Yam Koi, adviser to the association, told AFP.
"If they do not heed our advice, the committee will have their
entertainment licence cancelled by the police next year and they
won't be able to host a festival show."
Lim said the performances were unacceptable as the suggestive
moves they used in their song-and-dance routines "are not part of
our religious beliefs."
The "ko tai" performers have become a feature at stage shows
held in conjunction with the festival, celebrated in the seventh
lunar month of the Chinese calendar among communities in southern
China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It is believed that the "Gates of Hell" are opened during this
month to let out the hungry ghosts who then wander in the land of
the living while foraging for food.
During the festival, food offerings are made while paper money
and joss sticks are burnt outside homes to keep the spirits of dead
ancestors happy and to bring good luck.
Malaysia is a multi-racial country, and while the population is
dominated by Muslim Malays, Penang has a large ethnic Chinese
population and is a focus for the community's festivals.
The stage shows, which also consist of Chinese opera
performances, puppet shows and singers, are held at street corners
in Penang or open spaces in the suburbs, to placate the wandering
spirits and to raise funds for charity.
However, in recent years, organisers have been resorting to
hiring showgirls in a bid to pull in the crowds and raise more
funds.
"We want the committees to get more traditional acts like
Chinese opera and have singing contests which will be cheaper than
getting these showgirls and which will appeal to tourists as well,"
Lim added.