No money, no concert
Event called off at the last minute after lawyer allegedly goes missing with funds
Mandopop gig cancelled at last minute after lawyer allegedly vanishes with performance fees.
GEORGE TOWN: A Mandopop concert that was cancelled at the last minute has left thousands of fans fuming and its financiers in a bind.
These financiers are looking for a lawyer who has allegedly gone missing after keeping the concert funds for them.
The managers of the Taiwanese pop stars have lodged a police report, claiming that they were given a fake telegraphic transfer slip of their performance fees.
The organiser is also getting a show cause letter from the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry for using three official logos of the ministry without permission.
It has lost support from the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), which was initially ready to sponsor five-star hotel rooms for the stars whom the organiser wanted to bring to Penang next month for another concert.
Lai Kong Hooi, a former director of the concert organiser who quit just a week ago, said he came to know the artistes had not received their payments only on Saturday, which was the day of the show.
“We gave the lawyer RM3.8mil in July and another RM3mil in September to hold in escrow as funds for organising concerts,” said Lai.
“The lawyer has disappeared and is apparently in China,” he claimed, adding that he had lodged a police report and would complain to the Bar Council soon.
As the manager of Mandopop stars David Tao and Shin, Dream Factory Entertainment director Elyn Tan said the lawyer sent out the telegraphic transfer slip on Sept 12 but the money was not credited to them.
“Our lawyer and banker checked the slip. We were advised that it was not real. We told the lawyer but he kept insisting that the slip was real,” she said, adding that they had lodged a police report.
As for using the ministry’s logos on the concert’s promotional material, deputy minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said it was an offence to use these without written permission.
“The head of the company met with me to ask for a letter of support. We saw that the company had successfully organised a few concerts in the past.
“But when we issued a letter expressing our support, nothing was mentioned about using our logos,” he said yesterday.
Apparently, the organiser had used the logos for Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, Malaysia Truly Asia and Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020 on its promotional material and tickets of the Fantastic Duo 2019 concert.
Scheduled for last Saturday night, it was to feature Tao and Shin, who are among the biggest names of the Mandopop world.
Fans arrived at the SPICE Arena by 8pm. But at 9.30pm, a giant LED screen displayed the cancellation notice, sending the crowd into a fury.
Their tickets were not refunded. Penang MAH chairman Khoo Boo Lim said yesterday that he would be writing to the organiser to say that MAH was withdrawing its support.
Apparently, the organiser had planned another concert called Massive Worldwide Festival (MWF) 2019 next month and MAH was ready to sponsor the hotel rooms of the artistes.
According to MWF posters, this concert is to feature Michael Learns to Rock and Hong Kong rock band Beyond, among others.
In a statement yesterday, Penang Tourism Development, Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin urged the organiser to clarify the status of their upcoming concerts such as the Air Supply World Tour 2019 on Dec 14.