‘I’m sad’: Blackpink fans in Malaysia lament tour snub, slam censorship
‘Our authorities seem to always make it hard for international acts to come here,’ a dejected Blink says
Heartbroken Malaysian fans of Blackpink have blamed their government’s censorious streak for the K-pop supergroup omitting to stop in Kuala Lumpur on their highly-anticipated world tour.
On Tuesday, the chart-topping and YouTube record-breaking quartet comprising Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rose, announced their first world tour since 2023 with shows scheduled across North America, Europe and Asia from July this year through to January 2026.
The news threw Blinks – a term used to describe the group’s most devoted fans – into a frenzy of ticket-buying for the first reunion of the band since they took time out to pursue solo projects.
Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore and Bulacan in the Philippines will be part of their Southeast Asia swing, but Malaysia was excluded from the line-up.
“I really think it is because our country is being difficult. Our authorities seem to always make it hard for international acts to come here,” said cosmetics salesperson Bobo, 30, who goes by one name. The Blink has followed the group since they debuted in 2016.
For Beverly Lim, 25, the omission of Malaysia means she has to put on hold her dream of seeing her idols in the flesh.
“They were such an important part of my teen years. It was so empowering to see them as Asian women become such huge stars,” said the junior executive with a finance firm.
“But I just started my job and I definitely can’t afford to travel to go see them. Of course I’m sad, but I hope they can give us a chance.”
Malaysia has a reputation for cancelling shows by foreign artists, often on grounds that their performances or world views do not align with conservative values of the predominantly Muslim nation.
In 2023, the government shut down a music festival after an onstage kiss by male members of British band The 1975. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in Malaysia.
The incident prompted authorities to mandate a “kill switch” for all live events to deter a repeat of similar incidents.
The chill on major acts including Malaysia in their tours has handed the tourist bounce that follows to rival Southeast Asian cities.
Singapore’s commercial success in hosting all of US pop megastar Taylor Swift’s Southeast Asia tour dates last year – which snagged the city state an estimated US$500 million in tourism receipts – gave Malaysia’s government reason to rethink their position.
Last month, Malaysia launched a programme offering rebates of up to 1.5 million ringgit (US$348,000) to help offset the cost of bringing in international artists.
But it also formalised adoption of the kill switch that Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said was a major improvement to “incident management”.
Blackpink fan Bobo said she was shocked that Malaysia was not part of the band’s tour destinations as the group’s management agency, YG Entertainment, routinely brings their acts to the country.
“I can’t even say how disappointed I am. I could not go when [Blackpink] were last here in 2023 because the tickets were sold out,” she said.
The heartache was also palpable on social media, as thousands of fans from Malaysia flooded Blackpink’s official pages with angry tirades against their government and pleas for the group’s management agency to reconsider adding Kuala Lumpur tour dates.
“[It is] because those stupid ministers ban this ban that haram (forbidden) this haram that,” read a reply from a Malaysian fan to a post on Blackpink’s Instagram account.
