Selangor considering urine tests for concertgoers following deaths of 4 people at New Year's countdown party

The Malaysian state of Selangor is considering testing the urine of concertgoers, following the deaths of four people at a New Year's Eve countdown concert held at Sunway Lagoon.

Looking at making urine screening a SOP

According to Malaysian media The Star, the Selangor state government is looking at testing concertgoers who exhibit signs of intoxication, drug use or unusual behaviour, the state's tourism committee chairman, Ng Suee Lim, was quoted as saying on Jan. 8, 2025.

However, nothing concrete has been decided yet and such a measure is still at the discussion stage, he added.

Ng pointed out:

“It is not practical to test everyone attending a concert or make it mandatory for everyone to undergo testing."

He said, "So, security teams will need to be more alert now so that they can detect unusual behaviour or demeanour among those attending concerts. And if the suspicion is proven after testing, these people must be barred from the event."

Prior to Jan. 8, Ng was quoted by The New Straits Times as saying that the state government is looking at improving the standard operating procedures (SOP) for concerts to prevent the use of drugs.

This includes implementing the use of scanning machines to detect prohibited substances.

Proposal draws flak

The proposal has drawn criticism from concert organisers, however.

The executive producer of Shiraz Projects, Shirazdeen Abdul Karim, said such a proposal is unrealistic and would take too much time, as it involves thousands of concertgoers, The Star reported.

Shirazdeen called for authorities to address the main issue, which is how drugs enter Malaysia in the first place and added that stricter measures should be implemented for raves, where drug usage is more prevalent, instead of a blanket measure for all concerts in Selangor.

He also cast doubt on the effectiveness of scanning machines, noting that drugs are easily hidden.

Shirazdeen added, "Most of these people take the drugs outside because they know the risk of bringing it into the venue."

The Chief Executive Officer of Livescape Group, Iqbal Ameer, has also criticised the urine test as "unrealistic".

"Who’s going to bear the cost of these screenings? Is it the police or the organisers?" he was quoted as saying.

Iqbal also said that current security checks were "sufficient", noting that they already cause longer waiting times.

He called for alternative measures such as drug education and penalties, higher security presence, random urine tests and access to hydration stations for the safety of concertgoers.

"These measures are already implemented in many places around the world and are proven to be effective without causing major disruptions," he said.

Background

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