title: Malaysia scraps beer festival following Islamists' objections
text: KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities scrapped an annual beer festival on Monday after an Islamist party objected to the event that had been planned for the first weekend of October in the country s capital. Though there are plenty of beer drinkers among the sizable Chinese and Indian minorities, protests against events deemed to be  western  and unIslamic - such as concerts and festivals involving alcohol - are common in Muslim-majority Malaysia and are usually led by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) said in a short statement on Monday that it has rejected the application for a permit by the organizers of the  Better Beer Festival 2017  to host the event, which would have entered its sixth year.  If the organizers continue with the event without DBKL s approval, action will be taken in accordance to existing laws,  city hall said. Mybeer (M) Sdn Bhd, the company organizing the event, said in a separate statement that they were informed by DBKL officials that the decision was made  due to the political sensitivity surrounding the event . A member of PAS  central committee, Riduan Mohd Nor, said in a statement on Sept. 10 that there is no guarantee that such events would not lead to criminal acts, rape and free sex. Opponents of the beer festival also launched a campaign on Facebook to block the event. Around 6,000 people had been expected to attend the two-day festival, which would have featured craft beers from at least 11 countries, according to Facebook posts by the organizers and local news reports. 