Kota Kinabalu Mosque Temporarily Bans Tourists After Viral Dancing Video
Two women dressed in shorts can be seen dancing in sync while being recorded.
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 25 Jun 2018, 12:14 PM
Yesterday, 24 June, a video of two women dancing on a concrete wall in front of the Kota Kinabalu's City Mosque circulated the Internet
The nine-second video, which was shot by a passer-by, was posted on Facebook and garnered 237k views at the time of writing.
In the video, the women dressed in shorts can be seen dancing in sync while two others recorded them.
Since the video went viral, tourists have been temporarily banned from visiting the popular mosque
"The top management has expressed utmost disappointment with the action of some of the tourists despite having been briefed on the code of conduct while being in the mosque compound," read a statement by the chairman of Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, Jamal Tun Sakaran.
He also said that all express buses, Grab vehicles, and taxis were not allowed to take tourists to the mosque and its surrounding areas, or park in the mosque compound.
Only taxis registered with the mosque management will be allowed, Channel NewsAsia reported.
In an effort to "uphold the image and sanctity of Islam and the mosque," the management plans to hold further discussions with tour operators
According to The Star, the mosque will be hiring more civil volunteer corps, or RELA members, to guard the building and its compound.
Assistant minister of Sabah's Tourism, Culture, and Environment Ministry Assafal Alian said that, "Although incidents with tourists like these happen everywhere in the world, we will not stand by and do nothing. We appreciate the concern by netizens and their alertness on matters like this."
"We can all work together to ensure that visitors to the state enjoy their holiday and at the same time respect our culture, beliefs and our people," Assafal said, adding that, "Once we identify the nationalities of the people involved, strong action will be taken against them and the operator of the group," Channel NewsAsia reported.