KL entertainment stores will close at 1 am to improve family time, says FT minister

KUALA LUMPUR: Entertainment venues in Kuala Lumpur must respect the closing hours indicated in their license as of January 1 or under the seal of the face, in order to improve the time spent with the family.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would also be reviewing the hours of operation of some outlets that had received special permission to open until the next day. 5 o'clock in the morning to welcome the tourists, but who had abused this privilege by allowing the locals to settle down.

This, he said, should be seen as a reminder to the people of Kuala Lumpur to spend more time and money with their families rather than in places of entertainment.

"We have a lot of entertainment in Kuala Lumpur that is supposed to close at 1am according to their license, but they do not respect it. Many continue until 5 am, "he said at a press conference today.

"A very limited number of outlets have received special permission (close after 1am) because most of their customers are foreigners. This is intended to satisfy tourists. But we find that most of the clients are locals.

"We are going to look at the outlets that have been given special permission to continue until 3am or 5am and see if that special permission has to be given."

He also warned the point-of-sale operators that the regulation would be strictly enforced.

Khalid commented on Monday the proposal of DBKL to shorten the hours of operation of entertainment venues.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said the proposal was to limit opening hours of entertainment premises in the city center until 1 am.

Khalid stated that DBKL had received numerous public complaints about noise and other disturbances.