PETALING JAYA: In the wake of six people’s death at the Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) last year, many fear that this would spell the end of the rave scene in Malaysia. Those fears were compounded in April, when the much-anticipated Thirst: We Are All Stardust event was cancelled in the last minute. But when The Star ran a story on June 1, revealing that the FMFA deaths were not caused by drugs overdose but rather, heatstroke, fans were hopeful that this would spark a return of rave events. Concert promoters and organisers, however, aren’t as enthusiastic. Asked about the future, Iqbal Ameer, group chief executive of FMFA organisers The Livescape Group, said: “That is an answer that only

KUALA LUMPUR: People reacted with shock and anger after it was revealed that the six people who died in last year’s Festival Asia 2014 (FMFA) suffered heatstroke and not drug overdoses. The term FMFA began trending on Twitter after The Star front paged the story, with people questioning how the police could have allowed the misconception to go on for a year. “This is ridiculous! For the past year the authorities trumpeted ‘drug abuse’ and used that to ban music festivals at the last minute. Tarnished Malaysia’s reputation for raves in Asia. When all we needed was better education, and cheaper access to water!” said Anuradha Raghu on The Star Online’s Facebook page. In the same thread, Franci

The association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE) has called on the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to make public the results of the investigations into last year's unfortunate fatalities at Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) after news emerged that the deaths were caused by heatstroke and not drug overdose. Yesterday a local news daily reported the findings of University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) forensic pathology department head Prof Dr K. Nadesan who ruled the deaths were most likely caused by heatstroke. UMMC handled the post-mortem for 3 of the dead and also treated 9 others. Dr Nadedan said those who died tested positive for ecstasy or MDMA, but it was much lo

Yesterday, The Star reported that records show that the deaths of the six people at the Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) 2014 event were not due to drug overdose but rather, heat stroke. According to the article, post-mortem results which were issued within two months after the incident indicated that drugs played a considerably small role in the deaths. The article also accused Malaysian authorities of not making the results known and using this as a reason to cancel several concerts locally. In a statement to A+M, The Livescape Group added that over a year, the team has been led to believe that the deaths at FMFA 2014 were due to drug overdoses. Despite the company’s multiple attempts at

The association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE) has responded tothe news report today that the main cause of the unfortunate deaths at the FMFA 2014 was heatstroke and not due to drugs as widely preceived. From the Press Release: The association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE) are shocked at the latest report that has surfaced in The Star today regarding the causes of death at Future Music Festival Asia 2014 (FMFA 2014). Like the Malaysian public, the arts and live events industry, for over a year, has been led to believe that drugs played a decisive factor to the unfortunate deaths at FMFA 2014. Since the incident of that day, FMFA has bee

A live entertainment industry group has urged the police to make public their investigation reports on the Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) 2014. This followed criticism from a pathologist against the police for not correcting their claim that overdosing on drugs had caused the deaths of six people at the event. The Association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (Alife) expressed shock over the revelation, and urged the police to make its reports public in the interest of full transparency. “Since the day of the incident, FMFA has been made as a scapegoat for the decline of the live events industry in Malaysia, particularly when it comes to events that promote the Electronic

THE Association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (Alife) is shocked at the latest report that have surfaced in The Star today regarding the causes of death at Future Music Festival Asia 2014 (FMFA 2014). Like the Malaysian public, the arts and live events industry, for over a year, has been led to believe that drugs played a decisive factor in the unfortunate deaths at FMFA 2014. Since the incident on that day, FMFA has been made as a scapegoat for the decline of the live events industry in Malaysia, particularly when it comes to events that promote the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) genre. Shows with EDM elements have been rejected by authorities for fear of similar drug-rela

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — An entertainment association here today demanded the police reveal their investigation results into the deaths of six participants at last year’s Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) here after news broke today that they died of heatstroke complications. In a statement, Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE) said FMFA has become a scapegoat for the decline of live events in Malaysia after the public was led to believe that drug overdose was the “decisive factor” in the deaths of the six people. “Shows with EDM (Electronic Dance Music) elements have been rejected by authorities for fear of similar drug related deaths recurring,” ALIFE said. “With the latest

KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Malaysian entertainment industry and concert organisers have called on the police to release their findings on the cause of the six deaths during the Future Music Festival Asia 2014 (FMFA). This comes after The Star's front-page report quoting the pathologist involved in the autopsies as saying that the victims died of heatstroke and not drug overdose as previously announced. The association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE), in a statement, said it was "shocked" by the report, adding that the entire industry and not just the festival organisers had been kept in the dark. It said an earlier claim that the victims died of

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian entertainment industry and concert organisers have called on the police to release their findings on the cause of the six deaths during the Future Music Festival Asia 2014 (FMFA). This comes after The Star’s front-page report quoting the pathologist involved in the autopsies as saying that the victims died of heatstroke and not drug overdose as previously announced. The association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE), in a statement, said it was "shocked" by the report, adding that the entire industry and not just the festival organisers had been kept in the dark. It said an earlier claim that the victims died of drug overdose had portrayed t

Following the recent discoveries on Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) 2014, the Malaysian association of Arts, Live, International Festivals and Events (ALIFE) have expressed their sheer disbelief via an official statement. In case you missed it, The Star published a front page piece just today (1st June) on what really caused the FMFA 2014 deaths. It was revealed that drugs were not the cause of the deaths of the 6 people at FMFA last year but instead, heatstroke. The Star cited University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) forensic pathology department head Prof Dr K. Nadesan, who confirmed the cause of the deaths. UMMC handled the post-mortem for 3 of the dead and also treated 9 others. Dr Nade

The six people who died at the Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) 2014 was not caused by drug overdose, post-mortem results show. Instead, the deaths were caused by heatstroke, with drugs playing a negligible role. According to a pathologist involved with the case, two out of the 16 revellers brought to the hospital did not even have traces of illegal substance, contradicting police reports that all the deaths were linked to drugs. Still, the authorities did not publicise the results, and the deaths supposedly caused by drug overdose were used as grounds to cancel several concerts locally and in Singapore. The pathologist, Prof Dr K. Nadesan of University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), said he