ONE of the owners of the Crackhouse Comedy Club, who was reportedly banned from registering any business in Kuala Lumpur, has threatened legal action if nothing black in white is served to him. 

Yesterday (Aug 17), Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias said Rizal van Geyzel was on a permanent blacklist, and that the comedy club’s licence was revoked by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) effective July 30. 

According to news reports, both van Geyzel and fellow club co-owner Shankar R Santhiram sent a letter of demand (LOD) to Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Mahadi Che Ngah today after news of the notice was reported in the media. 

According to Malaysiakini, the LOD demanded that official notice be provided to van Geyzel and Shankar within 48 hours of the prohibition and licence revocation. 

Failure to do so will result in the assumption that the decision made was final, following which, the duo will take the matter to court. 

 
“Our clients never received any notice or official letter to be informed of the matters (stated in the media reports),” the LOD, prepared by Messrs Karpal Singh & Co, added. 

“If the matters reported in the media are true, then the right to livelihood of our clients guaranteed under the Federal Constitution will be seriously affected.” 

“Unreasonable and irrational”

Messrs Karpal Singh & Co said the decisions made by DBKL were “clearly unreasonable and irrational”, adding that its clients have not been found guilty of any offence that justifies such a decision.  

Crackhouse came under heavy scrutiny recently over controversial performances that touched on Islam, which saw a woman and her boyfriend arrested and charged in court.  

Last June, Siti Nuramira Abdullah took to the stage and cited 15 verses of the Quran before discarding her headscarf and baju kurung. Critics of the viral video claimed it was distasteful and offensive to Islam. 

The following month, Siti claimed trial to a charge of causing disharmony on grounds of religion among Muslims.

Her boyfriend was charged on the same day as well for uploading a video of her performance on social media. 

Rizal landed in hot water too when several old videos of comedy performances of his resurfaced, which were reported as being offensive to Malays. He later claimed trial to three counts of cyber-crime under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998. 

Rizal and his family have since received death threats, while the signboard of the club, its entrance and posters outside the club were vandalised with paint last month. The police believe both incidents were connected. 

Around this time, DBKL temporarily suspended the club’s operating licence as well. – Aug 18, 2022