They said the move would not only affect business but also the Malaysian economy, adding that these outlets contribute a lot to the tourism industry by attracting local and international customers.
They said most customers only start arriving at entertainment establishments after midnight and the 1am closure would affect their businesses.
A spokesman for the group, Roy Selvaraj, warned that the tourism industry would stand to lose from the move announced by the Federal Territories Ministry recently.
He said many worked in entertainment outlets to get extra income, including live bands and artistes, as well as security guards, waiters and bartenders.
Selvaraj said entertainment spots formed part of the culture in Kuala Lumpur, adding that they were already well regulated.
“DBKL has been doing a good job regulating the outlets so far. So why change the rules when it is working?” Selvaraj asked.
“Entertainment outlets don’t just mean nightclubs. They also include any place with live music and a stage, such as resto-bars,” another one of the group members, Suzianna Wong, told FMT.
Wong, who owns a few restaurant/bar outlets in Changkat, Kuala Lumpur, said they had always followed regulations.
“Therefore, we are very concerned. If we don’t care, we could just carry on and risk staying open after 1am,” she said.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad recently announced that the operating hours of entertainment outlets that had been given special permission to open until 5am to cater to tourists, will be reviewed as he found some had been allowing the locals in.
This, he said, should be seen as a reminder to those in Kuala Lumpur to spend more time and money with their families rather than at these entertainment outlets.
“We have a lot of entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur which are supposed to close by 1am according to their licences, but they disregard it. Many carry on until 5am in the morning,” he was reported as saying.
Mazlan Othman, director of Estana Group of Companies, which operates Arab and Bollywood clubs in the city, dismissed the minister’s contentions, arguing that Malaysians can decide for themselves when and where to spend time with their families.
He also said the mandatory curfew would cause most, if not all nightclubs, to go out of business.
He added that during a recent town hall session with DBKL, most nightclub operators had vehemently opposed the proposal for the mandatory 1am closure.
“Even Dubai, in a majority-Muslim country, does not have this kind of rule. They have establishments that open till early morning,” he said.
The group will be submitting a memorandum on the matter to DBKL this coming week.