PETALING JAYA: Tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing has called on all parties not to politicise the issue of not featuring Islamic attractions such as mosques in a promotional video for Visit Malaysia 2026.
He stressed that the primary objective of the video was to promote Malaysian art, culture, and tourism as a whole – rather than focusing on race or religion.
Tiong said the issue should not be used to stoke racial and religious sentiments, adding that such “extremist attitudes” threaten the country’s social harmony and could harm the nation’s image on the international stage.
“This video is just a brief 41-second launch video. Our main focus is to showcase Malaysia’s unique inclusiveness, and I hope everyone understands that such launch videos cannot be overly long or detailed,” he said in a statement.
“Malaysia boasts various beauties and unique features, including the stunning architecture of mosques… These elements have already been included in a more detailed promotional video,” he said.
He said the more detailed video, which would be released soon, would also showcase the country’s arts, culture and unity such as silat and Ngajat dances.
Earlier today, Bersatu Youth demanded the ministry withdraw the promotional video after stating that it neglected the country’s Muslim majority by focusing solely on places of worship like churches and temples.
The 41-second video showed multiple tourist attractions, including Central Market in Kuala Lumpur, the Sky Bridge in Langkawi, Batu Caves in Selangor, Christ Church in Melaka, and several cultural performances.
Separately, PAS Youth criticised the video for failing to highlight the beauty and uniqueness of Malaysia’s mosques, which they said serve as symbols of the federal religion.
The video now appears to be unavailable on the tourism, arts and culture ministry’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
