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Malaysian girl group Dolla has withdrawn its latest music video after religious groups and a government minister accused the performers of wearing overly suggestive outfits amid mounting moral scrutiny of women in the country’s entertainment industry.
The video for Question, released in early November, featured the three members – Sabronzo (Wan Sabrina Wan Rusli), Tabby (Tabitha Ariel Lam) and Angel (Angelina Chai) – confronting a cheating boyfriend inside a retro American-style diner.
It disappeared from all platforms on Saturday (Nov 15), hours after Religious Affairs Minister Na’im Mokhtar had said the footage would be reviewed by Islamic authorities and could fall under sharia criminal provisions applicable to Muslims.
Sabronzo is the only Muslim member of the group.
“Celebrities are role models. As Muslims, we must ensure our actions lead others towards good,” Na’im told local media.
The ministry is drafting broader dress guidelines for Muslim women in Malaysia’s arts scene, raising fears among activists that state oversight of creative expression will harden.
Artistes in recent years have faced tightening restrictions – from “kill switches” at concerts to film bans and threats of prosecution – as successive administrations have defended a push to uphold public morality in the majority Muslim nation.
Women’s rights advocates condemned the minister’s remarks as “moral policing”. Nazreen Nizam, executive director of the Women’s Aid Organisation, a Malaysian NGO, said the statements “undermine women’s basic right to bodily autonomy and dignity”.
“This is moral policing and it diverts attention from real issues of safety and instead focuses on controlling how individuals – especially women – behave, dress or move in public spaces,” she told This Week In Asia.
“When authorities decide what counts as acceptable behaviour, it reinforces harmful power imbalances and creates a climate of fear and shame.”
Universal Music Malaysia confirmed late on Saturday that it had pulled the video after public complaints over the group’s outfits.
“Creativity and artistic expression must go hand in hand with awareness of local norms,” managing director Kim Lim said in a statement. “The decision to take down the music video is a reasonable step to preserve harmony and mutual respect.”
Na’im’s ministry later hailed the label’s decision as “responsible” and consistent with national moral standards.
The controversy flared after influential Islamic preacher Asma’ Harun criticised Dolla in a social media post last week, accusing them of the “normalisation of immorality” and describing their clothing as “tight-sticky dresses”, which she said brought “shame on Muslim women”.
“What is being displayed is no longer an art of entertainment,” she wrote on Thursday. “For me, the video is very immoral … we must stop supporting what clearly destroys manners and dignity.”
Dolla has not issued a detailed statement, but member Angel told fans the group would take a short break. “May 2026 be a better year for us,” she wrote.
Rights lawyer and activist Latheefa Koya accused Na’im of publicly shaming Sabronzo by suggesting potential sharia offences “even though she has not been found guilty”.
“He has also prejudiced her fundamental right to a fair investigation and trial,” she said on social media, adding that the backlash revealed “a distasteful obsession with female purity while ignoring harmful misogynistic attitudes in society”.
Questioning whether the minister had watched the video in full, Latheefa suggested: “Perhaps he should have just lowered his gaze.”
Fans voiced their frustrations online, arguing that women artistes in Malaysia faced disproportionate scrutiny.
One wrote that the episode was all about “control” and denying the performers their “autonomy”. Another urged Dolla to “branch out of Malaysia” and pursue their careers abroad, saying the country “does not want them to succeed”.
The row mirrors a similar controversy earlier this year involving singer-rapper Mimifly, who was forced to issue an apology and re-release her Eid music video wearing a more conservative dress after complaints that her outfit was too revealing.
This article was first published on SCMP.
