Busk or perform in the street
The rule that decides whether you can play is almost always your own council's by-law, and nobody publishes those in one place. Below is the federal layer, and where to go for the council layer.
What reaches you, and in what order
Local Government Act 1976
Act 171The permit is a by-law made by the local council under this Act. DBKL, MBPJ and every other local authority licence busking separately and publish separately, so there is no national answer and none of it is on the federal portal.
Minor Offences Act 1955
Act 336Section 27(c) is the begging provision and it is sharper than buskers expect: it catches soliciting alms whether or not there is any pretence of singing, playing or performing. The noise route is s.13, though s.13(3) lets the Chief Police Officer give permission. Whether you are performing or soliciting alms is the whole question and it gets settled on the street, not in a court. This Act reaches Peninsular Malaysia only; Sabah and Sarawak have their own.
Penal Code
Act 574Section 294(b) reaches whoever, **to the annoyance of others**, sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words in or near any public place. Annoyance to somebody is part of the offence, not background, and it is the first thing to test. The maximum is three months' imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Collecting societies
Licensing bodiesPerforming other people's songs in public is a public performance. Enforcement against buskers is rare, but the right is real and organised street programmes get asked.
Peaceful Assembly Act 2012
Act 736A crowd that forms around you can be characterised as an assembly. Section 9(1) still asks an organiser to notify the police five days ahead, but the offence of not doing so, s.9(5), was struck down as unconstitutional by the Federal Court on 1 July 2025 in Amir Hariri bin Abd Hadi v Public Prosecutor. The duty survives; the criminal penalty for breaching it does not. The consolidated text we host predates that ruling and still prints the offence.
State entertainment enactments
State lawSome states require an entertainment licence even for unamplified street performance.
Federal Constitution
ConstitutionArticle 10 is the backstop when a by-law written for hawkers is turned on expression.
This is the clearest example of the gap in every Malaysian legal resource for the arts: the operative rule is a council by-law nobody publishes centrally.
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This page is published by ALIM (Art × Law Initiative Malaysia) as general legal information for Malaysia’s creative communities. It is not legal advice. It does not take your circumstances into account, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship with ALIM or with anyone associated with it.
The law changes. Each Act reproduced here is the Attorney General’s Chambers’ consolidated reprint and carries the date it was consolidated to; amendments made after that date do not appear in the text, and the authoritative version of any Malaysian law is the one published in the Federal Gazette. Subsidiary legislation, state enactments and local authority by-laws may also apply to your situation and are largely outside this library.
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