Artsy Malaysians

[littlebigone]

There has been a strong focus by Malaysian leaders on the need to improve our tech knowledge as well as to provide better infrastructure for the development of the nation.

What happens to the arts then? Are leaving that behind?

I don't think i've heard of an arts scholarship being offered anywhere in Malaysia. Do you think that there should be more emphasis for this field or are we still too limited resource wise to be able to fuel an arts revolution?

[WilliamLee]

Yes definitely, I agree that Malaysia should also nurture the arts scene.
Malaysians are indeed talented in arts, design and performance.

I feel that a vibrant arts scene will help to improve the quality of life and also make it nicer for Malaysians to live in. Making Malaysia a nice place to live in is indeed important interms of attracting foreign talents and also our own Malaysians abroad.

cheers

[jiinjoo]

The way to keep the art scene alive is for everyone of us to support it. So next time when I ask around for people to attend concerts by our poor local musicians, please say yes and come enjoy your night. 8)

It usually doesn't take much - when your house needs decor, buy some paintings from your local friend. Take some time to browse through websites for local events - there're tonnes of them going on in KL area that I know, and most of them are very affordable.

It's easier to fan the coal than to create a dynamite.
-JJ-

[masterof_none]

If we have another Pixar at KL, we can hire lots of musicians and programmers, and we can create another Toy Story !

[littlebigone]

jinjoo, I like the idea of supporting the art scene. I think that we all need to watch a malaysian movie sometime or listen to some malaysian musician. But what I'm really trying to get at is the fact that no attention is paid to arts development. Fan support and educational development of art are two different things. This is what I'm curious about.

Does anyone know if there is an effort to push for the advancement of art in Malaysia?

[chenchow]

On pure arts, i am not sure how to really define it...

But I think the wife of Badawi is a big fan of cultural clothing etc. Do those considered as art?

Do design considered as art? If so, then at least we have Lim Kok Wing University College, which has been doing pretty well....

Based on what I have known from many people around here, most Asian countries, if not all, have the tendency to look at science as way more superior than art....Personally, I think we should strike a balance over that. I support our country's move to continuously strengthen the science, but at the same time, I think we should not forget about the arts. Without arts, life would be much more boring...

May be we could think of creating a huge museum, like Metropolitan Museum of Art in Malaysia, where I believe it would spur some spirits among Malaysians on arts.

[masterof_none]

It may sound ridiculous to many of us, but for me, everything is an art.

I think Mathematics is an art too (fascinated by number theory ) .
Don't you think?

So, science is just a branch of art. The art of manipulating some formulae

So, both science and art is inseparable.
I don't think we have to differentiate between the two.
Art stream...science stream...there's no such stream.

art is craft. I don't think we have to catagerize art / have rigid definition of art.

So , ...an "Artist never poor "
-Babbete (Babbete's Feast)

[qedx]

There is this mentality, that if you can't do science, well, you'll have to do art. There is no such thing that if you can't do art, you are consigned to depths of having to do science. In short, the arts stream are treated like where the stupid kids are thrown into.

[littlebigone]

yah...true that

[masterof_none]

I think that's the stereotype Malaysians mentality.
It's indeed true...those who do science, usually will (presumably) have a brighter future . I can't find it here in the US such a mentality. At least in LA.

[masterof_none]

actually , those who just concentrate on science, usually found themselves in the labs. Those artists would find a larger than life experiece.

[chenchow]

I agree with what you guys said....

It is a sad note that we depict art as inferior to science and engineering, or medicine, pharmacy and law...

Even within science, I have heard of a friend of mine who is a veterinarian, saying that the people's mentality towards a veterinarian is well below the perception towards a doctor..... should this mentality exist?

[luke]

it's sad but true ... we (maybe just malaysians) nowadays are most likely bounded by this kind of mentality ... it's what sells that we think the most important aspect to consider when choosing path after schools ... to those who further their studies to universities they will choose a major which has lots of job opportunities ... engineering, medicine, science etc etc ... only few choose humanity, philosophy etc etc etc ... why? because the former sells while the latter does not ... well, all people put their future as their top priority so it's not a wonder it always turn out like this ...

however .. being artistic has nothing to do with someone's major ... you can be an engineer who performs in a band ... no one will stop a CS major from drawing and painting ... it's a free world anyway ... but i think the problem is most people don't have that kind of interest ... or even if they have it they most probably too worried about their studies that they don't want to spend a single minute on artistic activities ... so sad but true ... mmm i ranted too much ... gotta go back to study ... :)

[Schye]

maybe the education system in Malaysia that need us to choose which field we want to get into after PMR is a little early.I just let my parents chose for me and as the result , i got into science stream bcos my result was good enough.......I was not matured enough to decide for myself at that time and basically i didn't think much about that and jsut follow the trend.Maybe I will choose the other way if i have the chance to choose again now..........

Parents play an important rule to discover what their child have..... or maybe prepare their children to be able to make their own decision.But the community or the situation in Malaysia is not read for that yet.Just imagine if you tell you parents that you plan to be a singer when you are in secondary school , and what will their reaction be.I think the situation will change gradually as Malaysia grows.When a country grows richer and more stable or when Malaysia have a good pension scheme that parents wont worry even if their children wont earn a cent , then maybe the situation will change.

parents are looking for future which is safer for their children now and of course their thinking will directly effect their children which lead to situation now.I think what we need is sometime chile giging more supports to local artists as mentioned before.

[Liney]

Dipetik dari http://www.tokeikedai.net.my

1. The hero looks too old to be a 20 years old biker (read: Rosyam Noor in KL Menjerit), the heroin looks too 'Erra Fazira' (Wait a minute. It IsErra Fazira celluloid invasion!) and the mother of the hero looks too underaged to be a mother.

2. To resolve matters of the heart, the venue of choice is always at thebeach. The girl, with a pair of fake Gucci sunglasses on her head, will occupy the space under one coconut tree, while the boy will take an
adjacent one. They will refer to themselves as 'I' and 'You', and the scene will climax with the girl's face streaked with tears 'You beritahu I sekarang, you masih cintakan I ke tidak',

and the boy will run his hand through his hair (An expression of Malay angst, described by the word, 'frust menonggeng'). Oh yeah, they will then spend 10 minutes bellowing some sappy-romantic tunes on the top of their lungs even when the passerby are ogling curiously.

3. On the deathbed, the terminally-ill will tend to see the light, especially when surrounded by those who he or she has wronged. There will always be time to beg forgiveness from everyone (full grammatically-correct sentence, mind you) before the last breath is exhaled, usually reserved for the all-important mengucap (repentance), which is the definitive sign of insaf?!

4 At the hospital, a doctor will always be ambushed by anxious relatives, who will ask: 'Bagaimana keadaan dia sekarang, doktor?'.The doctor will look serious and tentative (most of the time, looks too dodgy to become a doc) maybe sigh a bit, before finally replying, 'Keadaan dia stabil.Tetapi dia perlu banyak berehat.' The doctor will also be carrying a clipboard.

5 The hero can gasp in awe looking at Sepang F1 Circuit, KLIA and The Petronas Twin Towers as he had just realized how developed Malaysia is after studying abroad for 7 years. (read: Cinta Kolestrol) EverHeard of Internet, Yusry? Pathetic.

6 Rendezvous/date is carried out at some dim-litted coffee house or fancy restaurant and the only drink you and your partner will order is orange juice. Other drinks like sirap limau or teh tarik are not classy enough.Somehow during the conversation, you will sip your drink bit by bit but never finish it all in gusto.

7 The boss of a company sits at his desk, usually writing longhand notes.There is no laptop nor computer on his desk. There are many ring files at the cabinet behind him. To show how important he is in the company, when he leaves his office, he tells his secretary, 'Kalau orang telefon, cakap saya ada appointment dengan Tan Sri/Dato'/Tengku'. Bimbo-looking secretary would smile sheepishly while playing with her chemically damaged hair.

8 Only baddies, like delinquents and drug peddlers go to nightclubs. The only good people in nightclubs are undercover policemen.

9 Brain tumours are cancers of choice, because sufferers get dizzy and tend to faint melodramatically. Cervical and breast cancer are like, you know, private. As for lung, colon and testicular cancer, they're just not as aesthetic on those CAT scans as the ghostly cerebral ones.

10 Hari Raya is the best time for character transformations. The sound of the Aidilfitri prayer call on Hari Raya morning is enough to send drug addicts, glue sniffers, drunkards, adulterers, street gang members and girls who wear too much make up into depths of remorse.

[iQing]

I would like to introduce a nice website

www.dailyzen.com

there are a lot of nice zen painting in it...
enjoy!

[Cirnelle]

the arts stream are treated like where the stupid kids are thrown into.

i wish to say that stupid here merely points to the fact that their logical IQ( or wats it called???) is low. but intelligence doesn't only include logical IQ.

it's sad that in our country many people have the mentality that being an artists is not something to be proud of. mainly bcos they think artists do not earn a lot.

do u guys noticed that the appreciation for art is higher in developed countries, eg US, europe? i think there is a connection between economical and art developments. there are two subjects which will be given more attention once a country reaches a certain degree of development , ie art and environment protection.

so, guess we will have to give our country some time. anyway, i do know of a music project our government is currently working on. it's called "Musik ke Desa", where primary school students are given free violin classes. they will just have to buy their own violin at a considerably low price and there will be some really capable teachers teaching them. a really good start... :)

[dinna_g]

one thing i notice about artists in the states (especially in the entertainment industry), they don't really have impressive education background, not all of them, but most of them. for instance, justin timberlake didn't even graduate from high school and 50 cent came from the streets. in my opinion, arts can be developed if you have talent but science needs to be learn. take KRU brothers as an example, they graduated from the uk with business degree (if i'm not mistaken) but their art talent was developed on their own.

i would be happier to see malaysian artists (be it singers or songwriters or painters or sculptures) to have an education outside the art world and develop their art talent at the same time. we can take allahyarham sudirman, he had a law degree but still he became a famous singer. i have friends during my preparation time in sunway who are great musicians and can perform very well in class. i'm sure if you're into music or art and you're studying right now, your sponsor wouldn't mind if you take music as a minor, or you can even do double major.

if you think about it, art in malaysia is not as well developed as in the us or europe. we have very small market for those stuff. we need more time, things can be different in another 20 years or more. if we look at the quality of the movies and songs in malaysia at this point, i don't think we can see how government can benefit from sending students oversea to study art. but if the situation changes one day, if we can have our own "hollywood", i'm sure the government would reconsider.

having said that, i don't think an art stream student is less smart than a science student. it's just a matter of interest. so for those art students out there, do your best and prove everyone wrong. i would be glad to see more talented artists from malaysia. who doesn't!

[MarquisX]

huh?