.png)
On the 8th of July, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) published an open letter on their social media page detailing their struggles in staying afloat throughout the entirety of the various Movement Control Order (MCO) periods here in Malaysia; the risk of permanent foreclosure impending, as their funds dwindle in the balance. Unfortunately, this scenario wouldn’t be the first major challenge that the Malaysian performing arts scene has had to face.
Even long before the novel-coronavirus (COVID-19) made its first appearance, the performing arts scene in Malaysia has had its fair share of struggles. In 2017, it was reported by the Malaysian Reserve that KLPAC was struggling to keep up their upkeep costs due to the lack of funding. This demonstrates a serious issue towards those involved in the performing arts, as local productions struggle with tight-budgets and numerous stage production costs. This, in addition to the effects of the rising cases, with the FMCO/EMCO here in Malaysia which has left many of our local performing arts powerhouses stranded and without work, presents a dire situation for those who are left in the industry: Will the Malaysian performing arts scene be able to survive the pandemic?
Sally Lee, an aspiring performer who is currently undergoing her Bachelor’s Degree in the Performing Arts at Taylor’s University, has these same thoughts; her supposedly hands-on classes have had to make that transition to digital platforms, which has deprived her of that full learning experience that she requires to pursue her dream career.
“Because we have been doing our classes online, I haven’t really had the chance to be able to experience the most important parts of performing, especially on-stage performance. For example, acting requires you to feel the other person’s energy and notice certain visual cues, so that you know when you can begin to say your lines- and it’s not just even about that. Performing on-stage requires you to be comfortable with performing in front of a live audience, which is a pretty nerve-wrecking experience if you’re not used to it; as a student who hopes to one day perform on-stage, I haven’t been given the opportunity to be able to get used to the feeling of performing in front of a crowd, which worries me.”
Sally also spoke about the uncertainties that she was facing for her future career plans. Considering the severity of the performing arts’ current situation locally, she thought about making the difficult decision to forego her dreams of performing in theatre shows, pivoting towards a career in advertisement-acting and social media influencing instead. However, in Sally’s opinion, the biggest challenge would be the struggles faced by her fellow course mates, as well as her course lecturers, who are currently wary of the future of the Malaysian performing arts scene.
“All of us are feeling that tension. With this online learning situation, it has become difficult for us to be able to get into the right headspace, which is essential when it comes to performing. This is because some of us don’t have that luxury of space to move around, sing, or act out scenes, because we’re not allowed to go to KLPAC for our classes. Even with our teachers, Joe (Hasham) and Faridah (Merican) who are from the Actor’s Studio at KLPAC, this whole situation has taken a huge toll on them- not just because of the online-learning, but because KLPAC is on the verge of closing down. They haven’t performed in over a year and a half, and I think they need a few million (ringgit) just to reach basic sustainability for about a year.”, Sally notes.
With the budgets for productions growing smaller and smaller with each passing year, many of those who were initially full-time actors in the performing arts have begun to look towards pursuing other side endeavours, or even completely changing their occupations, as a means to make ends meet. This was the case for UiHua Cheah, who was a part-time actor, scriptwriter, and director; working on shows like “Euphrasia – The Musical”, “Corporal PUN-ishment”, “indicinelive!”, and more. Currently, UiHua is the Editor-in-Chief for the online-content website CILISOS and AskLegal, where he funnels his passion for scriptwriting into satire-filled articles reflecting on Malaysian legislation, news, and culture as a whole; a topic that he was no stranger to in his theatrical works.
“I have a lot of friends who have basically gone into acting full-time, and it’s really bad for them. My best friend, who used to act in theatre shows in Singapore, had to come back to Malaysia and now most of her work is merely based on planning as everything has been put on hold. Not to mention, many of my theatre friends have also turned towards driving for Grab, or doing whatever kinds of freelance work is available at the moment.”, UiHua said, when asked about the falling number of people who were still actively involved in the local performing arts.
With actors, creative directors, along with people who work behind the scenes at these shows struggling to stay afloat, many have called for the injection of funds into the Arts and Culture industry as a means to save the scene. UiHua, however, says otherwise.
“Personally, I believe that devising a proper plan to look at how the funds given can be used to invest into the performing arts scene would be a more effective method that works in the long run. The lack of funding for Malaysian performing arts is an issue that has been around for so many years due to the lack of ticket sales. So, instead of just utilizing those funds for momentary costs, how can we re-invest that money into drawing in audiences that will keep coming in to watch more theatre shows?”, he questioned.
The impending closure of the KL Performing Arts Centre does not only mean the loss of one of Malaysia’s biggest cultural sites, but foretells the gradual loss of Malaysian Arts and Culture in general. This scenario, however, has already come into play- at least in the eyes of Peter Ong: a renowned veteran of the local performing arts scene here in Malaysia, who has even performed in numerous productions across Asia, Australia, the UK, and Germany. Peter, who is the executive producer of PAN Productions (a theatrical production company based in KL) says that he has been focusing on his work outside the Malaysian theatre scene since the start of the pandemic, pivoting more towards his wildlife conservation and photography work, “Project Monyet”. It was a career-move that he says has kept him afloat, while performing arts activities in Malaysia are suspended.
“Besides my work in musical theatre, I’ve also been heavily involved in wildlife conservation and photography even before the pandemic hit. And with performance venues in Malaysia remaining closed, I’ve mostly been giving workshops and talks about musical theatre and wildlife conservation in other countries, as their arts and culture operations still remain up and running.”, said Peter.
Peter also spoke about the observations that he has made while being involved in the foreign performing arts scene, noting that while other South-East Asian countries were placing such an emphasis on preserving their local arts and culture, Malaysia was still falling behind on preserving our traditions and heritage.
“Countries like Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines have invested so much time and funding into their local arts and culture industries, while the Malaysian arts is struggling just to get by. But the problem isn’t about the performing arts scene here alone, it’s about all of our Malaysian arts and culture as a whole. What will happen when the last silversmiths and Mak Yong dancers leave this world without passing on their talents and gifts? What will be left of our beautiful traditions and local cultures then?”, he observed.
Peter also noted that while many may be quick to blame policy-makers and legislators as the root of the cause, the real problem may actually lie within Malaysians’ own mindsets.
“More often than not, you’ll see that we’re too busy building one skyscraper and shopping mall after another, while our very own cultural landsites like the Sultan Abdul Samad building are left there to rot, despite being filled with such rich history and meaning. It is our society’s lack of “curiosity” towards arts and culture that has slowly begun to kill the local creative industry.”, Peter explained.
With all that has been said, the question behind why the Malaysian Performing Arts is struggling to stay afloat still remains; is it due to the lack of funding, planning, or the faltering attitudes of Malaysians towards the arts? Though all three interviewees had differing opinions on what the bigger issue at hand was, there was one thing that they were all able to agree on: That the Malaysian performing arts scene will never die, as there will always be a community of people who hunger to keep it alive. UiHua ended his interview with a story about a man who stole the show with his simple performance in a small, rural town-hall, and a quote:
“You don’t necessarily need a large stage or fancy lighting to put on a show, because it is the passion to perform that makes the performing arts what it truly is.”
Commentaires