By Kee Thuan Chye.

WHERE we once compared nations, we must now compare cities. Penang can exude vibrant  culture if we all first envisage our dream, and then take the necessary steps to realise that. Along the way, let's not let political considerations thwart the project.

I have a dream. That one day Penang will become a cultural hub and that it will not only be one for the Malaysian north but for the region as well.

I have a dream that the arts and culture of Penang — and Malaysia as a whole — will flourish out of the many activities that will emanate from this hub.

I have a dream that Penang will develop a sophisticated infrastructure to facilitate the blossoming of our country's arts and culture.

Can we realise such a dream?

Let's look at Singapore. At the turn of the millennium, it came up with a holistic plan to develop a new growth sector — the creative industries — to help transform the country's economy. It defined the creative industries as being in three broad groups: (i) arts and culture (ii) design; and (iii) media.

The Singapore Government had learned from studies in the United States that “entrepreneurship is closely correlated with the level of cultural vibrancy”. So it came up with a vision to establish Singapore as a vibrant and exciting creative hub, utilising a formula that would fuse arts, business and technology.

Its Department of Statistics had estimated that creative industries contributed around three per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000. Developing these industries would give them the potential to contribute six per cent of GDP by 2012, out of which five to seven per cent of the national workforce could be employed.

In the area of the arts, using the tag “Renaissance City”, it aimed to “position Singapore as a key city in the Asian renaissance of the 21st century and a cultural centre in the globalised world”, to make Singapore “one of the top cities in the world to live, work and play in, where there is an environment conducive to creative and knowledge-based industries and talent”.

Reaping the benefits

Look at what Singapore has benefited from this vision nine years down the road. Its arts scene is buzzing, cultural troupes come from all over the world to perform there, creativity is gradually becoming a part of Singaporean life, and the island itself has become an entertainment destination for tourists.

Last year, in the annual survey of the world's most livable cities conducted by the magazine Monocle, Singapore was ranked 18th, and this had much to do with its “flowering of museums, performing arts venues and galleries”.

There are now more than 700 registered arts companies and groups there, about double the number 10 years ago. On average, there are more than 50 arts performances and exhibitions going on, on any given day.

Imagine what a plan like Singapore's could do to a place like Penang, which certainly could do with a cultural renaissance. Of course the plan is grand and ambitious, but Penang doesn't have to emulate all its aspects; it can start off on a smaller scale. Money would certainly be a driving force, but imagination would be just as essential.

The first thing to do would be to find the right artistic director or cultural director—call that person what you will. He or she should come up with a vision. Along the way, there will be a need to develop the right infrastructure. This might entail building a theatre and concert hall, like the Esplanade of Singapore (which has become a cultural icon, not because it looks like a durian!), smaller performance space, museums and art galleries (some possibly converted from heritage buildings). When the infrastructure is there, any plan to inspire people to create will have a better change of succeeding.

There will be a need to create new works to feed a growing culture. Culture is not a fossilised thing; it is organic, ever living, and it needs to grow. Penang can take the lead in making that happen for Malaysia. Let's face it — look at the existing contemporary culture in Malaysia. Frankly, it looks tired or lacking in energy. It's starved of ideas. There's no buzz. What's culturally exciting in Kuala Lumpur today? Can anyone answer that?

Meanwhile, the traditional arts could also be promoted, not for the sake of preserving them as museum pieces but for making them live in contemporary times. And there are so many traditional forms that could live in this melting pot of cultures called Penang, ranging from boria to dondang sayang to bharatanatyam to manora to wayang kulit to bangsawan… the list goes on.

KL has so far not done a commendable job of fostering culture. The Dewan Filharmonik Petronas is more geared towards classical music that is largely Western; the National Museum, is practically dead and more aptly called a national disgrace; and the pompously named Istana Budaya is so badly managed by complacent government servants that they don't really know what to do with it. The Penang culture hub will have to be more than all these. It would do well to learn from the successful and also those that have failed.

Above all, it should not be compromised by politics. The Penang Government can be a catalyst in its birth and development but it should leave the artistic agenda to cultural professionals. Too often, we have been frustrated by issues like halal content and ethnicity in key appointments. These cannot figure in culture. Non-artistic concerns that can impede the growth of art and culture should also be outlawed. We can't suppress an artistic work simply because it is perceived to be offensive to certain religious sensibilities or that it is considered to be espousing values that threaten a particular race. We cannot afford to be exclusivist or parochial or be confined to promoting only one particular culture. After all, we Malaysians are a hybrid. And the world is the ultimate hybrid. We should be ecumenical, open a window to the world, and open the world to us.

Becoming a cultural hub will be a boon to Penang. Not only will it augment the state's economy and take Malaysian culture to greater heights; it could also be an opportunity for Penang to show the rest of Malaysia that we need to rise above petty concerns and puny nationalistic sentiments.

** Reproduced with permission. This article first appeared in the January 2010 issue of the Penang Economic Monthly. This 11-year old magazine published by the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI) is being overhauled and commercialised. This endeavour is in response to the growing insight among Penangites and Penang lovers that the downward trend in the state's fortunes cannot be succesfully reversed unless they themselves get seriously involved. The goal is to inspire positive action among readers towards attaining a "Penang Renaissance".

For more information, please visit the Penang Economic Monthly site or contact the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI) at 604-2283306. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of iGeorgetown. 

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