Harnessing our imagination

Revving up the creative industry

BEFORE Covid-19, Malaysia’s creative industry was thriving. It was making waves in the international arena in vocal and performing arts, movies and animation, and fashion and design. Reportedly, it was one of the countries known for producing world-class talents. There’s no mistaking, for instance, the creative and imaginative talent of James Wan, the Malaysian-born film director and producer of the Insidious and Conjuring film franchise.

Even the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development had identified Malaysia as one of the top cultural and creative producers among developing countries. And before the pandemic, creative employment was growing. “Creativity is what we, Malaysians, have in abundance,” so say those in the industry. In 2018, the creative industry was projected to contribute RM33 billion to the country’s gross domestic product this year. But when Covid-19 burst onto the scene, the industry stopped dead in its tracks. The global impact has affected, and is still affecting, all walks of life in personal, social and commercial contexts.

What now for the industry? How do we mobilise ideas and talent moving forward? Enter the RM225 million allocation to support and re-energise the creative industry as part of the short-term Economic Recovery Plan announced by the prime minister last month. On Wednesday, the Malaysian Film Producers Association reportedly said local and art industry players were not confident about releasing their movies in theatres yet because they were worried about not achieving the targeted box office collection. Producers, too, were not keen to take the risk, especially if it involved high investments.

Not a surprise — after months of inactivity, the industry would need time to pick up pace. Indeed, we are in for a tough period ahead, economically and socially. But despair not, arts and culture do have a role to help the economy recover. Creative industry players, for one, can instil new normal values through their content. There are many examples of solidarity and innovation during these challenging times — they seem to surge from all corners. The level of innovation and engagement displayed by our frontliners, for instance, has been positively surprising — fighting Covid-19 through song, prose and art.

Two, enhance creative content by employing the latest in 4IR technologies. The government may consider investing more on human capital in the digital economy so that our players can continue to be competitive. After all, creativity is the driver of innovation. We need imagination and creativity to survive in a post-Covid world, says a veteran actor and film director. For with imagination, we can adapt to a new environment. The Harvard Business Review puts imagination as “the capacity to create, evolve, and exploit mental models of things or situations that don’t yet exist — it is the crucial factor in seizing and creating new opportunities, and finding new paths to growth”.

Management gurus have said that imagination may seem like a frivolous luxury in a crisis, but it is actually a necessity for building future success. Industry players would do well to remember theoretical physicist Albert Einstein’s famous quote: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”

...arts and culture do have a role to help the economy recover.