Proposed Creative Industries Board to get govt support

KOTA KINABALU: The state government welcomes the proposal to set up a Creative Industries Board in Sabah, to spearhead and monitor the development of the creative industry here.

The proposal was made by Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah, whereby it had suggested that a board should be established to stimulate the growth of the creative industries in Sabah, similar to the initial establishment of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) back in 1976.

In response, Assistant Education and Innovation Minister Jenifer Lasimbang agreed that it was vital for Sabah to establish a creative board as it would serve as a strategic body instead of one that merely functioned at the implementation and operational level.

“When we have a board that carries out strategic thinking on which direction we are heading, we would be able to channel the funds (more properly).

“We actually need a board to carry out the strategic thinking, then only we can move further and higher,” she told reporters at IDS seminar entitled: ‘Sabah’s Rural Creative Communities: Developing and Revitalising Rural Communities Through Arts and Creativity’, on Thursday.

“It would be like having a team that works together - with the same focus, vision and mission. With this, we will not leave anyone behind. There are so many (forms of) performing arts that had been left behind,” she said, adding that the industry needed people who worked hard.

Among the functions of the proposed board would be to promote and support the creative industries such as performing arts and creative media; to promote the development of Sabah’s identity in arts; to formulate policies for the direction of the creative industries; to determine the level of funding that should be made available; to advise the ministerin-charge of any creative industry matters; and so on.

Earlier, IDS Sabah chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun in his speech said the creative sector in Sabah was currently fragmented and was developing on an ad-hoc basis.

He said one of of the main constraints faced by the industry was the low level of public awareness on the appreciation of arts and culture.

“I am given to understand that the main reason for this is the lack of support mechanism from the government to fully develop the potential of the creative industries.

“This being the case, it is proposed that a board should be established under the Chief Minister’s Department,” he said.

He opined that the state government, along with local governments should acknowledge the presence of the creative industries and to explore their roles more broadly, particularly in terms of risk and community resilience.

Referring to he STB as an example, Simon said the creation of STB had led to the establishment of the Ministry of Tourism, which was created 11 years after STB’s inception - to further capitalise on the role of tourism in boosting the state’s economy.

In this regard, he said the creative industries should also be considered as a ‘sunrise industry’ just like the tourism industry; both should complement each other.

“Similar to STB previously, a Creative Industries Board could be the catalyst to stimulate the development of the creative industries in Sabah, and thus taking care of Sabah’s hidden and creative talents,” he added.

During the event, Jenifer sat as a panelist at the seminar’s key forum entitled: ‘The Importance of Creativity and Innovation on Enhancing Rural Communities’, which was moderated by IDS Sabah chief executive officer Datuk Dr Johan Arriffin Samad.

She was joined by panelists Wolfgang Hruschka, a representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Datuk Adeline Leong, a board member of the IDS Sabah and Professor Dr Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan, a fellow of the Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies.