Be creative

MALAYSIA’S Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) has not been short of initiatives ever since its birth back in 1996 heralded the push towards the so-called knowledge economy. At times, many have wondered whether the various information and communications technology projects that have been launched to much fanfare were going anywhere.

When Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) released the data on the performance of MSC-status firms on Thursday, companies of the creative content and technology cluster (CCT) comprising those involved in digital animation and intellectual property works saw the highest growth in export sales.

According to MDEC, sales from the cluster totalled RM1.17bil out of the RM19.1bil that all MSC-status companies exported last year. That’s over 6% of the exports of all MSC companies. As a comparison, MSC-status companies saw export sales of RM16.16bil in 2015, with the CCT companies contributing just RM850mil. Of course, that’s just a drop in the ocean of the country’s total exports but it’s a start. There are now local digital animation companies which are doing well and have a global presence such as Inspedia and Silver Ant. Malaysia’s first 3D animation production, War of the Worlds Goliath, even won the Best 3D Animated Feature award at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival in 2012, beating Hollywood movies. Malaysians were also behind the visual effects of the movie Life Of Pi, which won an Oscar for visual effects in 2014.

This is exactly what the Malaysian economy needs in order to be competitive and generate the well-paying jobs. Local private institutes of tertiary education spotted the need for such talent at the turn of the millenium and offered qualifications in this area.

Since jobs in the creative industries will always be far fewer than in the manufacturing or services sectors, moving up the value chain is important for the overall economy. Technology has often been made the bogeyman, as many see it as businesses lowering costs by cutting headcount through automation.

It does not have to be this way. Instead, the adoption of technology should encourage more innovation and expansion into economic activities that can generate higher paying jobs even in manufacturing and services. Sadly, there is still a mismatch in talent and English language skills are still lacking. What is worrying is that Malaysian school children still have low scores in mathematics and science, subjects that are vital for the skills that we want to nurture.

Perhaps, the successes enjoyed and the accolades won by Malaysians will spur business leaders, educators and the Government to work together in upgrading skills of workers as well as reforming education without getting politics involved.