A call for courage among art graduates

The Malaysian performing arts industry is seeing a dramatic improvement compared to five or ten years ago. This in turn results in the increase in demand for artists such as actors, directors and screenwriters.

Rector for Aswara, Prof. Dr. Hatta Azad Khan said that currently our arts graduates are mere followers and nor trendsetters in the industry which makes them no different compared to other people who have absolutely no knowledge in the field.

"Performing arts graduates should dare to change the way the art industry has been viewed. They need to bring in fresh ideas and not just regurgitate what have been produced before. For example the story of an evil stepmother who abuses her stepdaughter. There's nothing wrong if they convert the storyline to a stepchild who abuses her stepmother instead, " said Dr. Hatta.

He also said that the current batch of performing arts graduates should have the courage to fight to uphold the art as has been done by previous generations.