The Malaysian Insight

DESPITE suffering more than RM2 million in lost revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), founded in 2006, has managed to survive thanks to sponsors, partners and donors.

Yet its founders, Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham, said the government still needs to do more to secure major art centres through consistent, long-term direct funding.

There should also be incentives for donors, so that a conducive environment is created for the arts to be recognised and supported.

“The community has really stepped up. We have been surviving thanks to the good graces of our sponsors, partners and donors, everyone has been chipping in, even other theatre groups and artists,” they told The Malaysian Insight.

“But the government needs to invest in building appreciation for the arts and artists,” Farida and Joe added.

They are grateful that during the pandemic, their sponsors and in particular, their premier partner Yayasan Sime Darby and key sponsors – Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, Creador Foundation, JTI Malaysia, Mr DIY, Cendana and MyCreative Ventures – stood by centre.

This enabled KLPac to withstand lockdowns that shut down all shows, even though the centre’s staff still took pay cuts of up to 60% during the toughest period.

“Work never stopped for us, whether it was lobbying for our reopening or rehearsing, even during lockdown so that once restrictions were lifted, we could immediately roll out and start earning what we could,” they said.

The continuous lockdowns and restrictions brought to light to the struggles and lack of support that the performing arts community faced, including its artists. At the time, many felt that the government showed a lack of care for the community.

Even with all its sponsors and donors, it is unlikely KLPac can recover its losses, Faridah and Joe said.

“The actual figure is much higher due to businesses that never returned, not only those that cancelled or postponed their shows,” they said.

The pair said recovery will be a long and slow road, despite reopening in October 2021.

KLPac has only held smaller shows with reduced capacities to put safety first.

It is still in a financial nightmare, as a minimum of RM130,000 per month is required to stay afloat and cover basic operating costs. This comes to about RM1.3 million in order to survive 2022, they said.

At the moment, KLPac is at its tail end of utilising grants from government agencies like Cendana, MyCreative Ventures, the Tourism, Artis and Culture Ministry and Penjana, which helped cushion much of their production costs when the arts and live performances sector was allowed to reopen.

“However, these grants were very much focused on shows, not on fixed operational costs for our arts centre,” they said, adding they were unsure whether the same funds will be available this year.

“We will continue to persevere with live shows as well as screening recorded performances online via CloudTheatre.”

Currently, KLPac has 50 shows lined up for 2022.

Better policies needed for performing arts sector

Successive lockdowns since the start of the pandemic in 2020 saw the closure of the 10-year-old Penang Performing Arts Centre (Penangpac) on January 15.

Also founded by Faridah and Joe, Penangpac had staged 1,000 events and performances – including 100 international troupes – and entertained 250,000 people from all walks of life.

To avoid Penangpac’s fate befalling other performing arts centres, they said the government must do more for arts centres and also incentivise donors, while also fine turning policies so that the right support is given to different recipients.

With this, the two said there must a concerted effort from the government to secure and safeguard major art centres through consistent, long-term direct funding as well as incentives for others such as corporations or individuals to chip in so that it is a conducive environment for people to step in to support the arts and be recognised for their support.

“What we needed last year may differ from what is needed now and in the future.

“What an arts centre needs may be different from what a theatre group or artist needs,” they said.

For example, arts centres like KLPac are not tax-exempt.

“Do not wait until it is too late. Let Penangpac be the last. A 10-year-old institution wiped out and its work undone just like that is a great shame.

“Let us not forget during our most difficult time, many of us turned to the arts for comfort, relief and entertainment.”

Damansara Performing Arts Centre refuses to lay off

DPac theatre manager, Lee Ming Kiat noted that while the government has tried to implement some policies to assist the art industry, most of them are in promoting traditional arts.

“Conversely, DPac is a performing arts centre, not a performance group, and we are also a private institution, so we cannot directly receive any assistance,” he said.

Much like KLPac, DPac is also waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Lee said that throughout 2021, it had funding from Cendana but depended mostly on a handful of venue renters.

“Towards the end of 2021, we had several theatre and ballet performances, each with more than a half-full attendance,” he said.

Lee said DPac has not applied for any new funding as it expects any funding available during the current economic recovery period would be reduced.

Despite its tribulations, DPac has managed to maintain all of its staff. Lim said layoffs are out of the question and has made this a policy.

“We have not laid off any staff. No matter how hard the pandemic persists, DPac will not carry out a policy of layoffs.”

Like KLPac, it also executed temporary salary cuts to reduce the company’s expenses.

During that period, Lim said the employees were encouraged to work from home. – February 18, 2022.