The Malaysia Cultural Cities Profile reports aim to provide information and an overview of eight Malaysian cities, outlining their cultural diversity, population, heritage, assets and policies. The reports provide introductory information on the cities’ history, demographics and unique cultural practices, including the nature and scale of cultural, creative and digital policies and economy that exists in the selected Malaysian cities.
Each city profile provides:
Local governments' cultural policies, strategies and priorities
International recognitions
Cultural and digital infrastructures
Major arts and cultural events and festivals
Arts education provisions
Arts funding approaches and stakeholders
Existing networks involving cultural sectors and practitioners
Influential and emerging arts and cultural stakeholders
The research covers the following eight Malaysian cities:
George Town, Penang
Ipoh, Perak
Johor Bharu, Johor
Kota Bharu, Kelantan
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Kuala Lumpur and Wider Klang Valley
Kuching, Sarawak
Melaka
About
Commissioned by the British Council, the research is led by Dr Tom Fleming, Director, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy and Nana Yu I Lee, Senior Researcher, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy in collaboration with Jia-Ping Lee, Founder and Principal, Tempatico; Ee Lin Lim, Consultant, Tempatico; Lim Sok Swan, Special Project Officer, Penang Institute; Morana Lefilliatre, Administrator & Research Assistant, Penang Institute; Joyee Yap, Analyst, Socioeconomics & Statistics Programme, Penang Institute; and Mohammad Zulhafiy bin ZolBahari, Intern, Heritage & Urban Studies, Penang Institute.
Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism
National Culture Policy, Accepted by the National Culture Congress in 1971.
This policy serves as a guide in developing and maintaining Malaysia’s national identity around the world. It was created based on the region’s and Malaysia’s rich history. The policy’s principles include the indigenous culture and components from other cultures such as Chinese, Indian and others. Islam, being the country’s official religion, is an important component in the formulation of the national culture policy.
National Creative Industry Policy (NCIP), 2009. Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture.
The National Creative Industry Policy aims to boost the country’s economy and socio-culture through the following: generating national wealth by creating employment opportunities and preserving intellectual property; cultivating creative talents; exporting local innovative products to other countries; and increasing public awareness of the creative industry’s products to expand the local and international markets.
National Tourism Policy 2020 – 2030, 2020. Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
The policy is to leverage the principles of competitiveness, sustainability, and inclusiveness as a basis to position Malaysia as one of the top ten destinations in the world for tourists in terms of arrivals and receipts, especially in the post-COVID-19 era.19 Cultural & Heritage Tourism constitutes an important element of the policy.
Communications and Digital
Creative and Communication Blueprint 2018 – 2025: Digitise and Humanise, 2018. Ministry of Communications and Multimedia.
The objectives of the blueprint are to position the Communications and Multimedia (C&M) sector for sustainable growth amid digital disruption and broader technological advancement; fasten the development and transformation of other sectors of the economy; and develop a connected, knowledgeable and empowered society.20 Local creative content producers and broadcasters are an area threatened by shifting consumption preferences towards global content and global content platforms, which have reduced advertising revenues and shrunk broadcast value pools. Measures to revitalise local content production and distribution, and enhancement of Malaysian content beyond borders will become primary government focus to combat the situation and inspire the Malaysian creative content sector.
Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, 2021. Economy Planning Unit, Prime Minister Department.
The Government introduced MyDIGITAL, through the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, to transform Malaysia into a high-income country driven by technology and digitisation, as well as a regional leader in the digital economy. For the art and culture sector, it is to enable virtual access to cultural products and services through high-resolution imaging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), encourage the use of digital technology in amusement and recreational parks, cultivate and improve digital talent skills in the creative industry, and enabling digital content production and adoption of digital marketplaces.
Environmental Sustainability
National Policy on Biological Diversity 2016 – 2025. Biodiversity and Forestry Management Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The National Policy on Biological Diversity 2016 – 2025 (NPBD) seeks to preserve Malaysia’s biological diversity and to ensure that its components are sustainably used for the continued progress of the nation. In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal, it aims to conserve biodiversity, promote sustainable use and ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of biological resources.
Green Technology Master Plan (GTMP) Malaysia 2017 – 2030. Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water.
Through GTMP, the government declares a leadership role in green technology by mainstreaming green technology into markets; prioritising and focusing on technology innovation; and developing and improving human capital.22 Some of the key areas to mainstream Green Technology include: public transportation, private transportation, green building design, sustainable construction practices, and green building materials. Malaysia’s Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastics 2018 – 2030: Towards A Sustainable Future, 2018. Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change. The vision of the policy is to achieve zero single use plastics in Malaysia by 2030 for a cleaner and healthier environment.2