WHERE do I begin? Whatever I say here will be unpopular but at the semi-twilight of my life, I really don’t give a damn anymore.
I am at odds because, on one hand, the entertainment industry in Malaysia has given me a good life, but sometimes, I wonder whether it could have been great. If the powers-that-be in the country (i.e. the government policies, politicians, TV stations and even the old guards of the industry, who never seem to want to let the younger generation take over the reins of moulding the new era of entertainment that they are in) would show creatives more respect for their craft.
Entertainment is important in the building of a cultured society in any country. Popular entertainers have a lot of power to persuade their followers to listen to what they say. This is evident in how they are "used" for political and governmental events, but I believe things were set in motion to keep us needy and poor from the get-go.
This is done by denying creatives a fair shake in the work that they are doing at all levels. The people who benefit are the stations and investors. The spoils of war are never shared. The rates TV stations pay have not changed much since the days of P. Ramlee.
The price of everything increases with time and economic growth, but creatives' fees largely stay the same. In budgeting, fees of creatives are the first to be cut and the prices of equipment and other logistical stuff likely remain. Don’t even get me started with intellectual property. Eager young creatives brimming with ideas will get their great ideas ripped from them for a measly fee.
No other creative or innovative field suffers from that. Oprah Winfrey would die in Malaysia. One production company cannot survive on one hit show because they cannot make ends meet from just one project. Sometimes creative houses have to come up with many ideas for many programmes to stay afloat because they make so little.
Not to blow my own horn, but I am a multiple-award-winning creative and I have proven to my peers that my ideas and execution is good to great! It is great when I am given free rein to produce as best I can. But instead, I have to listen to the TV station executives on how I should do my job and suffer the consequences when the ideas imposed fail.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind criticism. But something has to be said about a painter being able to use the brushes and paint medium he prefers to create his art. This is so that it does not end up a copy of other programmes that supposedly work. We become a factory when we do that. The creative industry should not be like a factory.
At my age and experience, I am still working like a dog and now I have to present to kids with half my experience and ability. Sometimes I ask myself whether it makes a difference to have garnered all the awards throughout my 30 years in the industry. It didn’t make a difference in my fee. It didn’t make a difference to my status in the industry.
Why do we even have award shows? So TV stations and powers-that-be can parade us like cows – they make the advertising dollars and we bring home a piece of metal. The truth is, if there was a bad and unfair business to be in, this is it.
What do we do? We are whores in an industry where the pimps make all the money and treat us like crap but this is what we are gifted to do, so we do it. Gluttons for punishment? Yes! But what else can we do? We can’t all sell tudungs.
I worry for our kids who have wholeheartedly invested in their dreams to join our industry. With hopes and aspirations, I am sad to show them the bleak picture that is the life of a creative in Malaysia.
What is to become of them in the future? What kind of life would they have?
The only light at the end of the tunnel is that the industry is changing. Reliance on TV and cinemas, or otherwise known as the traditional media, is changing. Kids can make advertising dollars on their own by creating content online – without skill or even production values.
We, the current creatives have to re-learn to stay relevant. This is a bane and a blessing to us senior creatives. Traditional media is hanging on by a thread. More and more of our creatives are migrating for greener pastures elsewhere.
Some friends of mine once said to me that if I was in Hollywood, I would be minting money with all the movies and hit shows I have done.
I can say the same for many creative talents I know in the country, but I tell them that I was born exactly where I am supposed to. I am where I want to be.
I love Malaysia. I hope I will be able to make a difference to change the wrongs in this industry I have a love-hate relationship with before I leave this world.
For my kids who all want to be in the industry and their kids after that. So that the Malaysian creative industry becomes a force to be reckoned with, on the international stage.
We need a change for the better. No more ***king jaguh kampung. – The Vibes, January 1, 2021
Dato’ Afdlin Shauki is chief executive of Petra Studios.
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