PENANG Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow defended the George Town Festival (GTF) after Malay groups and politicians lambasted the event for leaving out Malay cultural elements from its show.
Chow said there was misinterpretation by certain groups, either intentionally or unintentionally, as the GTF is a performing arts event while the one-day George Town Heritage celebration showcases all the cultural diversity in the state.
The performing arts events tend to symbolise many components of culture and heritage and it should not be seen from the microscope of race only.
Chow said it was unreasonable for the GTF's main organiser, George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), to be disbanded over a festive teaser clip, which apparently overlooked incorporating the Malay cultural element.
The clip has since been deleted, but in its original version, it seemed to only depict Chinese and Indian cultural elements of the coming GTF shows.
Speaking after launching the 16th edition of GTF at the Batu Cafe here, he said that GTWHI is a state government agency entrusted with overseeing the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site.
"It should be judged solely on its role in preserving its area. I find the request for GTWHI to be disbanded just because it owns the festival to be completely unreasonable," he said.
"GTWHI has been around for 16 years, and it has won numerous awards and recognition by Unesco and the World Heritage Committee."
The site was also recognised by Unesco as among the top managed heritage sites in the region, Chow said.
Chow rescheduled his duties in Kuala Lumpur today to enable him to launch the GTF in Penang.
He will then fly back to Kuala Lumpur in time to attend the installation of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim as the 17th King of Malaysia tomorrow.
Sebarang Jaya assemblyman Izhar Shah Arif Shah of Bersatu called for GTWHI, which owns the festival, to be disbanded after the controversy that arose from the promotional video for the George Town Festival.
Festival organiser, Kerson Media Global Sdn Bhd, said it has removed the video and issued an apology, insisting that efforts were made in the planning and promotion of the festival to ensure an “inclusive, comprehensive and balanced representation”.
The company also said the event scheduled to take place from July 19 to 28 in Penang’s capital city will feature up to 80 programmes throughout its 10-day celebration.
Meanwhile, GTWHI said in a separate statement that it had set performance benchmarks for the festival.
Noting that 53 out of the 80 programmes will feature performances from local artists, GTWHI said it had advised Kerson Media Global to resolve the controversy as soon as possible.
Chow also dismissed Permatang Pauh MP Muhammad Fawwaz Mohamad Jan’s call for the city to be renamed to Tanjung Penaga, saying that George Town and other cities have historical legacies that were not only from British colonial heritage, but from other others like the Dutch, Portuguese and Hindus.
“It would be an enormous task to wipe out the legacies of all the colonial powers in this country.”
Meanwhile, state exco for tourism, culture and arts as well as creative economy, Wong Hon Wai, said in future, the organisers need to have more local content in its shows to dispel the notion that it is only leaning towards foreign or regional input.
GTF has grown since its inception in 2009, as a beacon to showcase the outstanding universal values of the Unesco heritage site, which showcases a diverse range of culture, arts and heritage, not to mention the gastronomic delights.
This year, the event was trimmed down from a 30-day celebration to just 10-days. The cultural extravaganza has many quality shows and performances lined up throughout the state with the main focus being in George Town. – July 19, 2024.
