MOTAC should be called MOCAT, or better yet…
WHEN a human being is born on earth, he is definitely given a name. A good name with the hope that it brings grace and the spirit of the name to live a prosperous life. Muhammad, Ahmad, Aminah, Fahmi, Zaitun, Fakri, Mustaqim, Ros, Ayop, Saadiah, Talib – all of them have a good meaning. Whatever the race and language, no child is given a bad name (there may be some isolated cases, for some reason).
There is no nameless or called thing. Name is the first and most important thing in life, as a container of identification of the body that leads him to step in this life. Names are given by the human mind that thinks and is inspired by God, based on the impression of the shape and nature of an object or being. Good name, good nature.
A bad name confirms the appearance of the shape that is not good. Names are called, spoken with words. The word is a prayer. Sweet words, sweet prayers. Good name, I hope it will be good. Therefore, that is why the name is something that should not be taken lightly.
Some may think that a name is just a call, but know that it is actually more than that. In this case, we usually see or hear that name changes often happen, usually by government institutions.
As long as there is a structural overhaul, the name is changed to give it a ‘new breath’, so that it is better pronounced and heard, or whatever the reason is. Originally, the ministry of culture and arts originated from a division under the Ministry of Social Welfare in 1953, then it was transferred to the Ministry of Information in 1964.
Following the conflict of May 13, 1969, two years later it became a full ministry, with the name Ministry of Youth and Sports . In 1987, the cultural component was combined with the Malaysian Tourism Development Corporation to become the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
In 1992, for the umpteenth time it was changed, given a new name which is the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism. Then change again, to Culture, Arts and Heritage. Change again, becoming the Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage. Until today, its latest name is the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture; or its acronym in Malay ‘KPSB’, but the government is more inclined to call it in the English acronym – MOTAC. I don’t know the day after tomorrow the government will change again, the ministry will be reshuffled again, what will the new name be? Imagine that you are busy exchanging names. Today you are an Iqbal, next year you will be Maarof, the day after tomorrow you will be Shahrom, in three years you will be William.
It would be a disaster for the National Registration Department if tens of millions of Malaysians change their names in an instant. Even people around are dizzy to follow the ‘pace of development and evolution’ of your name. “What do you really want to be?” Where did we stand? The origin of the minister changes, the policy changes, the program changes, the officials change, the uniforms change, the car changes, the curtains of the office change, if possible all things want to change. I don’t know how much he spent, where did he go?
Bartering is one thing. But what I want to emphasize here is the arrangement of the name – what is in front, what is in the middle and what is behind – which in this case represents the components in the ministry.
Naturally, what is given priority is placed in front and what is less important is placed in the back. Placing ‘Tourism’ in front of ‘Culture’ and ‘Art’ in the order of the name clearly shows that the government’s focus today is on efforts in the tourism aspect of the country. Not wrong, but not right.
The tourism sector has long been the main ‘hole’ of our country’s income, one of the biggest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – in simpler terms, it is the most profitable place to make money. Money from outside comes in. The COVID-19 pandemic stormed and brought misfortune to the sector when movement was actually limited. GDP collapses when tourism activities can be said to have completely stopped. Today the situation has calmed down a bit, the border is opening up, he can breathe again.
All kinds of things happen in the world, riots here and there, inviting recession. The good bit is that it does not prevent those who have more than enough money to travel, so the tourism industry is expected to be a lifeline to give an injection to the country’s strength in the face of a period of turmoil. As we search for a branch to cling to in critical times, we may see that tourism is the main hope and is expected to be one of the main supports for this country to live in prosperity.
But be aware, oh people who are ‘blanketed’, prosperity is not about money, but is rooted and brought to life by culture and art. Art and culture make a person human, who naturally loves beauty and subtlety.
True art brings people back to acknowledge the greatness of their Creator, realizing that everything in this world is not his own but is lent to be returned to the whole world as a service in carrying out his function as a ‘caliph’ leading the world to prosperity.
We are all human, but we are made into different tribes and nations, which introduce each other with their culture and art. In knowing the diversity of His creation, we visit other lands to experience something different from ourselves as well as everything that is within the scope of the life we live. We go to India for example to experience how the cuisine, the fashion, the music, the architecture, the air, the people, and all kinds of other forms of manifestation of Indian culture are produced with full subtlety.
The culture that has been rooted for thousands of years became the foundation that later presented the spiritual beliefs of the community.
The teachings of Islam came to Muhammad (PBUH) after he lived four decades in the framework of his Quraish culture, Siddharta Gautama gained ‘Enlightenment’ or awareness of the true truth after he ran away from the palace culture that swept away and built a new, purer culture, and Isa ( AS) had cultivated noble character in his life before being appointed as al-Masih, the savior for his people who were shrouded in lies. Not denying the importance of religion, which is actually a complement that completes human life.
Just like a glass is like a human body formed by culture and filled with water like religion. The glass is clear, clean and strong, clear the shape and appearance of the water in it. Crack the glass, let’s be honest the water it contains goes to the earth and eventually runs out.
Culture is fragile, the human soul is empty no matter how pure the religion is. We already have our own dance, fashion, music and cuisine. Not one type, but many kinds of the plural deck of our racial composition, there is no other place of this kind of wealth.
However, we only see it from an aesthetic point of view or its external appearance alone, rarely do we peel and embrace the philosophy behind every detail that underlies an aspect of the tradition. We look beautiful on the outside, but our spirit, culture as a noble human being that we are still not quite enchanting.
Malay culture teaches good manners, Islamic culture does the same – because that’s why both of them are like books. It is certain that the culture of other nations and religions also have a philosophy of pure personality or what Buddhists and Hindus call ‘dharma’, which is the path of a prosperous life to obtain grace. But unfortunately, many of us still do not hold the values taught by the religion we follow.
Garbage is still thrown everywhere, even though all nations teach about the value of cleanliness, responsibility and concern. Let’s just talk about garbage, because when even a small thing like managing garbage is not a core culture in our daily lives, this country should be full of ‘garbage’. Not collected, not cleaned, lazy, wait for someone else who is hired to collect, no sense of courtesy and responsibility, until long become oblivious and accustomed to living in a dirty and rotten state.
On the other hand, what becomes culture are bad things that do not need to be mentioned one by one. Elephant carcasses cannot be covered with nyuri, I think everyone already knows. But pretend not to know. “I’m lazy, all I want is money. Life is getting more expensive, there won’t be days when I want to eat tofu.”
As if everything is ‘for the sake of money’, not ‘for the sake of God’ or ‘lillahita’ala’ which is expressed in every prayer that is established. Let us be selfish human beings, consciously or unconsciously. There is no developed nation in this world that does not have a pure culture.
Progress is not about how much income or how much property we have, how much GDP and how tall our buildings are – but how efficiently we manage all the challenges and complexities of life as human beings in society to achieve prosperity.
Problems are a part of life, but facing them is an art of living. When purity becomes a way of life, naturally all our beauty will shine forth and attract the attention of outsiders to see and be called to come and get to know us more closely. White people say,”the beauty comes from within.”
Therefore, tourism is actually a by-product of culture and art. Maybe all this time those who hold the reins of power and even all the members of this lucky earth society see the cultural and artistic matters only as a form of entertainment, ‘candies’ for the senses.
That’s why we fail to come up with an honest and sincere solution when we try too hard to ‘sell ourselves’. If things are really beautiful, there is no need to “try too hard”to attract people’s attention. And things that are not honest will not last long, eventually we get tired of being fake. The ministry related to culture and art should be given the same priority as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education.
Money is indeed important, but those who think and work to find money are human beings, and the human spirit is culture. It’s not wrong to have a tall tower, but the culture must also be firm and strong. Paradigms have to shift, motions have to be rearranged – starting with changing its name to the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism. Put ‘culture’ first.
MOTAC to MOCAT, or better KBSP. What’s the point of having your own language if you don’t use it? As for his name on the world stage, let those outside think what name they want to be called. It is not our job to serve all their needs and wants. We are a free nation, we must do it our way. Doesn’t that sound ‘glamorous’? If it’s ‘glamour’ that continues to be important, it’s a pain.
