YB Senator Tengku Dato' Sri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz today visited the Mah Meri Cultural Village to deliver food assistance for arts and culture workers from the Mah Meri community who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The food aid program was conducted jointly with the Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA). In attendance was MyCreative Ventures Chairman Noor Azmi Mat Said and CENDANA CEO Izan Satrina. Nearly 100 households benefitted from the programme with each recipient given packs consisting of various essential food items.

Tengku Zafrul had the opportunity to meet the workers and gathered feedback from the Mah Meri arts and culture workers on the challenges they faced during this pandemic and how their plight could be alleviated by the Government.

Tengku Zafrul said, “The Mah Meri community livelihood is dependent on tourism activities at this cultural village and they have been badly affected due to the centre being closed since last year in abiding to restrictions under MCO.”

“Latest studies have shown that the arts and culture sector nationwide have been adversely impacted by COVID-19 with nearly 80% workers in the sector having totally lost or suffered reduction in their source of income,” he added, quoting the findings from CENDANA’s 2021 COVID-19 Impact on the Arts and Culture Report.

There are 2,000 Mah Meri people who live at Carey Island. Most of them work as fishermen or farmers and more. Many also gain income from as wood carvers, mask carvers, pandanus weavers and cultural performers; which forms an important practice of the Mah Meri tribe not just as a commercial activity but as part of their life rituals. These activities have contributed to cultural tourism in Selangor and previously had attracted a steady throng of visitors to the Mah Meri Cultural Village.

However, due to the pandemic, they are no longer able to earn from selling handicraft or cultural shows done at the cultural village.

“The Government has introduced many initiatives to support the arts and culture sector under the various financial aid and economic stimulus packages such as PENJANA and PERMAI. Yet, there is always room for the private sector to contribute towards those affected by the pandemic and support the arts and culture communities too,” said Tengku Zafrul.

“The current National Recovery Plan aims to guide the country out of this COVID-19 crisis with a ‘Whole-of-Nation’ approach. To ensure the nation exits this crisis successfully, all parties need to support it including GLCs and the private sector,” he added.

According to Noor Azmi, the arts and culture sector is not just important as a source of livelihood for thousands of Malaysians but also as a critical source of uniting Malaysians from all walks of life. He said, “CENDANA as part of the MyCreative Ventures Group is committed to ensuring the arts and culture practitioners and workers are protected throughout this pandemic. We need to ensure they are poised for recovery along with the wider creative industries.”

“Under the various national financial aid packages introduced by the Government, the Group has introduced many programmes to safeguard creative businesses and jobs. Now with the gradual opening up of the economy, our task at hand is also to reinvigorate skillsets and talents. All these efforts will be further enhanced with MyCreatives upcoming group transformation that will serve to develop the Orange Economy (also known as the creative economy) for the country.”

Meanwhile, Izan Satrina shared the findings on CENDANA’S latest study on the arts and culture sector, “COVID-19 pandemic had caused a huge impact on the National Economy and many industries, including the Arts and Culture sector. Based on our recent report, 64% of cultural arts practitioners and administrative workers are working with reduced salaries and 83% of them are worried about their future in the arts.”

Izan added, “In view of the pandemic, we have intensified our efforts to support the recovery of the arts and culture sector. To date, we have approved funds to approximately 1,000 local beneficiaries, created employment opportunities for more than 11,000 Malaysians and upskilled more than 13,000 practitioners, since our inception in 2017. Within the period of less than 12 months, CENDANA has also approved RM 19million million that will create work opportunities for more than 6,000 Malaysian arts practitioners.”

CENDANA’s programmes and initiatives focus on communities which is quite broad ranging – from artisans, craft makers, craft producers, buskers, veteran singers, technical crew, production workers, actors, dancers and others. To help identify Mah Meri communities in need, CENDANA works closely with Ms Norliah Samsuri who can be reached via https://www.facebook.com/www.mmcv.org.my or 016 622 2035.