PETALING JAYA: The organisers of the George Town Festival 2024 (GTF2024) have apologised for a teaser video that received flak for only promoting Indian and Chinese culture, saying they tried their best to ensure inclusive, comprehensive and balanced representation.
They said in a statement today that these efforts were also made in the festival’s programming and ethnic representation.
"Malay culture is rich with artistic and cultural elements, which George Town Festival has featured every year," they said.
They added that this year’s festival would feature eight programmes by Malay representatives.
Meanwhile, project owner George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) said the festival would have 80 events, 53 of which would present local art in the form of films, theatre, exhibitions, art installations and cross-discipline sensory experiences.
"GTWHI takes seriously the disappointment that local communities have expressed. We have advised the festival contractor, Kerson Media Global Sdn Bhd, to increase the promotion of local programming in the nearest time possible," it said in a statement.
The teaser video, titled "Here and Now", was published ahead of the 10-day festival which begins on July 19.
It was criticised by several NGOs and politicians for allegedly promoting only Indian and Chinese culture.
Utusan Malaysia reported Penang PAS information chief Fawwaz Jan as saying the video did not accurately promote Penang’s community and seemed to deny the existence of Malay culture in the state.
“Is this part of an agenda to depict George Town as being owned only by certain races? Do the parties involved want to deny the existence of Penang’s original residents who were in the state before its colonisation by Francis Light?
"The state government must act against the parties involved to protect the harmony of Penang’s people," he said.
Penang Umno head and Bertam assemblyman Reezal Merican Naina Merican also criticised the organisers, saying the video’s narrative was not inclusive and did not display the true variety of George Town’s heritage.
"The video has hurt the feelings of the Malays, the earliest inhabitants of Penang," he said in a Facebook post.
Reezal also took aim at the state executive council office for tourism and creative economy, as well as the national culture and arts department for overlooking the issue..
“As someone who was once in the federal administration, I would like to remind the national culture and arts department as the custodian of all the races’ arts and culture to be more proactive in giving its input and guidance to the GTF2024 organisers," he said.
Even as we support efforts to promote George Town as a world heritage destination for tourism, we urge the Penang government and GTF2024 organisers to be more alert and sensitive to Penang’s diversity of art and culture."
