Seni

I saw a piece of paper on the floor in a room where the walls were full of scribblings of Ultraman and Dinosaurs. It was a picture of a lizard-man wielding a shield and a sword while sticking his tongue out. I was in love with the picture, so I stole it.

My brother eventually found out that I stole it, but it wasn't a big deal and he forgave me.

From that day on, I knew what I wanted to be. An artist, a man of the arts. The 5 year old me imagined that by 20 something, I would draw pictures of 'Kampung Nelayan' and 'Jelapang Padi', some classics which Malaysian artist usually draw. These sort of painting filled my dad's office, and every time I dropped by to visit my dad at work, I would stop to really stare at these beautiful paintings.

Kampung Nelayan - by Johari Alias

Fast forward 15 years, and here we are in an age where everyone wants to be an artist. The only difference would be that they don't want to be artists like Johari Alias and Cheah Thienv Soong. They want to be popular, they are chasing fame, money and women. That artist.

Whatever happened to art which inspires people, the art which makes people remember their hometowns, their mother's cooking, art which makes us feel the wind blow in our face, art which reminds us of the first time we fell off our bicycle?

Left and right, people are chasing fame, and only that. Why do you blog? For fame and money (followers and so Nuffnang pays you more). Why do you post your videos on Youtube? So people subscribe to you, and you can eventually sell albums (fame and money again). The youth have been reduced to people with spirit to achieve and aspire, to people who are money and fame driven.

From young we are told to study - so we can have a steady job and steady income. When our teachers asked us what we wanted to be and we replied 'simple' jobs like 'Saya nak jadi Posmen, cikgu!' or 'Saya nak kerja dekat Kantin, cikgu!' we would get scolded, and laughed at. 'Jadilah orang yang berjaya sikit' says the teacher. Is not leading a healthy, and happy life success? God knows.

It is no wonder that our young are money and fame driven monsters, since we were taught to be like that since we were little kids.

If (fame and money) is what you aim for, then that is what you will get.