Why a roadmap for culture is needed

DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim was bombarded with questions when he met the Malaysian diaspora at a hotel in New York recently. Someone asked him if there was any plan to decouple arts from tourism, in reference to the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.

Anwar reminded the audience about his book The Asian Renaissance published in 1996. Call it a political idealist’s manifesto as suggested by someone, but I certainly subscribe to his idea that within a framework of a modern, progressive and just society, there is a need for “a cultural resurgence dominated by a flowering of art and literature, architecture and music and advances in science and technology”.