315 days. Almost a whole year. A year our theatre has been deprived of an audience.

When we first reopened in July 2020, Joe Hasham OAM (Co-Founder & Artistic Director) said “Without you, our audience…we are nothing” as he thanked each one of them.

Since the pandemic started, we have struggled to raise enough funds each month. And when we did, Ian Chow (General Manager) would exclaim “We’ve built the bridge (for this month)! Because oftentimes the only answer we could provide was – we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

15 months of this. After clearing out our cheques this month, we will be left with RM5,000 or so in our bank account. Our staff has been kept informed of each step along the way. Already their pay cut was increased to between 40% and 60% when MCO 3.0 came about. It is highly likely they will be switched to contract staff soon. We’ve tried our best to hold fast to our promise that we will not retrench them.

50% of our loss comes from venue rental which we cannot make up as long as our venues are closed. Venue rental dipped 80% in 2020 compared to 2019. What we earned in terms of ticket sales via a month of online shows (4 in total) was less than half of what we would have earned from one live performance.

There is no “end” in sight. Covid-19 may be around for a long time more. Does that mean the arts will be shut down indefinitely through to 2022 and beyond? It will be too late for any sort of recovery.

And so, it is time for Malaysia to decide – whether it still wants the arts to be part of the local landscape when we emerge from this catastrophe. Our audiences, our artistes, our students, our arts workers – say yes. Now, it is up to the powers that govern Malaysia.

Instead of putting the arts under a negative list, shut down indefinitely and last to reopen – we have to accept the facts and change the narrative. Yes, Covid-19 will be around. How do we then continue to do this safely while minimising risk?

First, fast track vaccination for all artistes and arts workers. The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre and the Performing Arts Centre of Penang can be a vaccination centres (PPV) for the arts industry like how KLIA is for the aviation industry. 60% of our staff have had their first dose but 40% still have no appointments. There are many others in the industry waiting on their appointments, eager to get back to work.

Second, ensure our immediate survival by allowing us to record performances and programmes at least. The scale of our recording is small, our cast and crew are minimal. It can be less than 10 people. Cut the red tape and bureaucracy. We can’t wait until Phase 3. We are drowning.

Third, we need to segregate the arts or live events from social activities. Please take a leaf from Singapore. Performances could still continue while they capped social gathering at two people. Why? Our audiences wear masks with strict SOP in place while you are more likely to remove your mask in a personal setting. No clusters were traced back to theatres.

Fourth, we understand the National Security Council (MKN) is swamped. MKN should empower the ministries to work with key players on a safe reopening – this can include pilot tests of small-scale performances. Please do not penalise industries that were not the source of clusters. Let us move forward with evidence-based data and not just an outright shut down. If musicians are allowed to perform all day long at PPVs which see a traffic flow of 8,000 daily, then why not at other venues with a 50 people capacity for just one hour.

Fifth, some of us are sitting on production and programme grants which we cannot use as venues are not open. The irony when we cannot even make salaries. Let’s put KPI and ROIs aside. Help us survive first. That in itself is already a KPI. Please don’t downplay the devastating effects of the pandemic on the arts.

Sixth, new grants and assistance should take into our account our needs. If you want us to be at Phase 3, you have to help us cross Phase 1 and 2 somehow.

Seventh, we need to lift the whole ecosystem. We need venue subsidies so artistes and arts groups can stage or record shows again to kickstart the industry. Venues need help with operational costs – that takes priority over programming for now. Waive the deposit for entertainment license especially in KL. Who can afford RM10,000 now? Tax deduction and benefits need to be given to those who purchase a ticket (like buying a book), rent a venue, sponsor or donate. Sponsors or donors of arts centres like ours do not get tax exemption which is a huge disservice during such a crisis. There are a lot of tax incentives to boost local tourism, why not local arts then? Over in Singapore, arts donations fall under charity which is eligible for a 250% tax deduction.

We are not ready to throw in the towel. We are more than willing to put our backs into it despite our mental and physical exhaustion.

We are asking for fair consideration, not more than what we deserve. Many other industries have been or are operating with cases and clusters.

We are asking for a chance to safeguard our own livelihoods.

And to return some dignity to artistes and arts workers.

We want to thank all those who have been supporting us through this crisis, many of them just ordinary folks, retirees, fellow artistes who have been chipping in a bit here and there and our long-term partners.

For the survival of Malaysian theatre. – July 8, 2021.

* Faridah Merican is the co-founder of the Actors Studio, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre and the Performing Arts Centre of Penang.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.