The end is getting closer...

It is almost a month now and my solo exhibition is almost over and so what i have learned from this last effort is sharing my creativity with others? Over two hundred visitors have signed and some didnt in the guest register and mostly were visitors from foreign countries- tourists. There were a few who genuinely were appreciative of my works especially the one hundred feet long sketches and the sketch books. A few took their time to browse through the sketchbooks and shared their thoughts and feelings over them. From this interpersonal communication I caught glimpses of what others felt about my works and how they too had wish that they had been doing the same.
As far as locals are concerned not too many showed up even those i specially called up and invited for the show, Insha'Allah was the common reply and remained as such as though God was unwilling for them to make it. From the financial point I must admit that I broke even what with all the expenses and my time spent at the gallery which otherwise would had remained closed if I were not around. The general feeling about Art shows in Penang is that there is pratically no buyers here and much less real genuine art patrons. To become a full time artist in penang is a financial suicide for those with little or no connections. More and more artists from China and various other countries like Thailand and Vietnam are finding their niche in the art market here through local galleries making it possible for them to penetrate the art market on the island scarce as it is. Politcally Artists receives lip services from the state government and practically shunned by the federal Government, we feel like step children where the only financial support we can expect is when invited to participate in the government's effort to make a showcase for the tourism department. In the past allocations set aside to help local artists sell their works to the State Art gallery ended up with the money lost in the cracks of buraeucratic magic acts. The funds was diverted into other activites said one of the State Art Committe member while another said that the money was used to purchase works from collectors who has strong connection with the Gallery Committee members. I have no idea what is the truth and really do not care but as far as justice is concern, I see Local Penang Artists ar getting the shaft end of the deal when it comes to funds allocation or getting any form of incentives for their very survival, and I am not speaking for myself alone on this matter. With the declaration of the World Heritage Status by the UN, Georgetown local artists can consider themselves as the prostitutes at the mercy of the pimps who run the funds allocated for the cultural and tourist events development committee members. It makes sense to spend millions repainting and renovating old colonial era buildings to remind us of our past historical bondage and it benifitted the few who landed the contracts in doing so. Now that the buildings are renovated and whitewashed they stand like monuments reminding us of how we were enslaved in mind body and spirit and that we are to continue on being proud of this fact.. sadly enough we still are slaves in our mentality on how we cheat eachother in order to achieve our personal triumphs in this material rat race of our so called life.
The very people we elected to run our affairs in the State are too busy chewing each others' legs every chance they get finding faults at every move and turns like a Chinese Opera with a never ending turmoil. When all else fails they turn on the population especially the downtrodden and those barely surviving to squeeze every dime and penny in the form of penalties and fines for every minor offences as this is the surest means of filling up the States coffer when it runs low. When the going gets tough the poor are hit the toughest being victimized by the very people they trusted. When there is times of plenty the carpet beggars move into the neighborhood occupying the luxurious homes build to suit the retirement age calling it their second homes...ohh we love Penang... yessir we do, with all her diversities and colorful people!!
Yeah, I love this Island too... I was born and raised here and so are most of my relatives and friends and if I raise a protest as to what is becoming to this Island it is my birthright to do so for if i dont I should be damned by my children and theirs in the future. The authorites whoever they may be can envision this island to become another Hong Kong or Singapore but from what i hear and see in the coffee shops and the streets the real Penangites are not sold with the idea of selling every inch of their land to those who can afford just for the sake of so called development which to me is the biggest form of disguise to enrich the few at the expense of the whole. The movers and shakers, the smart ones the slick entrepreneurs and sly politicians can wheel and deal among themselves in their elected capacity but the reality is here down in the sewers and gutters, the back lanes and slums, the vestige of remaining kampongs and low cost flats, this is where Penangites will rise from in protest when they have had enough. I have seen and experienced enough in my travels and i can feel the winds of change, when shit is about to hit the fence. Penangites will one day wake up and demand an explaination, demand their birthrights as citizens of the State.
This is what i have learned from having had this solo exhibition for the past month. An event that had allowed me to meet people on and off the street and talking about the state of affairs in this State. What i have expressed is not my own feelings alone but a reflection of the majority of those whose life is affected by what is going on...and do not in an instant believe that the people are not aware or do not care, they just has no means to express themselves other than among themselves.