Despite being the fundamental component of culture, the arts have been taking a backseat since the word “success” was mainstreamed and came to mean wealth. Granted, there are many who have achieved mainstream success through the arts, but in Asia, those numbers are small, and the arts scene is changing to reflect the society we live in.

In Malaysia, the traditional arts have included all the different cultural traditions in the mixing pot of the nation. From the Orang Asli, Bumiputera, Malay, Chinese, and Indian arts, globalization is infecting the country with music, literature, visual arts and so many more.

Sticking your head in the books someone else has written can only teach you as much as someone else knows. For some, this is enough. In fact, for some people, knowledge is outside their mind, and they fervently seek more to enrich their mind. On the contrary, artists seek to bring what is inside their mind, out. The way they express the chemical reactions of their brain and heart, differs, from music, dance and literature, to photography, painting, and digital art.

Self-expression is about you. You and what you see, what you feel, what’s around you and what you think. Grading and critiquing art is becoming increasingly difficult and inadequate. The only real thing that can be judged is technique, which is simply about the method and execution of self-expression. The intent cannot be judged. That is uniquely yours.

But the good news is there’s an artist in everyone. Everyone participates in self-expression, in varied methods, of course. But scientists can be artists too, in the way they imagine extending the boundaries of scientific knowledge. That too, is creativity at work.

Without art, car manufacturers would have no new car designs to unveil, buildings would be the exact same box down every street, and everyone would have the same beds, sofas, and tables. The world would be black and white, because only artists would ever dream of color. So thank the underappreciated artists in the world, and in Malaysia, for bringing color into our lives. As cheesy as that sounds, I hope you find some truth in it, and for the artists, I hope you find solace and motivation to continue.