| Lyna Mohamad |
THE knowledge and skills acquired from programmes in the areas of creative industries such as design, handicraft, publishing, advertising, architecture and performing arts have been established as contributors to socio-economic growth.
This was observed yesterday by Legislative Council member Yang Berhormat Iswandy bin Ahmad, during the launching of the Kolej International Graduate Studies’ (KIGS) 4th Vibe Identity Art and Design Exhibition, at the Mabohai Shopping Complex.
“The positive nature about these programmes is that employment does not have to be created by the government to employ the graduates once they have completed the programmes,” he said. “They can be self-employed or form a company and employ others, thus promoting the development of small and medium enterprises.”
Yang Berhormat Iswandy further pointed out that this initiative of developing youth through the creative industry is in line with the titah of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, during the 34th National Day celebrations: “Youths are usually rich with new ideas and certainly courageous to face various challenges. They are expected to give a fresh impetus to developmental efforts in the country. In this new era, the use of information technology is widespread and plays a crucial role. No doubt, it also redirects our focus towards creating a digital economy that is widely open to be explored.”
He also praised the college’s idea of a week-long exhibition, since it would be instrumental in establishing the students’ own reputation through public scrutiny, while bringing in revenue from the sales of artworks or artefacts.
“I understand that many of the exhibited artworks are about Brunei’s identity. It would also be good for the KIGS exhibition to feature Islamic calligraphy, paintings of selected monuments of Brunei Darussalam, local landscapes, glass-work and so on forth, to enrich the variety of exhibition contents in order to draw audiences of different interest,” he said.
He further suggested the college promote the creative industry by setting up a website or a blog where images of student artworks can be uploaded, as this would provide a place for new contacts to be established for future collaborations.
“In short, I think KIGS is seen as committed in responding to the titah of His Majesty by providing youths with the capacity to contribute to the country’s development through the acquisition of knowledge and skills in arts and design,” said Yang Berhormat Iswandy. “I trust that the students will find the event useful in contributing to the development of their creativity and innovation, as well as professionalism in the fields of the creative industry.”