Take a guess on why I'm writing this.
All these years that I've been organizing and going to ACG events, commercialization has always been an issue with local con-goers. Commercialization is bad, they would argue. Companies would take advantage of cosplayers as cheap means of advertising, etcetera etcetera. And yet, they would argue that events feel empty, boring and/or are too small.
And this is where, I believe that the entire ACG scene has become stunted. I don't think we need to look far to see how commercialization, in almost every sense of the word (some would disagree, also I could be wrong) has helped a small nation no bigger than probably PJ and KL combined has helped the industry gain a foothold in this region.
While personally I feel that it's quite OK to just leave watching anime and cosplaying in general to just a niche hobby (still is, whoever doesn't agree with this quite obviously doesn't see the bigger picture here), it's quite disheartening that Singapore with all its small and rather limited market has been graced with a lot of names from the ACG industry, not just seiyuus (voice actors), but also manga artists and composersl, and lets not forget the bigwig animation studios from Japan.
So why then, do you ask that Malaysia, despite having a bigger market audience than the island republic, still lag behind in terms of participation, especially when it comes to things like having concerts, or having good quality conventions, apart from Comic Fiesta and (to a certain extent) GACC?
By no means am I putting down any other ACG event that is being held in the country, but the lack of...grandeur when it comes to these events become really apparent, especially if you consider that Singapore, in the two or three years since it has really started to become serious about creative media from Japan has invited more artists and players from the industry than Malaysia ever will in the next (what I foresee to be) 10 years.
I'm not saying that ACG events here should be organized in such a flashy manner ala AFA or Anime Expo, but wouldn't it be nice for once, to see a local convention that doesn't just serve as a means for people to show off their costumes, or just as an avenue for comic artists to simply showcase their comics once a year, only to be forgotten several weeks or months later?
There is, I believe a need for events to go even further than they are accustomed to, and start taking initiatives to emulate, if not surpass our southern brethren. Commercialization is key, and unfortunately there are a couple of issues to overcome.
Concept of Commercialization
Where do I even begin with this? Ok. Allow me to first explain the concept of commercialism. /opens wikipedia.
Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit.
Right. Here we can see that even Wikipedia agrees that when used wrongly, commercialism can be harnessed as a tool that brings about profit while disregarding everything about how that profit is achieved. In short, the ends justify the means.
Yes, there are indeed instances where companies and individuals have been known to take advantage of cosplayers (free food, among other things, strangely) to further strengthen their position in whatever market they're in.
But I digress. Personally I believe the concept of commercialism can be used to get companies to join in on our venture, and prove to them that there indeed is a market for them to tap in (some would argue that exploit would be a more accurate term), and make some good, clean business. In order for us to get stuff like Singapore are getting (Final Fantasy orchestras, the recent VGL that was held in KL among others),there is a need to convince them that even video games and anime can be a form of business opportunity.
Despite preaching all of this, however there will be people who will insist that there is no need for a solid financial backing to make a good event. Not that I disagree with them, but it's a really shallow way of thinking.
Fans
Or as I'd like to call them "elitist whores". Yeah I said it. Elitist whores. Now I have no qualms about people who genuinely think of ways to improve an event, but the buck has really got to stop when people start to demand for inane things like a buffet spread just because they don't want to be seen and judged by weird people who dress just as strangely as they do.
Suddenly cosplay has turned into a race issue. But again, I digress. For some really odd reason, some of the fans would insist that events that are made by "fans for fans" are the best. Well, I am not going to argue with them about that, but AGAIN, the issue here is that events here are stagnating. To put it into perspective, with the exception of scale, ACG events here in Malaysia are not that much different than it was from 2002.
That's like, almost 8 years already. Sure, go ahead and poke fun at me for writing a tl;dr post because all the Japanese artists and animation studios decide to go to Singapore and not Malaysia. But the thing is everyone here is missing out on it too. Sure you may say that Singapore is just a bus ride/ train ride away but that really is not the point.
The point here is, Japan sees Singapore as a bigger potential to spread its market within this region, and not Malaysia. While I hold nothing against them, I am rather disappointed that all of our hard work amounts to very little for the local ACG scene, and all the good stuff goes down south. There is so much a small group of people can do, unfortunately and if this goes on, it is definitely a very sad moment for serious fans like us who'd like to go to events like that Shimokawa Mikuni concert without having to splurge so much just on transport and accommodation at another country.
And this is where, I believe that the entire ACG scene has become stunted. I don't think we need to look far to see how commercialization, in almost every sense of the word (some would disagree, also I could be wrong) has helped a small nation no bigger than probably PJ and KL combined has helped the industry gain a foothold in this region.
While personally I feel that it's quite OK to just leave watching anime and cosplaying in general to just a niche hobby (still is, whoever doesn't agree with this quite obviously doesn't see the bigger picture here), it's quite disheartening that Singapore with all its small and rather limited market has been graced with a lot of names from the ACG industry, not just seiyuus (voice actors), but also manga artists and composersl, and lets not forget the bigwig animation studios from Japan.
So why then, do you ask that Malaysia, despite having a bigger market audience than the island republic, still lag behind in terms of participation, especially when it comes to things like having concerts, or having good quality conventions, apart from Comic Fiesta and (to a certain extent) GACC?
By no means am I putting down any other ACG event that is being held in the country, but the lack of...grandeur when it comes to these events become really apparent, especially if you consider that Singapore, in the two or three years since it has really started to become serious about creative media from Japan has invited more artists and players from the industry than Malaysia ever will in the next (what I foresee to be) 10 years.
I'm not saying that ACG events here should be organized in such a flashy manner ala AFA or Anime Expo, but wouldn't it be nice for once, to see a local convention that doesn't just serve as a means for people to show off their costumes, or just as an avenue for comic artists to simply showcase their comics once a year, only to be forgotten several weeks or months later?
There is, I believe a need for events to go even further than they are accustomed to, and start taking initiatives to emulate, if not surpass our southern brethren. Commercialization is key, and unfortunately there are a couple of issues to overcome.
Concept of Commercialization
Where do I even begin with this? Ok. Allow me to first explain the concept of commercialism. /opens wikipedia.
Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit.
Right. Here we can see that even Wikipedia agrees that when used wrongly, commercialism can be harnessed as a tool that brings about profit while disregarding everything about how that profit is achieved. In short, the ends justify the means.
Yes, there are indeed instances where companies and individuals have been known to take advantage of cosplayers (free food, among other things, strangely) to further strengthen their position in whatever market they're in.
But I digress. Personally I believe the concept of commercialism can be used to get companies to join in on our venture, and prove to them that there indeed is a market for them to tap in (some would argue that exploit would be a more accurate term), and make some good, clean business. In order for us to get stuff like Singapore are getting (Final Fantasy orchestras, the recent VGL that was held in KL among others),there is a need to convince them that even video games and anime can be a form of business opportunity.
Despite preaching all of this, however there will be people who will insist that there is no need for a solid financial backing to make a good event. Not that I disagree with them, but it's a really shallow way of thinking.
Fans
Or as I'd like to call them "elitist whores". Yeah I said it. Elitist whores. Now I have no qualms about people who genuinely think of ways to improve an event, but the buck has really got to stop when people start to demand for inane things like a buffet spread just because they don't want to be seen and judged by weird people who dress just as strangely as they do.
Suddenly cosplay has turned into a race issue. But again, I digress. For some really odd reason, some of the fans would insist that events that are made by "fans for fans" are the best. Well, I am not going to argue with them about that, but AGAIN, the issue here is that events here are stagnating. To put it into perspective, with the exception of scale, ACG events here in Malaysia are not that much different than it was from 2002.
That's like, almost 8 years already. Sure, go ahead and poke fun at me for writing a tl;dr post because all the Japanese artists and animation studios decide to go to Singapore and not Malaysia. But the thing is everyone here is missing out on it too. Sure you may say that Singapore is just a bus ride/ train ride away but that really is not the point.
The point here is, Japan sees Singapore as a bigger potential to spread its market within this region, and not Malaysia. While I hold nothing against them, I am rather disappointed that all of our hard work amounts to very little for the local ACG scene, and all the good stuff goes down south. There is so much a small group of people can do, unfortunately and if this goes on, it is definitely a very sad moment for serious fans like us who'd like to go to events like that Shimokawa Mikuni concert without having to splurge so much just on transport and accommodation at another country.