The stifling and neglect of cultural intellectualism is not moulding us into a developed nation, according to three panellist from the arts industry.

Speaking to some 70 people at a dialogue at the Bar Council Auditorium in Kuala Lumpur last night, Central Market Annexe art program director Pang Khee Teik said that culture has became prescriptive for many Malaysians.

"In a sense, culture has been enshrined as a kind of thing that people should do, rather than the kind of thing that people do," he said.

The dialogue titled 'Between Teh Tarik, KLCC and Starbucks: Are we a developed nation?' was organised by Youth For Change and the Bar Council Young Lawyers Committee.

Pang pointed out that the politicisation of culture especially by the powers that be has made culture narrowly synonymous with ethics and morality.

"But for me, culture is more than that. It is the way that people choose to lead their lives.

"What people do from all over Malaysia, listening to black metal music to dressing up in the opposite sex's clothes has become their culture and hence, ideally also Malaysian culture," he said.

Anti-intellectualism

Meanwhile Klue Magazine senior writer Brian Yap cautioned against the focussing of Malaysia's fancy infrastructures as the measurement of development.

"We can build expensive tunnels, but KL can still flood. We build the Multi Media Super Corridor but we can't get internet connection in our homes...the Palace of Justice but the judiciary is in shambles," he said.

Yap who is also a columnist for the New Straits Times voiced his concerns on the rise of anti-intellectualism where thinking and having opinions is against our culture.

"Throughout our local universities, you are not supposed to be politically active because of the Universities and University Colleges Act," he said.

Yap added that certain segments in Malaysian society have the tendency of not questioning the message but shooting the messenger.

"When Asian Strategy Leadership Institute was under Dr Lim Teck Ghee, he released the results of what he thought was a fair study of equity ownership.

"Instead of questioning his methods, a lot of times, the attacks were on him personally," said Yap.

Developed individuals

As for prominent local movie director Yasmin Ahmad, she defined a developed country as a nation built out of developed individuals.

She then branded Malaysia as under developed for our society's inability to protect the weak.

"This is a country where not many years ago, a minister was involved with an underaged girl and the girl was jailed and fined while the minister got away scot free," she claimed.

She also said that in Malaysia, minors who buy cigarettes are punished instead of the tobacco sellers.

Yasmin concluded her speech with a haiku (a mode of Japanese poetry) that says, "Don't worry spiders, I clean house casually".

She opined that Malaysia would be a wonderful country if everyone would adopt the principle behind this haiku that is - sparing someone smaller who is not necessarily inferior.