With social media, these viral drawings spread with ease and it doesn't take much time or effort to digest before a conclusion can be made. And it brings laughter, so there is that.

Social awareness

Local comic book artist Ronasina said something really chilling.

“This case is a lesson that we have to be more socially aware when creating art. We must be wiser in looking for ways to create art so as to not inadvertently hurt some parties.” 

Okay, I’m going to give you an example of how I was hurt by the work of an artist. The late Yasmin Ahmad’s work is lauded as the height of inclusivity and sensitivity when it came to the Malaysian experience.

Personally, every time I saw one of her seasonal advertisements, for example, I was offended. I disliked her crude stereotypes of the Indian community but more importantly, the rapturous reception those advertisements got when they debuted.

I am not going to go into my issues with her film work. You could make the argument (and her proponents always did) that her art was socially aware and while some of her critics were downright spiteful, I would never claim that even if her work offended every single member of the Indian community in Malaysia, that she should be censored or banned.

How can anyone create art which is socially aware without offending some parties, whether intentional or not? Social issues are flash points in any society.

How does art genuinely deal with social issues without offending some party? Constraining your art because it would offend some party is the biggest social issue there is, don’t you think?

No place for censorship

Art is, by definition, an exercise in offending somebody, somewhere. If your art does not provoke any kind of reaction – good or bad – then you have failed right from the start.

This is not to say that great art comes from an intention to provoke, merely that art of any kind should not come from a place of censorship or fear of censorship.

And the dominant polity gets it worse. Why do you think this is? Well because art which deviates, art which offends, art which genuinely tackles social issues go against the political and religious narratives of the state.

The idea that it would resonate and the art would translate to action, is what the state fears the most. This is why art needs to be controlled. This is why artists need to make art from a place of fear. This is why artists need to understand that they may offend certain groups. And I truly believe that most Malaysian artists have sublimated this.

Malaysians should be concerned about this. Why? Because we live in a country where certain words are reserved for certain communities. Our speech is constrained by who it would offend.

Our media is constrained by the state in ways both subtle and overt. We as a people are not in a position to have a blasé attitude about how art is constrained in this country, because it points to a deeper systemic dysfunction.

Remember folk, if Malaysian artists don’t offend, all this will do is confirm Woody Allen’s quote, “Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television” which maybe hits too close to home.