Page 193 - Proceedings Collega2023

Keywords: theatre space; safety; public transport; Istana Budaya; Malaysian Theatre

Introduction

Malaysia is moving towards a higher-income country and aiming to be a great nation in Southeast
Asia. Rapid developments are done in the city centre to assist the economic growth. Arts is one of the
sectors contributing to Malaysia’s economic growth and should not be one of Malaysia's premier goals.
Theatre and performing arts are parts of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Malaysia. Malaysian
performing arts are part of the Dasar Kebudayaan Negara 2021, a national policy regarding the ministry.
The policy has made performing arts a national culture and viewed arts as a promising sector for Malaysia
in the future (Kementerian Pelancongan, Seni Dan Budaya Malaysia., 2021).

Public transportation is part of daily life in many developed countries such as the United Kingdom,
the United States, and Germany. Better public transport accessibility may assist more economic growth
activities within an area. More people can move from one place to another with cost-effective and time-
saving public transportation; more businesses and activities are possible. Art will always bring people
together under one roof. Higher education institutions are offering performing arts-related programmes,
such as Universiti Teknologi MARA, Akademi Seni Budaya Dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA), Universiti
Sains Malaysia, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and many more.
Five Sekolah Seni Malaysia (SSeM) or art schools are under the Ministry of Education and parts of Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2013). The Malaysian government's
policies towards arts show that the Malaysian government is looking forward to improving the performing
arts sector in Malaysia.

Moving to art spaces was difficult in the past, and today, Malaysia is moving forward in this modern
day with the development of public transportation since the '90s and second mega projects regarding
public transportation after 2015. More theatre buildings have been built to accommodate the needs of
people to enjoy live performances of arts. Better public transportation accessibility is assisting art
development in the country. Istana Budaya is a Malaysian National Theatre, and it is located at Jalan Tun
Razak and Titiwangsa. Other essential theatre buildings in Malaysia are Panggung Bandaraya, Auditorium
DBKL, PJPAC, DPAC, and KLPAC. Some performance stages are in a building such as DPAC in Empire
Damansara and Auditorium DBKL in Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. The research will focus on public
transport availability to attend shows at performing arts spaces. Show types and their target audience also
will be discussed.

Literature Review

Public transportation accessibility is one of the crucial developments for a country because good
public transport accessibility will assist more industries to become more progressive. More advanced and
human-friendly public transportation is good for the economy, residency and health (Elias & Shiftan, 2012).
More people can move quickly from one point to another if the public transport accessibility is well
organised. Better planning may also enable more cost-effective public transport and optimise the time to
move to a destination (Hawas et al., 2016). The car will be a cheaper transport to watch theatre on some

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