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Time to get ¡¥creative¡¦ with the economy
By Lee Min-yung §õ±Ó«i
The term ¡§creative industries¡¨ covers a range of fields, including advertising,
architectural design, art, crafts, design, fashion, movies, entertainment
software, music, theater, publishing, computer software, television and radio
broadcasting. They are sometimes defined as activities using personal
creativity, skills and abilities to develop intellectual property, which is then
applied to create wealth and employment opportunities.
However, the concept of ¡§cultural and creative industries¡¨ has become popular in
Taiwan because it has the word ¡§cultural¡¨ attached to it. Government departments
involved with culture love to evoke this word as a catchphrase and to add a
degree of gravitas. Unfortunately, this shows a clear lack of understanding
about economic development.
The concept of ¡§cultural development¡¨ first appeared in Japan in the late 1990s,
while former British prime minister Tony Blair said that the UK should promote
its creative industries to the world, as it had already succeeded in developing
its manufacturing and financial industries.
Culture has since become the driving force behind the UK¡¦s economy in the 21st
century. The idea also supported Nomura Research Institute¡¦s forecast that 2015
would see huge changes in Japan, marking the county¡¦s third major transformation
after the Meiji Restoration and the new direction embarked on after World War
II.
In contrast, Taiwan has not yet left behind the heavily polluting manufacturing
industry; and developing the country into an international financial center
remains a dream. The term ¡§cultural and creative industries¡¨ may sound more
impressive than simply ¡§creative industries,¡¨ but it is at odds with reality
because all we have seen to date is creative industries in the narrow sense of
the term.
Little wonder then that writer Chang Ta-chuen (±i¤j¬K) dismissed the whole idea of
cultural and creative industries as ¡§bullshit.¡¨ Our government has departments
like the Council for Cultural Affairs and the Council for Economic Planning and
Development. There are some cities, counties and townships, however, that do not
even have one decent bookstore. Chang¡¦s criticism was harsh, but it did touch
upon certain issues.
The concept of creative industries is a very new one in economics, and adding
the word ¡§cultural¡¨ is a bit pretentious. It is a throwback to a time when
Taiwan was awash with grandiose slogans, when people thought they could solve
all sorts of problems simply by affixing the word ¡§culture.¡¨
The Council for Cultural Affairs seems to have got totally carried away with
this new slogan. That whole series of supposed ¡§creative events¡¨ planned for the
100th anniversary of the Republic of China is a prime example.
What is the economic value of these events and what is their real political
meaning? Don¡¦t these events just involve giving money to people to put on a
show? In fact, how are we to understand the very nature of the ¡§nation¡¨ that
exists on Taiwan?
The UK is always looking for ways to develop. Japan, despite its economic
problems and challenges, still has an annual per capita income of more than
US$30,000, compared with just a little more than US$19,000 in Taiwan. The
prediction that Japan will undergo another transformation in 2015 is the subject
of continuous internal debate, with many Japanese hoping this will be the third
time in their history that the country has opened itself up to the outside
world.
We are being overly constrictive of our potential if we allow ourselves to be
bogged down, obsessing over opening up or closing Taiwan, with China in mind.
Lee Min-yung is an author and a poet.
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