Penang Comics Museum Run Mostly On Private Funds Says Operator

---

 
Asia Comics Cultural Museum at Komtar, Penang has become the subject of scrutiny after the revelation that over RM400,000 in taxpayers’ money was allocated for its rent.GEORGE TOWN: A Penang comics museum in the spotlight over a large taxpayer allocation to pay its rent today said it was largely running on funds from entrepreneurs and was not fully funded by the state government as claimed.
The Asia Comics Cultural Museum said the Penang government merely sponsored rent, and in return, the museum provided free tickets for various hotels in Penang to promote tourism and cultural exchange.
“As a gesture of gratitude for the rent sponsorship, we provided 3,000 pieces of tickets this year alone for distribution to the guests in various hotels in Penang to promote tourism and cultural exchange. However, due to Covid-19, this campaign has been disrupted,” it said in a statement today.
A recent state assembly reply showed the Penang government had allocated RM413,940 to rent 13,000 sq ft of space at the ICT Mall in Komtar for the company. The allocation had come from a federal tourism tax of RM20.1 million, leading to criticisms from various quarters.
The museum said its function was to promote comics art to reflect the country’s diverse cultures, with Malay, Mandarin, English and Tamil used to narrate its contents.
It also touts itself to be the first professional museum in Asia featuring works of 280 famous cartoonists, including their manuscripts and original copies, among others.
It said besides new comics collections, it had published an annual, featuring activities carried out by the museum each year in a bid to be transparent and credible.
The museum also went on to say that its curator Hew Kuan Yau had ceased being a member of the DAP since 2017 and was a competent curator of “comics cultural assets”.
“Hew obtained his doctorate in history from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and has strong connections in the Asian comics world.” - FMT

---