Brand KL, Brand Malaysia
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There have been many visitors and expatriates who arrive on our shores and immediately fall in love with Malaysia. They talk about the lovely beaches, the great hawker food, but when you ask them about KL, they seem to be at loss for words to describe it. Many of my friends lament at the lack of creative or cultural venues in KL that would truly differentiate it from other modern cities in Asia. Yes KL is modern, we have skyscrapers that are comparable to the best in the world, and we have brandished them with great pride. The food, the people, the modern metropolis project a first world facade for all intents and purposes. The Twin Towers together with our participation in F1 were both part of a strategic brand plan to put Malaysia on the map and to a large extent we have succeeded.

But like any brand plan, the powers to be, who excels in building and creating icons, seems to have suffered not from a lack of vision but rather from a lack of sustainability. And sustainability is a word that many in KL and in Malaysia seem to have difficulty with. Plans are often made on a quick-win basis and once that has been completed, another plan is hatched and on it goes. We seem to thrive on the adrenalin of the new with little thought to managing our treasures and assets; both tangible and intangible.

Our stately buildings consistently develop holes in their ceilings. Visitors to the Sepang F1 track says that the conditions near the docks are deplorable, and those who had the pleasure of working at Istana Budaya would have seen the entropy inside its bowels. Many of the first world fittings have been made to fit into a third world culture complete with leaky faucets, filthy tunnels and warped carvings.

For any brand to survive the long haul and come up on top, we really need to understand the sustainable interplay between tangible and intangible assets. All great brands are high on the intangible or emotional. The brand equity of New York lies not just in being a great city filled with iconic buildings, but it is also the cultural and economic heart of the US. Poets and writers have waxed lyrical about cities such as Paris and Bali that have left an indelible mark on their soul. Paris conjures up imageries of romance and fashion, New York, is cosmopolitan and full of energy, Hong Kong is all about amazing food and shopping. What would we associate KL with?

In 2007 Monocle magazine published it’s inaugural World’s Top 20 Most Liveable Cities Index and cites the following ‘quality of life’ criteria- tolerance, local media, international flight connections, public transport, drinking hours, health, airport, sustainability initiative, education, cultural outlets, hours of sunshine and crime. By 2009 it had added, chain store pollution (the number of international brand food outlets and retailers versus the total mix), ease of opening a business and major infrastructure improvements (Monocle, Issue 5, July 2007).

The top 10 winners were Zurich, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Munich, Helsinki. Stockholm, Vienna, Paris, Melbourne and Berlin. In 1965, urban economist Wilbur Thompson described cities as incubators of innovation. “The metropolis, with its universities, museums, libraries and research laboratories becomes one big, spatially integrated ‘coffee house’ where bright minds out of diverse cultures clash and strike sparks that ignite the fires of new products and processes. – (source: The Flight of the Creative Class by Richard Florida), Cities like Singapore (which ranked 18 on the index), Melbourne, Sydney and Shanghai have long understood this, not only do they support their existing Creative Class, they have also been actively wooing them from abroad knowing that this injection of diversity will create the necessary spark to mould their cities into a vibrant economic and cultural hub. Singapore was ranked no.18, a move up 4 places from 2008 (Monocle, Issue 25, July 2009).; to set up a new business in Singapore takes a matter of minutes. According to the IFC World Bank Doing Business Report, Singapore ranks No.1 in the category of ‘Ease of doing business and No. 4 in Starting a Business. Malaysia ranks no 23 and 88 respectively (source: http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/). And Singapore has been unashamedly branding itself as a business capital that is serious about Arts and Culture. They have been astutely wooing the great minds and artists of the world with automatic Permanent Residency status, grants and world class facilities amidst a world class infrastructure.

While these destination brands are touting their Creative Class to potential investors and Multi National Companies, we watch resignedly as ours receive accolades and distinctions elsewhere, whilst residing in another country.

Stifled by the bureaucracy, the lack of equality and injustice coupled with a dearth of creative stimuli, they have simply taken their talent elsewhere. Patents that could have been owned by Malaysia are now in the hands of others who saw the promise and invested in them. And all this happened while we were busy building our monoliths.

For Brand Malaysia to truly rise, we need to first recognise the value, and make a concerted effort, to nurture our intangible assets. The powers to be keep talking about the importance of innovation, yet contradict themselves with an education system, political rhetoric and dogma that is designed to churn out conformist thinkers and followers. If it weren’t for the internet, a vast majority of KL Lites and Malaysian would have been living in a bubble designed and constructed by our ruling party. In a world where the currency resides in creativity and innovation, we have emerged severely lacking. We need to start encouraging and valuing creativity over uniformity; independent thinking over conformity, the big picture over the small successes. Until then, Brand KL and Brand Malaysia will always be like a teenager, full of unrealised promise.

But out of the ashes something always rises. Although the phoenix has yet to fully emerge, we are now beginning to see individuals who have risen to the challenge to agitate and bring change. There is now a select group of individuals who fully appreciate the predicament that brand Malaysia faces and are working towards reversing this trend.

Whilst they have been many naysayers and cynical retorts to the 1 Malaysia campaign, I have actually witness an encouraging shift towards raising Malaysia’s brand value in a sustainable way. They have been working tirelessly within and outside the system, consulting both global and local experts on the best way forward yet in a way that is uniquely Malaysian.

To these people, I salute you and offer you my support should you need it in any way. The time has come for Malaysian to step up one by one, to unite beyond politics, to help Malaysia reclaim its glory. I for one am optimistic that it will happen in my lifetime.

~~~ About the contributor ~~~

Jia-Ping Lee has over 16 years’ experience in the Brand, Communications and Arts industries. Her brand consultancy journey began when as a Strategic Planner at Leo Burnett she helped set up The Lab SEA, a worldwide brand consultancy company of Leo Burnett with clients such as Malaysia Airlines, Malaysia Airports, Skali, Sony and Phillip Morris. Jia Ping has also served as an independent consultant and a trained Arts facilitator; she has been a pioneer for the Arts for Health movement in KL and has developed and implemented several programmes in KL and UK for Selayang, KL and Kajang Hospitals. She recently conceptualised and developed an educational maze for PS the Children, a local NGO, which won a Silver Kancil and was nominated for a Yellow Pencil at the prestigious D&AD Award 2007 in the UK. Jia Ping holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Melbourne, Australia majoring in Political Science (International Relations). She is the Managing Partner and Principal Consultant to The Listening Tree.

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