Divine Inspiration

This year, Kuala Lumpur’s Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) — the largely volunteer group that has been inspiring local children of the Indian diaspora to take pride in their motherland’s artistic traditions — will officially inaugurate a five-story tower block in the planning for well over two decades. Since its foundation in 1981, the TFA has been the largest cultural force among the derelict apartment blocks and small businesses of Brickfields, K.L.‘s Indian district. Its new center is set to become the most tangible cultural achievement yet of the estimated 2 million Indians whose ancestors went to Malaysia mostly as indentured laborers.

This comes at a time of increased ferment, with Malaysia’s ethnic-based power-sharing in flux and Indian lawyers having braved water cannons to protest discrimination. While hardly political, the Temple has tackled gangs, drug use and crime born of low self-esteem, one young person — and one tabla beat — at a time. Hundreds crowd the classes, which are still held in the old building day and night. The new space will be welcome. Read Article

By John Krich