Arts, Live Events and Events Association (Alife) president Rizal Kamal told FMT the requirement for a one-metre gap between patrons of live events was not ideal for economies of scale.
“We would like to follow the measures taken by cinema operators, which uses a chequered seating format, which is also socially distanced but slightly less than one metre apart,” he said.
Film shows and live events have been allowed since July 1, but nearly all of Alife’s 100-odd member companies have yet to reopen. “It’s simply not worth doing so,” Rizal said.
He referred to The Platform at Ken TTDI in Kuala Lumpur as an example of a venue host. It has the capacity to seat 520 people, but only 140 seats are usable under the social distancing rule.
Seat dimensions vary from venue to venue and Rizal said it would be realistic to have a space of 600cm to 800cm between two patrons.
He said a recent survey by Alife showed the performing arts industry needed urgent support, with companies reporting losses close to RM300 million and many closing down since the Covid-19 lockdown.
About 40,000 people had lost their jobs, he added.
The government has announced a RM140 million stimulus for the industry, but Rizal noted that there had not been any announcement on how one could apply for one’s portion.
“We hope to hear good news from the government in regard to this,” he said. “The industry needs an urgent boost to stay afloat.”
He said he expected more companies to wind down “as times become worse”.
Of the RM140 million, RM100 million is to be given out in the form of soft loans at 3.5% interest, RM30 million in grants for activities under MyCreative Ventures and RM10 million for the Cultural Economy Development Agency.
Alife is a non-profit group that protects the rights of event producers, promoters, venue owners and all other stakeholders in the industry.
Under the SOP released for live events, patrons must be pre-registered, ticketed or have an invitation before entering a venue. Ticket confirmation has to be done through a contactless system.
Police, health ministry and local council approvals are needed before an event can take place. A safety briefing on social distancing must be given before each event begins.
Only those aged between 12 and 60 are allowed entry and foreigners are forbidden to take part in live events.
All venue caretakers must enable contact tracing of patrons, workers and anyone else entering their premises. All venues are to be sanitised thrice a day.
These rules apply to live events covering all creative industries.
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