Fine arts education should not be a body without a soul

Over the last two decades or so, fine arts education in Malaysia's higher learning institutions has highlighted vocational and technological aspects at the expense of the artistic essence and content. Even though fine arts education in Malaysia is often placed under the "umbrella" of the humanities, its emphasis and orientation have changed considerably in that it is rarely accompanied by humanities and social science courses. As a result, there is an urgent need to revert to a basic, humanistic approach to teaching fine arts.