Selangor: Selangor has received RM1.79 million in funding this year to help boost the development of its arts and cultural heritage industry.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN) director-general Mohd Amran Mohd Haris stated that from this amount, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) has disbursed RM1.7 million to 23 arts associations and companies in Selangor through the Cultural Sector Support Grant. He added that a further RM95,000 was allocated to 18 cultural arts associations in the state under the JKKN’s Financial Arts Incentive Assistance.

“For the record, in 2024, a total of RM3.5 million was channeled to 63 applications from cultural arts associations and companies to implement programmes in Selangor,” he said in his speech at the Selangor@Batu Laut Festival 2025 launch today. Also present at today’s event were Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and Selangor Housing and Culture executive councillor Datuk Borhan Aman Shah.

He said MOTAC places great emphasis on invigorating cultural arts programmes across the country; therefore, support and backing from agencies and the community are crucial to establishing this sector as one of the largest contributors to the national economy.

Meanwhile, in his speech, Amirudin said that Selangor remains a focal point for cultural and artistic diversity, which in turn is one of the state’s strengths in the tourism sector. He mentioned that this diversity, contributed by large-scale migration trends over hundreds of years, has indirectly brought along the customs and culture of each ethnic group or community, thus creating a unique multicultural landscape.

“For example, in 2018, the population rose to 6.8 million, and today Selangor has recorded over 7.4 million people. Their (migrants’) presence isn’t solely about seeking employment or driving the economy. While being ready to embrace other cultures suitable for practice within the country or this state, we uphold Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, for instance, which provides opportunities for all to express themselves as long as it does not threaten the nation’s stability, peace, and prosperity,” he said.