Why Doraemon instead of Lat for National Art Gallery?

Malaysian icon and renowned cartoonist Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid better known as Lat said that he was deeply disappointed with the National Art Gallery for its Japanese-themed cartoon exhibition, featuring Doraemon, in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020.

Lat posted on his Facebook page, ” There are plenty of popular local cartoon characters that could be used for the exhibition, but they have instead decided on a foreign cartoon character. This is sad and disappointing.”

He said he was baffled by the statement from National Art Gallery chairman Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah, who had said the Japanese-themed exhibition could indirectly promote Malaysia in the eyes of the world.

Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, the company behind Upin & Ipin, also posted on their Facebook page a Berita Harian online article that reported the National Art Gallery’s plan.

The company sarcastically captioned the post: “When you can use foreign animation to promote Malaysia, why bother using local animation.”

Berita Harian had reported Rashidi as saying that by using the popular Doraemon character, the exhibition can indirectly promote Malaysia in the eyes of the world.

“We will look into how Malaysia and Japan can work together in this regard, perhaps organise a painting theme using such popular characters in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020,” he said when opening the first Doraemon store at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) earlier today.