7 Things Malaysian Arts Students Hate to Hear

Every student majoring in the Arts field has heard them, especially in Malaysia and ESPECIALLY from that judgmental aunties and uncles of yours. The typical ideal field of profession in Asia are still the usual lawyers, doctors and engineers. So when you tell people your major is in Arts, you’re instantly bound to hear some of the most annoying and rudest remarks, comments and questions.  Here’s an idea of some of the things people have to say about your education choices:

1. “Haiya easy lah”

Look here smarty pants, you have assignments; we have assignments too. You have exams; we have exams too. Our work load isn’t any lesser OR easier than yours is. Most people underestimate the difficulty of arts courses and we’re stuck with constantly having to defend our major like a goddamn warrior.

2. “You must be so free. I’m so jealous.”

You have no idea! We are anything BUT free. Having to complete essays after essays of 5000 words or more, on top of exams and presentations, certainly doesn’t make us free at all. Stop speculating. You don’t see us going around assuming medical students or engineering students being free do you?

3. “What are you gonna do by majoring in Arts?”

Oh, I don’t know… Get a degree? Get a job? At least we choose what we like to learn and we love what we’re doing. You will never get an Arts major student claiming that they were forced to pursue this course by their parents, because most of us, if not all, CHOSE to pursue this. We don’t do this out of force; we chose this path out of our passion for this field of profession.

4. “What do you actually do ah?”

Let’s see……Be an editor, a writer, a journalist, a politician, a translator, a radio or TV announcer, a graphic designer, work in an advertising agency….the list goes on and on. Many people might think choosing an Arts major automatically makes us more prone to being jobless.

5. “You must be good at designing or drawing stuff!”

Contrary to popular belief, going into arts major doesn’t automatically make us artists. Believe it or not, being an Arts major student comes with a wide variety of choices of profession, like I’ve mentioned earlier.

6. “Sometimes you have to do something that pays the bills even if you don’t like it y’know.”

A lot of people think that by getting an arts degree, we will not have fruitful job opportunities coming our way. There is a whole range of jobs that pay so well in the field of arts (sometimes even more so than your typical doctors and lawyers). So people who have that stereotypical mindset needs to stop.

7. “Do you have a backup plan?”

Well, do anyone have a backup plan apart from their own degrees? Exactly.