Okay, just rattling off some thoughts.   1 Just a couple of days before this recent bit about W!ld Rice’s funds getting slashed (and TheatreWorks’ as well), Thai film-makers were in the news in their country as well with their own issues about government funding. To sum it up, their Culture Ministry had 200-million baht – half of which will be going to filming two historical movies, Legend of King Naresuan Part 3 and 4. 50 million is going to commercial studios. Indie film-makers get 10 million. (Er, where did the rest go?) It’s two different countries, two different ways of running a country, and two different arts groups of different “standing" (established theatre folks and underdog filmmakers). But there are similarities – over there, the bulk of the money will be going to films that are, for all intents and purposes, presumably the type that espouses nation building, while starving experimentalists get peanuts. Here, theatre companies (presumably) got their fingers rapped for putting up shows that run against this whole core values for nation building thingee. And starving experimentalists, well, they still get peanuts.   2 The way I see it, it’s really not about the money. W!ld Rice is one of the most successful theatre groups to reel in corporate sponsors left and right, including a new one (god bless you, kind newbie sponsor) for Animal Farm. If it was about the money, where are the smaller groups, ie the ones who really need the money? Where are the folks from dance, visual arts, experimental theatre, literary scene? Can’t ruffle the feathers too much because applications are still being processed? Hmmm…   3 It is about the C word. Cutting funds as a form of censorship? Since when is it not? Here or anywhere else?   4 And it is also about matters of transparency. Yes, dear NAC folks, I thought people who drive (fancy?) cars aren’t allowed to tint their windows? While it’s been reported way, way back that the government’s cultural direction will be towards something more traditional, that’s still vague. Honeymoon’s over. Time to have that talk. But let’s do it at a kopitiam and not inside a heavily tinted car can? We would have suggested that old coffeeshop in front of The Substation but, oh, we forgot, the area’s been gentrified!   5 But but  but it’s also about the arts community. What happened to the “let’s all hold hands and fight the fight” scenario last year? What happened to the buzz over the Arts NMP and the Censorship Review Committee? There’s been so many cracks in the monolith that the community could’ve taken advantage of but... what happened? This week, we’ve seen another crack in the wall. What next ey?   Eh, all you three loyal readers, let's get the discussion going and not just turn this into a whine fest...