SINGAPORE: Financing is probably one of the biggest dilemmas faced by animators in Malaysia, said animation and filmmaking veteran Hassan Muthalib. With about 40 years of experience in the business, Hassan said local broadcasting houses pay too little for each half-hour episode or cartoon. According to him, the RM40,000 currently paid by RTM was “too low” as, ideally, a good quality cartoon should rake in RM250,000 per half-hour episode. CARTOON FLICK: Hassan posing beside a poster of ‘Silat Legenda’, Malaysia’s first full-length animated feature, which he directed. “I hear that even then, RTM wants to reduce the amount,” said Hassan, who is best known for the Sang Kancil series of animated short films in the 1980s. The part-time lecturer who teaches at One Academy in Kuala Lumpur said Malaysia’s animation Industry was at the crossroads compared with already established key players like Japan and Korea. Hassan said Malaysian animators should focus more on being storytellers rather tha...