1) Blame the rampant number of scammers and just straight up incompetent people dragging down the industry to the point that need something to set standards and code of ethics.

2) it's nothing new? The LAM has been around for some time:

https://www.lam.gov.my/registration-require...erior-designers

3) Unlicensed interior designers providing interior design services can be charged as impersonating or misrepresentation under the Architect Act 1967 (amendments Feb 2015) - Act 117, Section 33 Sub–section (e).

If found guilty of an offence, they will be liable to a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

That's not a good comparison, because a fine artist only creates a work of art that is then consumed/kept by the client.

In contrast, an interior designer in Malaysia is (usually) not just responsible for designing the interior of a home that people will live in for years, interior designers in Malaysia often take on project management roles, selecting materials and supervising contractors to build the interior, making structural changes to the home, changing the wiring, changing the piping etc.

When THAT happens, involving issues of safety and longevity (of product), the license is needed to ensure that a code of ethics is enforced and regulated, to minimize the likelihood of unscrupulous people who give designs that look pretty on paper but isn't liveable and/or hire and use subpar contractors and materials. Obviously it doesn't prevent all of that, but if it reduces the lazy crooks it at least makes it easier to find and limit the stubborn crooks.

Trying to compare fine artists to interior design (in the context of Malaysian industry) is about as logical as comparing an illustrator to a graphic designer. It really isn't the same in both required skillset and in practical application of said skillset.

This post has been edited by DragonReine: May 11 2023, 10:40 AM