Investments in public services is vital and important rather than spend money in arts, music and theater. There are several perspectives that i think it will be beneficial and suitable for governments.
Invest in public services is beneficial to attract good reputations for goverments. Most of social activity that including relationships between goverment and public is in the office, the first level of satisfying is create first not in the solution or projections that officers provide but more in the services that staffs has given. For example when i went to an office, if theres a long queue and only one counter of public services that open means that it will be taking enormous time for your problem to be solved, its collect from the time that you have to wait, speaking with the officers, wait for the assessment, until the response of the officers that somehow how to wait after the lunch break, imagine anger, stress, energy and time-waste that spend when theres a bad public services. Staffs, services rhythm become vital when it comes to creating good public perception rather than having expenses on buying collecting arts or building statue in governments offices.
Furthermore, collecting arts and build city icon is showing how bad the government money management is, when its existence should solving a wide range of social problems happen in each region. City income is surplus by tourism sector, agricultures and industries, having city icon, building good infrastructure is somehow a good idea to attract visitor, but what if amount of each statue or masterpiece cost the same money that can use to develop and solving many social problems. For instance, the building of Kartini statue in Kudus, Indonesia that cost 1 billion rupiahs but unfortunately its not in lining with public services at the Kartini museum which provides bad public services and lack of information regarding the kartini itself. The uses of governments offices or products such as museum, library and station that are provide to solve social problems are used to different kind of things that switching it main purpose by the sake of investment in art pieces and government show off.
It is state that investment in public services and public places is projecting better purpose and satisfaction, rather than create a city icon that only represent government ego and pride. Once the public services is well maintain, governments good reputation are created, it will attract private sectors to build icon, art pieces, music or theater to the city without having to spend city cash to expenses on it.