JOHOR BAHRU, Feb 15 — “Kita Jaga Kita” (We take care of ourselves), which is the slogan of the Malaysian community in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as images of frontline personnel are among the important messages immortalised in a giant mural fronting the Columbia Asia-Hospital Tebrau, here.
The 152.4-metre wide and about six-metre high mural is the product of the outpouring of creative ideas of two local painters, Iskandar Noor Rahim, 41, and Muhamad Razali Abd Aziz, 36, as well as an assistant.
The mural is also part of the initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), National Art Gallery and National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) in conjunction with the COVID-19’s “Embracing New Norms” campaign aimed at raising awareness of the disease and honouring the services of frontliners involved in the fight against the pandemic in six zones across the country.
According to Iskandar, also known as Akeem, during his artistic journey, this is his first experience painting a mural on COVID-19, and it is the largest and longest mural he has painted.
Apart from beautifying the area, the mural is also said to be a sign of appreciation for the sacrifices of the frontline staff, who are working hard to deal with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The message we want to convey is that we are all responsible for helping to curb the spread of COVID-19. We do not know and do not see this virus… but I hope the community can comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) for our common good.
“I feel if people see murals like this on the side of the road, indirectly it will drive home the point to the public on how important SOPs are in life at this time,” he told Bernama recently.
According to Akeem, he and Muhamad Razali successfully completed the mural in 10 days using 80 cans of spray paint, four 15-litre paint cans and 10 five-litre paint cans of various colours.
“The main challenge is our idea to paint this COVID-19-themed mural. We do not want this work to replicate anything done before in other places.
“Actually, before we started painting this mural, we released about five designs but had to rectify them until the last design, which took us about three days to complete, was finally accepted by Columbia Hospital and the National Art Gallery,” said Akeem, who became interested in painting at the early age of five.
Akeem began full-time mural painting in 2010, and has done 200 paintings to date.
“Apart from this latest work, there is a mural painting which has a profound effect on me… it revolves around history that took place in Parit Sulong. I painted this in a water tank in 2019.
Meanwhile, Columbia Asia Hospital-Tebrau regional general manager Rahani Yaacob said the cooperation between them and government agencies had led to the realisation of the mural and that it would strengthen the hospital’s corporate image.
She hopes that with this mural, the community will be inspired to work together in preventing the spread of COVID-19 more effectively.
Sources: BERNAMA