SIBU: A mural painting breathes a new life into an old building and brightens up a plain wall.
Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II Michael Tiang Ming Tee pointed this out yesterday when officiating at the unveiling of a 3D mural painting at Shell Gorgeous Trading Sdn Bhd at at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rhaman here.
The painting is entitled ‘You Lu’; in Mandarin, it means deer or there is a way.
Tiang had called upon more local artists to paint murals, especially in Sibu.
“Sibu is not as new as Bintulu which has a lot of new commercial areas. But Sibu has a lot of heritage buildings and old buildings, especially in the town centre,” he said.
“We have initiated a mural painting project called Raminway at Jalan Raminway. We transformed the old building together again with local artist Jagung and others.
“We breathe a new life into an old building by painting murals on its walls and this has attracted a lot of local tourists and also tourists from outside,” he said.
Tiang added that mural paintings could attract tourists to Sibu apart from giving life to old buildings.
He also took the opportunity to educate people on the differences between mural painting and graffiti.
“Graffiti painting is quite common in some of the big cities. Graffiti painting is actually, I would say illegally painted.
“I do not encourage that because most of the time, graffiti actually spoils a place and does not successfully define a place. Some graffiti even have very rough contents,” he said.
Tiang also congratulated Shell Gorgeous Trading Sdn Bhd for being the first service station in Sarawak with a mural painting on its wall.
Meanwhile, Sri Minyak Group’s general manager, Amelia Tiu in her speech explained the meaning of the mural,
“It means there is always a way to go. When you find a way and a solution, there will always be a way ahead,” she said.
Amelia shared that the main goal of the mural painting at the petrol station was to be one of the tourist attractions in Sibu and to promote the uniqueness of Sarawak’s culture to local and foreign tourists.
“We hope this small initiative can provide a positive impact and inspiration to the community in meeting the new norms. “
Also present were Sri Minyak Group founder, Datuk William Tiu, Sibu Rural District Council (MDLBS) chairman, Sempurai Petrus Ngelai, Sibu District deputy police chief, Superintendent Dr Collin Babat, Shell Sarawak Senior Regional Manager, Alex Pega and FO3 Regional Manager, Maurice Chiam.
