By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Jan 6: The ‘Pak Penambang’ (Boat Uncle) mural art located at Lebuh Java road near Kuching Waterfront is now damaged.
A Facebook user going by Hj Burhanudin Aini uploaded a photo of the mural art’s condition on Jan 2, 9.10am, where the background of the three boat uncles in the mural looked torn and filled with doodles.
The post was later shared in the Sarawak Public Feedback group, with many Facebook users suspecting that the mural may have been vandalised and called on Kuching South City Council (MBKS) and Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) to install closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) at certain locations within the mural.
However, the Sarawakian artist behind the mural art, Leonard Siaw, has clarified that the mural was not vandalised. Instead, he explained that the paint had succumbed to the wet environment and peeled off.
“The messy writing that looks like vandalism in the background is called ‘doodle grid’; it was used to draft the mural. Now it’s exposed again after the top layer is washed off.
“(We) should probably take down the post to prevent further misunderstanding,” he said in the comment section.
The mural, completed in 2019, depicted three sampan (boat) operators, which intend to highlight the sampan as a humble mode of transport along the banks of the Sarawak River.
Siaw also mentioned that he would try to allocate some time to fix the mural in the near future. — DayakDaily
