Tee: Murals can draw tourists

One for the album: A group of visitors posing in front of a mural painted by street artists
at Jalan Dhoby in conjunction with the Petronas tanahairku campaign.

JOHOR BARU: Culture and patrio­tism-themed wall arts can attract foreign tourists to the city and sow love for the nation, especially among the youth.

State Tourism, Trade and Consu­merism Committee chairman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said the state go­vernment encouraged many people to put up patriotic murals on their buildings.

“As of now, we have identified six strategic areas in certain locations for such projects in Pontian.

“These will be painted by selected street artists starting in September,” he said.

Among the identified venues are the building walls along Jalan Al-Saggof, the Pontian Trade Centre, Jalan Bakek and its nearby areas.

The murals will depict the district’s products and cultures, pictures and portraits.

Tee told reporters these after attending the #tanahairku campaign organised by Petronas at Jalan Ibrahim here on Friday.

Besides Johor, Petronas will hold similar campaigns in Sabah and Sarawak involving 22 street artists.

In Johor Baru, five murals cover selected heritage buildings along Jalan Trus, Jalan Dhoby and Jalan Ibrahim.

These carried patriotism themes to mark National Day.

Petronas Group strategic communications senior general manager Liz Kamaruddin said the #tanahairku campaign was aimed at using murals as a medium to remind the youngsters about patriotism.

“Street art is something close to the hearts of the youth.”

At the launch, Petronas also released its National and Malaysia Day 2015 web film titled Akrab, which tells a story about true friendship between three boys who travel from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur to witness the declaration of independence at the stadium.

Johor Baru Mayor A. Rahim Nin said he hoped that the efforts done by the corporate company could be extended to more areas with the involvement of more people.

-thestar online.