Aesthetic murals enhance alleyways in SS2 after restoration

IF you are from Petaling Jaya, you might be familiar with the nine murals along the alleyways of the SS2 areas. 

Earlier today, the SS2 Mural Restoration Project was officially announced as complete by Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lim Yi Wei and the MBPJ Zone 8 councillor Billy Wong Swee Wang.

The nine murals were painted in 2015 through the “Bestnya Malaysiaku” Art Wall competition. It was kicked off by former Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin’s office, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), with a joint effort together with Street Art Movement.

According to Lim, they were contacted by the winner of the competition, Ellie, to see if she was interested in the restoration of her winning mural. 

After her art piece ‘Forgiveness’ was restored in July 2022 with the help of Wong and the SS2 Selatan Residents’ Association, they began to wonder about the condition of the eight other murals that were also painted during the competition. 

“I just looked at the wall, the size and the shape of it, and thought that it has to be something vertical,

“So I figured maybe a girl holding a lantern would be nice,” said the artist.

She also mentioned that there was a 3D installation of the lantern, but it disappeared somewhere along the way so she decided to paint one instead.

When the original artists refused to restore their respective work, Ellie once again took the opportunity to restore the remaining murals with an allocation of RM19,500 from MBPJ. 

While restoring the other murals, Ellie found that two of the murals, ‘Singing in the Rain’ and ‘Suara Anak Malaysia’ were gone as the owners of the buildings had covered the murals with paint. 

According to Lim, the restorations took a little over two months to complete and she hopes it has a great impact on the SS2 area. 

“Every time I do a press conference in SS2, I always have to mention keeping the place clean.

“The business owners can only do so much and MBPJ can only clean so much, but if the rubbish keeps on piling up, it becomes a not-so-pleasant experience for everyone,” said Lim.

She added that she hopes the project will bring about a snowball effect in improving the cleanliness of the area.

When asked if they were open to painting other murals when the opportunity presents itself, all three of them are working toward that direction.

“This is one of the most vibrant commercialised centres in PJ, so we are very open to owners of buildings who would like to have a mural painted on their buildings.

“As long as they give us their consent, we can find the necessary funding as well as get more artists to make the place more ‘Instagram-able’,” said Wong.

He also thanked Ellie for her wonderful passion and dedication and hopes that this will boost more visitors and businesses in the area. – The Vibes, January 17, 2023