The cut-out figures of the graffiti by Lithuanian-born street artist Ernest Zacharevic on “high crime” are not just a feature in Johor Baru but are being plastered in other parts of the country.
It is reported that such cut-outs are appearing in Kuala Lumpur and Rawang and very soon, undoubtedly, will be sighted all over the country.
This is a Zacharevic lesson that all those in authority must learn – that the greater the unreasonable pressure by those in power, the greater the righteous reaction by the public.
Zacharevic has the various authorities, in particular the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) and the Johore State Government to thank for the fame he has acquired for his “high crime in JB” mural, not only in JB, Johore and in Malaysia and even world-wide in this information age of instant communication in a borderless world.
Yes, the MBJB has “white-washed” Zacharevic’s “high crime” mural on a wall of a dilapidated shoplot in Taman Molek but the MBJB has achieved what Zacharevic would not be able to attain on his own – lasting fame for Zacharevic’s “high crime” mural not only among the residents of Johor Baru but beyond boundaries and borders outside JB and Malaysia in the information world, highlighting the concerns of the people of Johor Baru to end JB’s notoriety as the capital of crime in Malaysia and to become a safe and secure city for its residents, visitors and investors.
The twin issues of the fundamental right to safety and security as well as free expression are intertwined in the Zacharevic controversy.
But what the people of JB, Johor and Malaysia hope as the immediate consequence of the Zacharevic controversy is yet to be seen, i.e. a new resolve and commitment by all the authorities in JB, involving the municipality, the State Government and the police, rallying the people of JB in an effective initiative to make JB a low-crime city!
When can the campaign to “white-wash” JB’s notoriety as the capital of crime in Malaysia begin?
This is the only real meaningful response to Zacharevic’s “high crime” mural in JB!