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Congrats to Parti Amanah Negara for having 35,000 members in two-and-a-half months when DAP in our first 15 years have not reached this figure of membership

Firstly, let me congratulate Parti Amanah Negara for its launch in Johor, as part of the determined collective bid by Pakatan Harapan to make Johor the front-line state for political change in Malaysia in the run-up to the 14th General Election.

Parti Amanah Negara has made impressive political headway in less than three months of its launch, gaining some 35,000 members and Parti Amanah Negara Secretary-General Sdr. Anuar Tahir told me just now that he expects the party membership to reach 60,000 by the end of the year in about six weeks time.

This is a most impressive political progress for Parti Amanah Negara in such a short period of four months as DAP did not reach the membership of 35,000 in our first 15 years of political struggle, although we had contested in three general elections in 1969, 1974 and 1978 – winning 13 Parliamentary and 31 State Assembly seats in our first general election outing in 1969, when we secured 11.9 per cent of the popular vote. Continue reading “Congrats to Parti Amanah Negara for having 35,000 members in two-and-a-half months when DAP in our first 15 years have not reached this figure of membership”

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Malaysia’s Stunning Street Art: The Coolest Murals and Where to Find Them

Yahoo Travel Explorers
August 10, 2015
By David Hogan/Malaysia Asia

In recent years, street art in Malaysia has picked up quite a bit, and you’ll now find murals and paintings by both local and international artists.

While this form of art has been alive and well in many other areas of the world for decades, the movement in Malaysia really got rolling in 2012, when Ernest Zacharevic created six murals for Penang’s George Town Culture festival. The paintings were so popular that the BBC even called him the Banksy of Malaysia. Today, there are many cities around the country following in Penang’s footsteps, calling on locals of all ages to add new life to their walls. For visitors, that means it’s easy to find these open-air museums; since they are usually located in high tourist areas, you barely have to look around. But you do need to know which towns and cities to start in. Here are some of my favorites:

Penang

Penang artist Ernest Zacharevic has been called the Banksy of Malaysia. (Photo: Ernest Zacharevic)

Continue reading “Malaysia’s Stunning Street Art: The Coolest Murals and Where to Find Them”

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DOE limits controversial Johor Straits housing project over environmental concerns

BY JAHABAR SADIQ, EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
5 January 2015

China developer Country Gardens Holdings can only develop less than 1,000 acres (405ha) or a quarter of its controversial 1,600 hectares Forest City project in the Johor Straits under new limits set by the Department of Environment (DOE).

The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the DOE has verbally informed Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd (CGP), a joint-venture unit of Country Gardens Holdings Co Ltd, of the new limits after complaints from locals and the Singapore government over reclamation works in the narrow waterway between Malaysia and the island state.

“The DOE has decided to limit the project to the first phase and wait for a few years to see the impact before looking at future phases,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

“The DOE is expected to send an official letter about its decision soon to relevant parties,” he added. Continue reading “DOE limits controversial Johor Straits housing project over environmental concerns”

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Iskandar’s plunging fortunes

Khairul Khalid
KiniBiz
December 15, 2014

This has been a year to forget for the Iskandar economic region in Johor.

After much lauded growth in the last five years, led by a robust property market, cracks began to show in Iskandar this year. Bullishness about Iskandar’s property market has been replaced with a more cautious, sometimes even bleaker outlook.

What is causing this dwindling optimism about Iskandar? For a start, the numbers don’t lie. Continue reading “Iskandar’s plunging fortunes”

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Najib should visit Johor Bahru to explain the reasons why he had broken two solemn EDL pledges to people of Johor – “no toll charges for motorists who don’t use EDL” and “No toll on EDL”

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should visit Johor Bahru to explain the reasons why he had broken two solemn EDL (Eastern Dispersal Link) pledges to the people of Johor in 2002 – “No toll charges for those who don’t use EDL” and “No toll on EDL”.

Najib made the first pledge of “No toll charges for those who don’t use the EDL” at the 10,000-People 1Malaysia Dinner in Johor Bahru on March 9, 2012 which was also attended by the then Johor Mentri Besar, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, and then MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek and the then Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon.

Najib said that the matter was discussed at a recent meeting of the National Economic Consultative Council which was attended by representatives from the Johor state government.

Najib made the second pledge of “No toll on EDL” six months later in Parliament in September 2012.

As Prime Minister of a government whose motto and slogan is “People’s First, Performance Now”, Najib cannot take his public pledges lightly and must go out of his way to explain and justify flagrant breaches of his public pledges. Continue reading “Najib should visit Johor Bahru to explain the reasons why he had broken two solemn EDL pledges to people of Johor – “no toll charges for motorists who don’t use EDL” and “No toll on EDL””

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480% Johore causeway toll hikes absurd, presumptuous and preposterous – giving Najib a bad name as a Prime Minister whose word is not his bond

The sudden imposition of the 480% Johore causeway toll hikes is absurd, presumptuous and preposterous, giving Datuk Seri Najib Razak a bad name as a Prime Minister whose word is not his bond.

ABSURD because the astronomical, unreasonable and unconscionable toll hikes clearly for the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) are being imposed on the majority of the thousands of vehicles and the 200,000 people crossing the Johor causeway daily who do not use the EDL for them to reach the Johor Bahru Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ).

Isn’t it absurd that the majority of daily vehicles and commuters of the Johor causeway who do not use EDl are being penalized in having to pay the unfair and astronomical causeway toll hikes for upkeep and maintenance of EDL?

Can the Federal or State government cite another instance in the country where vehicular traffic using one highway or access have to pay toll for another highway that they are not using?

Is the reason why there is no full and proper consultation before the Johor causeway toll hikes are implemented because those in authority realize the height of absurdity of such an imposition, and they have no confidence in facing the legitimate and righteous wrath of those who are made victims of such bureaucratic absurdity – having to pay toll hikes for the EDL when they are not using the EDL? Continue reading “480% Johore causeway toll hikes absurd, presumptuous and preposterous – giving Najib a bad name as a Prime Minister whose word is not his bond”

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Call on Najib to defer 480 per cent Johor causeway toll hike to enable proper process of public consultation in keeping with his GTP commitment to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability

On his return from Amsterdam, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should direct a deferment of the 480 per cent Johor causeway toll hikes to enable a full and proper process of public consultation in keeping with his commitment under the Government Transformation Programme to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability.

The Prime Minister should have received public feedbacks by now not only about the unpopularity but even more important, the great sense of injustice felt by the people in southern Johor over hardships caused by the astronomical causeway toll hikes, especially for the following reasons:

Firstly, substantive breach of the undertaking by the Prime Minister in Parliament on Sept. 24, 2012 that the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) will remain toll-free as the causeway toll hikes are imposition of EDL tolls in disguise.

Secondly, although the causeway toll hikes are purportedly to improve the “facilities and services” of EDL, thousands of vehicles and the majority of the 200,000 people crossing the Johor Causeway daily do not take the EDL for them to reach the Johor Bahru Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ), while some 80% of the 220,000 vehicles utilizing the EDL daily do not cross over to Singapore at all. Continue reading “Call on Najib to defer 480 per cent Johor causeway toll hike to enable proper process of public consultation in keeping with his GTP commitment to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability”

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Uncontrolled Development – “Pulau Ubah”

(Speech 3 in Dewan Rakyat when taking part in the debate on Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address on Thursday, 13th March 2014)

Allow me to bring the attention of the House to the problems of uncontrolled and poorly regulated development activities in Iskandar Malaysia which caused irreversible damages to our precious environment and severely hurt local livelihoods especially the poor who are largely dependent on natural resources for their sustenance.

This is the case that took place at Pendas and Tanjung Kupang, within the parliament constituency of Gelang Patah. It is located in the district of Johor Bahru and also part of the Iskandar Development Region.

Since January this year, a coastal reclamation project has rapidly taken shape in the waters of the Johore Straits close to Tanjung Kupang. This is close to the Second Link and the Malaysia – Singapore maritime border. There are no signboards, no public information, no approval from the authorities be it federal agencies like the Department of Environment, the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), or the State Government which is supposed to regulate and control all earthwork activities.

It is one humongous project as far as coastal reclamation is concerned. The size is 2500 acres to be exact (according to official documents that we have sighted). I visited the ongoing reclamation site by boat twice. First on 15th February 2014 and then on 24th February 2014. It was shocking. The damages were beyond words. In the middle of nowhere, an island was in the making so rapidly that just between my first and second visit, the size of the reclaimed island has doubled. Continue reading “Uncontrolled Development – “Pulau Ubah””

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Pengajaran daripada kes Zacharevic untuk pihak berkuasa – semakin besar tekanan diberikan oleh pihak berkuasa tanpa sebab yang munasabah, semakin panas reaksi orang ramai

Keratan gambar grafiti “jenayah tinggi” oleh seniman jalanan kelahiran Lithuania Ernest Zacharevic kini bukan saja boleh dilihat di Johor Baru malah juga di beberapa tempat lain dalam negara ini.

Menurut laporan, keratan berkenaan mula muncul di Kuala Lumpur dan Rawang dan tidak lama lagi ia tentu boleh dilihat di seluruh negara.

Ini pengajaran buat semua pihak berkuasa – semakin besar tekanan diberikan oleh pihak berkuasa tanpa sebab yang munasabah, semakin panas reaksi orang ramai.

Zacharevic boleh berterimakasih kepada beberapa pihak berkuasa, khususnya Majlis Bandaraya Johor Baru dan Kerajaan Negeri Johor kerana berkat tindakan mereka ke atas mural “jenayah tinggi” beliau di JB, namanya masyhur bukan hanya di JB, Johor, dan Malaysia, malah juga di peringkat dunia dalam zaman maklumat yang memungkinkan sesuatu berita disebarkan dengan cepat dalam dunia tanpa batas.
Continue reading “Pengajaran daripada kes Zacharevic untuk pihak berkuasa – semakin besar tekanan diberikan oleh pihak berkuasa tanpa sebab yang munasabah, semakin panas reaksi orang ramai”

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The Zacharevic lesson all those in authority must learn – the greater the unreasonable pressure by those in power, the greater the righteous reaction by the public

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.
Continue reading “The Zacharevic lesson all those in authority must learn – the greater the unreasonable pressure by those in power, the greater the righteous reaction by the public”

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MB Johor perlu menasihatkan MBJB untuk berhenti melakukan serkap jarang dan berhenti mengganggu para penyewa dan pemilik yang mempamerkan keratan gambar grafiti Zacharevic

Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin pada hari Ahad lalu menyebut bahawa jika wartawan bertanya lebih awal kepada beliau, nasib mural “jenayah tinggi” seniman kelahiran Lithuania Ernest Zacharevic di Johor Baru mungkin berbeza, kerana tiada guna bercakap tentang mural tersebut sekarang memandangkan ia telah dipadamkan oleh pihak berkuasa tempatan Johor Baru.

Kenyataan itu amat menghairankan, memandangkan mural jalanan Zacharevic telah menjadi bahan berita dalam negara selama hampir seminggu dan malah mendapat liputan media antarabangsa sebelum ia dipadamkan oleh para pekerja majlis bandaraya JB.

Khaled mungkin satu-satunya pegawai kerajaan dalam Johor yang tidak menyedari adanya kontroversi tentang mural jalanan “jenayah tinggi” Zacharevic di Johor Baru selama seminggu sebelum ia dipadamkan oleh para pekerja majlis bandaraya JB.

Apakah ini mungkin, memandangkan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri DAP bagi Johor Jaya Lio Cai Tong telah menyentuh tentang isu mural tersebut dalam Dewan Undangan Negeri Johor sewaktu beliau membahaskan belanjawan negeri Johor 2014 dan beliau malah telah mengusulkan supaya perbahasan dibuat tentang grafiti Zacha itu sebelum ia dipadamkan oleh para pekerja majlis bandaraya JB?
Continue reading “MB Johor perlu menasihatkan MBJB untuk berhenti melakukan serkap jarang dan berhenti mengganggu para penyewa dan pemilik yang mempamerkan keratan gambar grafiti Zacharevic”

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Pihak berkuasa berkenaan di JB tidak sepatutnya berdiam diri tetapi sebaliknya perlu memanfaatkan kontroversi mural “jenayah Tinggi Zachas untuk melancarkan inisiatif baru bagi menghapuskan reputasi JB sebagai pusat jenayah negara

Sesuatu yang menyedihkan dan tragis apabila “kreativiti luar biasa” digunakan untuk menghilangkan sengat mural “jenayah tinggi” yang dibuat oleh seniman jalanan kelahiran Lithuania Ernest Zacharevic di Johor Bahru sedangkan tiada tanda-tanda pihak berkuasa berkenaan – Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, Polis dan Kerajaan Negeri Johor – mula mengambil langkah untuk memanfaatkan peningkatan kesedaran orang awam sejak seminggu lalu tentang kadar jenayah yang amat tinggi di JB bagi melancarkan inisiatif baru untuk menghapuskan reputasi bandar itu sebagai pusat jenayah negara.

Dua seniman tempatan telah berhempas-pulas sepanjang malam untuk menambah imej seorang pegawai polis Lego yang memegang sepasang gari ke atas mural kontroversial itu – menampilkan seorang lelaki Lego memakai topeng sambil memegang pisau, menunggu untuk merompak seorang wanita Lego yang sedang menjinjit beg “Chanel”. Zacharevic menafikan dirinya mempunyai kaitan dengan penambahan tersebut apabila beliau mengulas menerusi Facebook tentang penambahan tersebut sebagai “vandalisme sebenar”.

Urutan keutamaan pihak berkuasa sama sekali salah apabila ia menyalurkan tenaga mencari jalan untuk menghilangkan “sengat” mural “jenayah tinggi” Zachas di JB dengan pelbagai idea kreatif bagi membolehkan mural yang “menghina” itu terus boleh dilihat di JB, sedangkan yang paling kita harapkan ialah agar pihak berkuasa mengambil tindakan yang bermakna dan berkesan untuk memastikan JB menjadi bandaraya rendah kadar jenayah dan selamat untuk penduduknya, pelawat dan pelabur.
Continue reading “Pihak berkuasa berkenaan di JB tidak sepatutnya berdiam diri tetapi sebaliknya perlu memanfaatkan kontroversi mural “jenayah Tinggi Zachas untuk melancarkan inisiatif baru bagi menghapuskan reputasi JB sebagai pusat jenayah negara”

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Mural “jenayah tinggi” Zachas patut dikekalkan sebagai cabaran untuk pihak berkuasa menjadikan JB bandar rendah jenayah dan sebagai testimoni bahawa kadar jenayah yang tinggi di JB “hanya tinggal dalam lipatan sejarah”

Sejak beberapa hari lalu, pihak berkuasa di Johor Bahru, termasuk Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, Polis, dan kerajaan negeri Johor terganggu dengan salah satu dari tiga mural yang dibuat oleh seniman jalanan bertaraf antarabangsa kelahiran Ernest Zacharevic yang menonjolkan isu kadar jenayah yang tinggi dalam bandaraya tersebut.

Bandaraya Johor Bahru dan penduduknya akan meraih faedah lebih besar jika tenaga yang mereka gunakan untuk berdebat tentang apa yang perlu dilakukan terhadap mural jenayah tinggi di JB disalurkan ke arah mengurangkan kadar jenayah dalam ibu bandar Johor itu.

Mural “jenayah tinggi” Zachas tidak perlu dihapuskan, sebaliknya ia patut dikekalkan sebagai cabaran untuk pihak berkuasa menjadikan JB bandar rendah jenayah dan sebagai testimoni bahawa kadar jenayah yang tinggi di JB “hanya tinggal dalam lipatan sejarah”.

Satu-satunya cara untuk menghilangkan ‘sengatan’ mural jenayah tinggi Zachas itu ialah dengan menghapuskan reputasi JB sebagai pusat jenayah negara sehingga mural Zachas itu boleh dianggap sebagai tanda kejayaan transformasi Johor Bahru menjadi sebuah bandaraya selamat.

Gambaran yang terdapat pada mural Zachas tidak akan menyengat jika kadar jenayah di bandaraya itu tidak tinggi.
Continue reading “Mural “jenayah tinggi” Zachas patut dikekalkan sebagai cabaran untuk pihak berkuasa menjadikan JB bandar rendah jenayah dan sebagai testimoni bahawa kadar jenayah yang tinggi di JB “hanya tinggal dalam lipatan sejarah””

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Johor MB Khaled should advise MBJB to end its “wild goose chase” and stop harassing tenants and landowners over cut-outs of Zacharevic wall graffiti which gives “vandalism” a good name

Johore Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said on Sunday that things might have turned out differently about street artist Lithuanian-born Ernest Zacharevic’s “high crime” street mural in Johor Baru if he had been asked the question by the press earlier, but the issue had become academic as the mural had been wiped out by the Johor Baru local authority.

This is a most extraordinary statement, considering that Zacharevic’s street mural had dominated not only Johor but national headlines for almost a week, and even hitting international coverage, before it was “white-washed” by JB city council workers.

Khaled must be the only potentate in Johor State blissfully unaware of the boiling controversy over Zacharevic’s “high crime” street mural in Johor Baru in the week before it was white-washed by JB council workers.

Could this be true, when DAP State Assemblywoman for Johor Jaya, Liow Cai Tong had even spoken on the subject in the Johor State Assembly during her debate on the 2014 Johor state budget and even tried to move an emergency debate on Zacha’s wall graffiti before it was “white-washed” by the JB council workers?
Continue reading “Johor MB Khaled should advise MBJB to end its “wild goose chase” and stop harassing tenants and landowners over cut-outs of Zacharevic wall graffiti which gives “vandalism” a good name”

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JB mural clones spring up, even on T-shirts

Malaysiakini | 2:00PM Nov 16, 2013

The Johor Bahru City Council may have hastily removed the controversial mural depicting a lady about to be mugged, but it appears to have spawned at least 10 reincarnations of the increasingly popular artwork.

According to an anonymous local who spoke to Malaysiakini today, the lego character with the channel bag and the mugger around the corner have shown up on not just the city’s walls, but also on vans and even T-shirts.

He reported that people have put up stickers of the mural in Sutra Mall, Perling, Taman Molek and Bukit Indah among others.

Netizens have also posted their photos of the clones on Facebook, and one is even selling the T-shirts online.
Continue reading “JB mural clones spring up, even on T-shirts”

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Mural mural on the wall

— Thomas Fann
The Malay Mail Online
November 16, 2013

In the same week that Super Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines, a different kind of storm came upon the southern city of Johor Bahru. It was a most innocuous beginning, a series of wall murals by an internationally-recognised Lithuanian-born street artist known as Ernest Zacharevic or simply Zachas. When it was first unveiled in early November it created a buzz among the local community. Many have long admired Zachas’ works for Penang and was delighted that he has finally brought it to JB, a city not known for its appreciation of the arts.

With news spreading of the existence of four murals around Taman Molek and Johor Jaya area, people began seeking out these works of art and to have their photos taken with them. My family and I joined in the search and snap trail. It was most amusing to find people snapping away at these murals in dirty back lanes of non-descript shophouses and treating them like treasures. Perhaps to a city that is like an art desert, it was a breath of arty fresh air that has finally blown in. Continue reading “Mural mural on the wall”

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Trending: Ernest Zacharevic, Malaysia’s answer to Banksy

By BBC Trending
What’s popular and why
13 November 2013 Last updated at 18:40

Malaysia has its own version of Banksy – street artist Ernest Zacharevic. His latest piece of work, which highlights the problem of crime, has been painted over by the authorities – but not before being widely shared on social media.

Across the water from wealthy Singapore is the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru, known as one of the country’s crime hot spots. Late last Thursday evening, 27-year-old street artist Ernest Zacharevic was at work on a wall there with his spray can. Zacharevic is from Lithuania but is a permanent resident of Malaysia, and is well-known in the region for his street art.
Continue reading “Trending: Ernest Zacharevic, Malaysia’s answer to Banksy”

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The relevant authorities in JB must not “do nothing” but must use the controversy over Zachas’ “high-crime” mural to launch a new initiative to wipe out JB’s reputation as the nation’s crime capital

It is sad and tragic that while “unusual creativeness” are being exhibited to remove the “sting” of Lithuanian-born street artist Ernest Zacharevic’s “high crime” mural in Johor Bahru, there are no signs that the relevant authorities – JB City Council, the Police and Johore State Government – are being moved to capitalise on the heightened public awareness in the past week of unacceptably high crime rate in JB to launch a new initiative to wipe out JB’s reputation as the nation’s crime capital.

Two local artists had worked through midnight to add a Lego policeman armed with a handcuff to the controversial mural – a Lego man wearing a ski mask and holding a knife waiting to rob a Lego woman carrying a “Chanel” bag – but Zacharevic has dissociated himself from the addition with the comment on his Facbook that this is “a true vandalism”.

The authorities show a completely wrong sense of priorities, in expending energy on how to remove the “sting” of Zachas’ “high crime” mural in JB with various “creative” ideas to allow the “offensive” mural to remain in JB, when what is most important of all is for the authorities to take meaningful and effective action to ensure that JB becomes a low-crime city which is safe and secure for residents, visitors and investors. Continue reading “The relevant authorities in JB must not “do nothing” but must use the controversy over Zachas’ “high-crime” mural to launch a new initiative to wipe out JB’s reputation as the nation’s crime capital”

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Cop ‘joins’ Zachas’ JB mural to ‘pounce’ on robber

By Aidila Razak | 11:59AM Nov 13, 2013
Malaysiakini

Local artists have added a Lego policeman to the controversial Johor Bahru mural by artist Ernest Zacharevic – a move that appears to soften the message and possibly, save the mural.

With his eyes set on a Lego woman carrying a Chanel handbag, the Lego mugger appears unaware that an police officer – complete with handcuffs – is ready to nab him.

It is unclear who the local artists behind the addition are, but according to the photograh uploaded by Zacharevic on his Facebook page, duo worked on the mural last night.

“Now that’s a true vandalism! Malaysia never fails to amuse me,” Zacharevic quipped in his caption.

A number of those commenting on the mural’s expansion were not too amused.
Continue reading “Cop ‘joins’ Zachas’ JB mural to ‘pounce’ on robber”

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Instead of removing Zachas’ “high crime” mural, it should be allowed to remain as a challenge to all relevant authorities to make JB low-crime and a standing testimony that high crime rate in JB is a “story of the past”

For the past few days, the relevant authorities in Johor Bahru including the Johor Bahru City Council, the Police and the Johor State Government had been most vexed and upset by one of three murals painted by internationally-recognised street artist Lithuanian-born Ernest Zacharevic highlighting the high crime rate in the city.

The city and people of Johor Bahru would have been the real beneficiaries if the energies expended on debating and deciding on what to do with Zachas’ mural of high crime rate in JB had been devoted to reducing the high crime rate in the Johor capital.

Instead of removing Zachas’ “high crime” mural, it should be allowed to remain to serve as a challenge to all relevant authorities to make JB low-crime and a standing testimony that high crime rate in JB is a “story of the past”!

The only way to remove the sting of Zachas’ “high crime” mural would be to remove JB’s notorious reputation as crime capital of the nation, when Zachas’ mural can become a tribute to the transformation of the Johore capital into a safe and secure city. Continue reading “Instead of removing Zachas’ “high crime” mural, it should be allowed to remain as a challenge to all relevant authorities to make JB low-crime and a standing testimony that high crime rate in JB is a “story of the past””