Murals of country's leaders defaced in Shah Alam

Utterly disgraceful acts. Vandals have defaced the murals of several national leaders which were painted on a wall of a shop building in Taman Cahaya Alam, Seksyen U12 here.

Irresponsible people have written offensive words in red paint on the images.

It is believed that the acts of vandalism could have been committed last night, as the murals were still in pristine condition during a visit by Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday evening. Ismail Sabri was among the leaders whose portraits were featured on the wall.

Bernama learnt that a restaurant worker in the area noticed the incident at about 8 am today.

Muhamad Firdaus Nordin, 26, one of the mural artists, was saddened by the act of vandalism, saying it has sabotaged art works meant to express appreciation to the country's leaders.

"This is a despicable and malicious act. We felt wronged. Based on my observation, the writing was done using colour spray," he told reporters at the location today.

Muhamad Firdaus said some people had also made negative comments on social media regarding the minister's visit yesterday.

Meanwhile, Shah Alam City Council workers had to repaint the wall in white to erase the badly-affected paintings.

Apart from the portraits of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri, the wall also featured images of Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and comedians the late Abam Bocey and Yus Jambu.

On July 10, Al-Sultan Abdullah visited the location to show his appreciation for the efforts of the young artists. Dr Noor Hisham also went there several days later.

Shah Alam district police chief ACP Baharudin Mat Taib, when contacted, confirmed the incident of vandalism and said the case is being investigated, he said.

-- BERNAMA