KUALA LUMPUR, September 8 — The black and yellow cautionary haze mural by artist activist Fahmi Reza at the side of Wisma Megah, Kuala Lumpur is gone after just three days.
The free-hand mural was initially painted by the local satirist last Sunday, bearing a warning as a means to create awareness on the potential return of haze due to open burnings.
A video uploaded on Fahmi’s Twitter account at 1.05pm today showed the 'Caution: Jerebu Is Coming Back' completely painted over with grey paint.
Mural "Caution: Jerebu Is Coming Back" dipadam selepas bertahan selama 3 hari #jerebu pic.twitter.com/JtWIBvJLqF
Advertisement— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) September 8, 2022
A couple of individuals were caught in action vandalising the artwork last night in a widely shared video shared on Twitter last night by an eyewitness.
Bro. Sekarang diorang tengah padam mural tu. pic.twitter.com/RB1Df5Psvc
— Monolog sendiri (@OrangBesi_) September 7, 2022
As reported by The Vibes, the individuals claimed the mural was painted on private property and without permission.
The 14-second clip which has garnered over 100,000 views was also retweeted on Fahmi’s Twitter account.
The Wisma Megah building, also known as Bangunan Hong Leong, located on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock in the city centre is currently unoccupied.
According to New Straits Times, the 16-storey building which was completed in 1976 used to be owned by Mammoth Empire Bhd, the company behind the Empire City development in Damansara Perdana.
It was later sold for RM43 million in 2018 to an unidentified owner.
This mural was initially vandalised in less than 24 hours of its completion and again one day later.
Fahmi repaired the mischief hours the first time, while it was fixed by a member of the public the second time.
The mural was aimed at Malaysian owned companies in Indonesia who were involved with open burning which was behind the regional haze in previous years.
In 2019, Edgeprop reported a total of 56 companies operating estates were identified to have been responsible for the open burning that has caused the region-wide haze.
Out of the 56 companies, six of them were Malaysian-linked companies.
The 2019 haze resulted in Malaysia having to close some schools due to "very unhealthy” air pollution levels that surpassed the 200 on the air pollutant index ― one category below "hazardous”.
