BATU GAJAH: An 80-metre mural depicting the daily life of inmates (prospects) at the Batu Gajah Correctional Centre has become a new attraction here.
The painting on the walls of the centre, along Jalan Hospital, tells of the prospects’ journey and daily activities such as farming, woodwork, Quran recital, and several other activities during their stay at the facility.
Batu Gajah District Council (MDBG) president Mohamad Razif Ramli said the mural was an initiative of the council aimed at beautifying the town and has been gazetted as a product development plan within the administrative area.
“The 80-metre-long painting was created by a group of lecturers, students, and mural expert alumni from the Fine Arts Programme of the Kolej Pengajian Seni Kreatif (KPSK) at Perak Branch of the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in Seri Iskandar.
“For the first time, we have a collaboration with a government agency, namely the Malaysian Prisons Department, as with UiTM Seri Iskandar, this is the third time a collaboration has been carried out, similar to what was done in Local Agenda 21 (LA21),“ he said.
He said this at the launching ceremony of the mural, a collaboration between MDBG, UiTM, and the Batu Gajah Correctional Centre, officiated by the Kinta district officer Zulhisham Ahmad Shukori.
Also present were Perak Prisons director Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, C Charin Promwichit; Batu Gajah Correctional Centre director Assistant Prisons Commissioner S. Tanabal; and the deputy project head and senior lecturer of the Fine Arts Programme at KPSK UiTM Perak branch, Dr. Syed Alwi Syed Abu Bakar.
Mohamad Razif said that MDBG took the initiative to beautify the walls with murals featuring several elements at the Batu Gajah Correctional Centre
Meanwhile, Syed Alwi said he, along with nine lecturers, four alumni experts, and 12 students, started painting on Feb 15 and completed it in seven days.
To create this mural, we used waterproof and weather-resistant paints to ensure it lasts for five years.
“All these paintings are not just the artists’ depiction, but we actually went into the Batu Gajah Correctional Centre so that we could illustrate what the prospects did before collectively agreeing to do so,“ he also said.
He added that his side hopes the mural would be able to educate everyone on what happens inside the centre while also beautifying old buildings in Batu Gajah.
