KUCHING: As a tribute to the late Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem, fondly known as 'Tok Nan', two best friends created something rather unique for Sarawakians to remember the great leader by.
Freelance graffiti artists Mohd Nor Shaddiq Mohamad Hamsah, 25 and Amey Sheikh Ali, 27, have created a graffito portrait of Tok Nan and the word of “OHHHHA” on the wall of a flyover at Jalan Satok here.
Shaddiq said the idea came about after they heard the news of Adenan’s passing. The two were discussing the issue over coffee, and were not sure if their idea would ever be realised.
“We were at a coffee shop when we heard about Tok Nan’s demise. It really broke our hearts. We kept silent for a few minutes.
“Then, we started to talk about creating a graffito of him, as a tribute to him,” he told the New Straits Times when met today.
Amey said they had planned on doing the graffito the next day, the date of Tok Nan’s burial.
When they finally identified the location, they went there and got to work. It took them four hours to complete the creative tribute, using spray paints of various colours.
Amey painted Adenan’s portrait, while Shaddiq painted the words 'OHHHHA'.
“I used the three colours of the Sarawak flag – yellow, red and black – for the wordings,” Shaddiq said.
The duo chose the Jalan Satok flyover wall because traffic flows heavily in the area, and everyone is afforded a good view of it.
“The public can have a nice view of the painting and take a photo with it.
“There is also sufficient parking space under the fly-over. People can park their vehicles here too,” Shaddiq added.
Photos of the graffito have gone viral on social media. Amey said images are also being widely shared in Facebook by netizens in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Brunei.
“We are satisfied with our artwork and we hope, from this small contribution, that people will continue to remember Tok Nan and love him as much as we do,” said Amey.
The Tok Nan graffito, they said, is among their favourite works so far.