Murals With a Mission
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Olympic-themed mural project is part of the Damai Secondary School's 15th anniversary celebration.
If you had passed by the Bedok Reservoir area this June, you might have caught sight of groups of youths armed with paint and brushes hanging around various HDB blocks. But any curious residents who investigated this activity would have met a pleasant surprise in the form of a giant artwork in progress.
Far from being vandals, the young painters were students from Damai Secondary School who spent part of their holidays transforming the empty walls of housing flats into larger-than-life canvasses. Sketching their designs with care and then filling in their raw creations with brilliant colours, the students' painstaking handiwork resulted in 15 neighbourhood murals that depict various sports such as swimming, table tennis and basketball.
A joint effort involving members of various CCA groups and students from Sec 1 up to Sec 5, the mural project kicked off after the mid-year exams. Teams of student painters were assigned to particular void decks or walls, where they daubed fitting colours to line drawings crafted earlier by Sec 3 Art students. After many hours of wet brushstrokes under the scorching sun, the complete artworks were launched by Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo on 4 July.
Painting for a double celebration
It's obvious from the theme of the murals that sports, namely the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in Singapore in 2010, were very much in the minds of the young artists. In fact, the link between the YOG and Damai Secondary School goes back to 2008, when students painted two Olympic-themed murals to support Singapore's bid to host the YOG as well as the nation's athletes in their quest for glory at the Beijing Olympic Games.
This year's mural project is thus a double celebration, as it marks the 15th anniversary of the school as well as rides the momentum of excitement that followed Singapore's successful YOG bid. Mr Saiful Bahri Idris, the school's head of pupil development, explains that apart from promoting the YOG spirit, the project has a strong community element.
Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo launches the mural during the school's anniversary dinner.
"In giving students the chance to contribute to the immediate community - in this case, to beautify the environment - the school hopes to reinforce the message of community involvement," he says.
The project comes under the banner of Aljunied Town Council's 'Adopt-A-Void Deck Scheme', which aims to instil a sense of ownership and care for public property by giving students a role in shaping these shared spaces. Besides providing a platform for budding artists to display their talents, the scheme seeks to build a lasting commitment by getting students involved in maintaining the murals and nearby void decks on a regular basis.
Picturing the Olympic spirit
In keeping with the Olympic theme, the school hopes the murals will help encourage viewers to adopt a healthy lifestyle, and create a greater awareness and interest among members of the community for the YOG.
Mr Tan Heng Loon, head of PE, reveals that short narratives accompany each mural, highlighting the achievements of Singapore athletes such as national swimmer, Tao Li, and the women's table tennis team, which won a silver medal in Beijing.
For several weeks, the students worked under the scorching sun to complete the murals.
For the students who took part in the project, it was a whole new experience painting on an outdoor wall. Reflecting on the experience, Sec 3 Art student Huang Dajing states, "Transferring the drawing from paper onto the wall was a challenge - it was hard to get the proportions right and we had to re-draw a few times to get it right."
Others walked away with a deeper appreciation for the value of cooperation. As Sec 2 student Mohammad Nazarul Syarafuddin Bin Zalani puts it, "Teamwork is important. The mural could not have been done by one person alone." Adds the self-effacing St John Ambulance Brigade member with a grin, "For example, as I was vertically-challenged, I had to sit on my friend's shoulder to paint the top part of the mural!"
To make the mural project even more meaningful, the school also raised funds by inviting companies and individuals to adopt the walls. The resulting donations help needy students pay for various fees, meals and transport. Through their generosity, the people who gave emerge, too, as one in spirit with the murals' basic mission of showing care and concern for the wider community.