We kicked off our 16 days of activism through a simple, but effective action: chalking sidewalks and pavements.
Armed with 5 kotak of kapur berwarna-warni, we met up outside of the Masjid Jamek LRT station, berhampiran dgn Jalan Masjid India. Immediately, kami mencangkung di hadapan OCBC bank, dan menulis with bold words in red, yellow, blue, green, orange and white, messages about violence against women, discrimination against women, women's human rights and gender equality.
It was simple and effective. Ramai member-member awam berhenti dpd perjalanan mereka ke lunch break dsbgnya dan berkerumun dikeliling kami, bertanya-tanya, "what is this?", "apa yang kaum tengah buat?", "tulis apa nie?", "what's going on?", dan berikutan dgn "ooooh...... keganasan terhadap wanita!"
We managed to hand out some leaflets we took from the official NGO launch of the 16 days to the public, and also had conversations with passers-by about our action, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, what we think about gender equality and discrimination and women's human rights.
Of course we got stopped and chased off when we were writing outside of banks, with OCBC lasting about 20 minutes, and HSBC about 2 minutes! But generally, the reaction was not too hostile, and we just moved our action from spot to spot, stopping at sidewalks, traffic light junctions, bus stops, street clocks, walls and rubbish bins.
Chalking the Walkways started from Jalan Masjid India and ended at Pasar Seni, with us taking over a huge section of the pavement outside of Central Market. We got random members of the public to join in, and at the end, we named the space as "Ruang Seni tentang Diskriminasi" and left some chalks behind for the writing to continue.
Watch this space for our next action!
Di mana action ini bermula...
Mengambil-alih kaki lima dengan isu keganasan terhadap wanita
Orang awam juga menggabung tenaga dan menulis pertikaian mereka
Walaupun kami diusir dan telah beredar, mesej kami masih lagi berdaya menolehkan kepala
You need bigger chalk that can withstand a couple of days of rain.
ReplyDeleteGet plaster of paris, pour in water, drop in preferred coloured crayons, stir. Pour into milk, juice cartons.
Cool til hard. Unwrap carton tops and hold them like a giant salami with wrapping, and chalk away.
shagadelica
thanks for the advice shagadelica, we'll bear that in mind :) how did you figure that one out? seems fairly do-able and effective!
ReplyDeletethough at the moment, we seem to be getting into lots of trouble already with just classroom chalk and maximum temporary-ness :|
chalk that withstands rain.....
ReplyDeletei can imagine the trouble you'll get when those companies fret about their corporate images just cause some anti-violence messages are on the sidewalk outside, instead of a glossy poster.
tell me about it. we lasted about 2 minutes outside of HSBC...
ReplyDeleteWay to go...Malaysia needs more daring people like you!
ReplyDeleteMay there be a greater following and more success to your efforts in the future!
terima kasih atas sokongan =D
ReplyDeletewe had a great turn out at the Jamming VAW session, and also for the Food Not Bombs Human Rights night.
we're not the only people doing stuff, there's tonnes of random acts of activism spurting up here and there in hidden corners. so yes, here's to more dreaming idiots and cheeky chalkers in our streets!
"...how did you figure that one out? seems fairly do-able and effective!"
ReplyDeleteShaggies are mysteriously knowledgeable in the ways of the world.
Ok lah. We vandalised many pavements during our teenage years in the land of kangaroos.
Shagadelica
i feel its kinda funny to see you girls put on your so called "women right" on the sidewalks..its like lowering your dignity and look barbaric..have you ever tell your children (if you have any) that chalking sidewalks is a way of a good citizen or human being?
ReplyDeletei dont think this is the right way to express yourself,..i think many of other women organization that support women right will accuse you girls for menconteng arang di muka mereka and all malaysian women.
{Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts} (Hajj 46)
apanya bodoh dan bangang pertubuhan kau orang nie.fatwa yang telah di keluarkan hanya untuk orang islam bukan orang kafir macam kau bodoh.kami tak suruh pun kauorg ikut fatwa yg kami keluarkan.bodoh,perkara senang pun tak bleh fikir. kami org islam memang tak akan ganggu kau orang agama lain,so janganlah ganggu kepentingan orang islam.jgn cabar kesabaran kami.memang kafir laknatlah kau org nie.bodoh...
ReplyDelete