Although Malaysia is plagued by religious reactionaries (just like my own country) — who, if they had their way, would ban such wonderful things as tomboys and horror movies — the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is home to a strong and vibrant secular culture, as shown by the lively street art I saw during my wanderings.
According to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, graffiti is an "alien culture [that] will negate all the efforts of beautifying our cities and towns" (ref). But for me at least, KL's street art was a bright spot in a city more sorely in need of litter cleanup and sidewalk repair than graffiti removal.
BTW, the stencil piece above refers to the Defence Services Asia exhibition, one of the world's top military supermarkets, held in Kuala Lumpur every two years.
Finally, let me leave you with this news story about KL street art that I found on YouTube:
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