Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic with (from left) siblings Tan Yi and Tan Kern, and Mohammad Shahrul Aiman Mohamed, in Penang. - PHOTO: ERNEST ZACHAREVIC
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): All the Tan siblings wanted was to get on a big red bicycle and have a bit of fun. Little did they know that they would be immortalised in an iconic mural in Penang, which became one of Malaysia’s best-known tourist attractions.
Tan Yi and her younger brother Tan Kern were the two children depicted in the Children On A Bicycle mural in Lebuh Armenian, painted by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic in 2012.
At that time, they were five and three years old, respectively.
Twelve years later, on Oct 19, they were reunited with Zacharevic after the artist finished the restoration of the mural, together with three other pieces of wall art.
Also present at the reunion in Penang was Mohammad Shahrul Aiman Mohamed, 23, who was the source of inspiration for another of Zacharevic’s famous murals, Boy On A Bike.
Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic with siblings Tan Yi (left) and Tan Kern at the Children On A Bicycle mural, which depicts them when they were children. - PHOTO: ERNEST ZACHAREVIC
The Tan siblings and Mohammad Shahrul were all born and bred in the northern Malaysian state.
Tan Yi, now 17 and a Form 5 student (equivalent to Singapore’s Secondary 5), told The Straits Times on the phone that she and her brother had accompanied their parents one Sunday afternoon in 2012 on an outing with a group of urban sketchers to the Goddess of Mercy temple in Penang.
Zacharevic, who was part of the group, had taken along a red bicycle.
The children took a liking to the adult-sized bike, and although it was too big for them, that did not stop them from clambering onto it.
“We saw the bicycle and thought it was fun to climb onto it. I vaguely remember thinking how we could ride it, and whether we could go fast on it. We were playing and laughing,” Tan Yi said.
Tan Kern, now 15, said that Zacharevic went on to take a picture of them, which became the source of the famous mural. “It was a candid shot,” the teenager added.
In both the picture and the mural, Tan Kern is riding pillion and hugging his sister tightly, his eyes closed and his mouth open in excitement, while a smiling Tan Yi’s legs dangle above the pedals.
The siblings’ father, Adrian Tan, said Zacharevic told him he wanted to paint the children as part of his series of murals on the streets of Penang.
“I said ‘why not’. It resonates with all of us – this pure innocence, which is why the mural is so popular with people,” Tan said.
Tan Yi said most of their family and friends are aware that they are the children in the mural.
“My friends do talk about it sometimes and they’ll say ‘this is the bicycle girl’, or they’ll want to take pictures with me and the mural,” she said.
Over the years, Mohammad Shahrul has taken friends and tourists to the mural to show them that he was the boy in it. - PHOTO: MOHAMMAD SHAHRUL AIMAN MOHAMED
Mohammad Shahrul was 11 and learning to play with a yo-yo outside his house when he unexpectedly became Zacharevic’s source for the Boy On A Bike mural.
“There was a motorbike next to the wall on the street. I put on the helmet, got on the bike and he took a picture,” he told ST.
“I was very excited to see myself in the mural,” said Mr Mohammad Shahrul, who now ferries tourists around Penang on a trishaw.
His parents initially did not believe he was featured in the mural, but his elder brother met Zacharevic to get confirmation.
“I never expected the mural to become so famous,” he said, adding that he was heartened to see the pieces of wall art – which had faded over the years – being restored.
Over the years, Mohammad Shahrul has taken friends and tourists to the mural to show them that he was the boy in the artwork.
“They’ll get excited and want to take my picture with the mural. Some told me that my face remains the same, and there are those who will buy souvenirs and ask me to sign on the items,” he added. - The Straits Times/ANN
