SOME 60 paintings by children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and other disabilities and guest artists were showcased at Menara Maybank’s Balai Seni in conjunction with Maybank’s charity art exhibition.
The event was aimed at creating awareness about SMA amongst the public as well as raise funds for the patients in support of WeCareJourney in its efforts to champion the SMA awareness cause.
The charity art exhibition was officially launched by Maybank’s Group General Counsel & Company Secretary Wan Marzimin Wan Muhammad and Maybank Foundation CEO Shahril Azuar Jimin.
Speaking at the event, Wan Marzimin said that awareness of SMA in Malaysia is still low and Maybank together with its partner, WeCareJourney, embarked on an initiative to educate the public on the difficulties arising from this disability faced by those affected as well as their families.
“Among the key objectives of this art exhibition is to educate the public on SMA being the number one genetic disease leading to deaths among infants as it can affect their ability to move, walk, eat or breathe without assistance.
We also want to raise funds to purchase equipments such as powered wheelchairs, standing frames and ‘coughing machines’ for those affected by SMA,” Wan Marzimin added.
Besides artworks of special children, three well-known guest artists namely Yusof Gajah, Jane Yap and Nicholas Choong also displayed a total of nine art pieces which were created to represent the experience of a person living with SMA.
Visitors were also given the opportunity to join in a few ‘interactive’ activity sessions like moving about in a wheelchair while viewing the paintings (depicting mobility problems), painting using a brush with a dumbbell attached to it (depicting weak muscles) and blow painting with straws (depicting breathing difficulties).
“By organising these types of events, we hope to get the message out and reach out to other families who may have members affected by SMA especially from the East Malaysia region, where we do not have any records,” said Wan Marzimin.
