Painting the world to unite young people
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CMYK CMYK CMYK CMYK W HO would’ve thought that something simple like friendship could spark and touch so many lives all over the world! By now, I’m sure the name ‘Paint the World’ is slowly becom- ing well-known in Sarawak. The Paint the World (PTW) movement started out in the country of Georgia by Lika Torikashvili with the idea unite the young people in Georgia and help those in need. The idea was then passed on to Aziza Aznizan when the two met in college. PTW is not tied by borders, nei- ther is it specifically for a certain group of people. Aziza believes that this movement can be taken to a worldwide level, with a little New Year miracle. Paint the World has been spread to France, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia, Georgia and now Oman. “In every country, you can see different types of society, different culture and language altogether, but one thing that is the same, is the appreciation of peace and love,” Aziza explained. “This time last year, Jan 2015, I head out to start Paint The World Malaysia with 7 friends.” Since Aziza was still a stu- dent, she trustfully handed over the reigns to her friends as she returned to UK for her studies. Even without her, the movement grew and spread across Malaysia. Over a thousand volunteers – who called themselves ‘painters’ – joined the movement. Among the most recent activi- ties done by this movement was the spreading joy during the Christmas season last December. Fifteen painters went from house-to-house to perform Christmas songs for the neighbour- hood of Miri to promote peace and Christmas joy. A Christmas showcase was also done in Bintang Megamall, Miri which showcased talented Mirians. Only 4 days into the new year, Aziza headed out with 4 friends to spread the movement into the Middle East by starting out Paint The World (PTW) Oman. Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country in the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the nation is bor- dered by the United Arab Emirates to the north-west, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the south- west, and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the south-east and the Gulf of Oman on the north-east. “Although no one speaks English, just Arabic, it is not hard to send the same message and making these kids smile. The feeling is still the same when you know that someone is smiling because of you,” Aziza shared her experience in Oman. Being a conservative coun- try, Aziza also shared that it was harder to bring about the move- ment in Oman compared to Malaysia. “The youths in Oman are well- taken care of and adults seem to do everything. PTW is different in a sense because it encourages teens to do things themselves and also think for themselves,” she explained. Even so, Aziza was not discouraged. For Adam Riyami, the president of PTW Oman, he was intrigued by PTW because of the cause behind this movement. “PTW is a brilliant way of spreading unity and encouraging the youth to give back to the less fortunate. It is a huge change for me to participate in these type of events given that in Oman, it’s very hard to start anything without the government (adults) agreeing which is a huge process. But over- all I’d like to continue giving back to the world and spreading the message and I feel like PTW gave me that encouragement,” Adam said. He also added that despite the cultural reservation, it will not be that difficult to rope his friends into this movement because each of them understand the reason and point of these events, so they would always prefer to help out and participate rather than being complacent. For their very first event, PTW Oman visited the children in Oman’s Cancer Association. With home-made cupcakes and bal- loons in hand, they spent their day with the chil- dren. Despite being of a differ- ent national- ity, Aziza shared that kindness has no borders and wherever we are in the world, humans are still humans, thus she felt that every- one is like family. “I made many new Arab friends and even a famous Omani icon, Mayya Al-Said who is a blogger, YouTuber, and Instagrammer who will attend PTW Malaysia concert 2.0 on Aug 6 in Miri along with painters from Oman. This is just the beginning of Oman-Malaysian fusion!” Besides the concert in August, Paint The World will have a fes- tival this month on Jan 23 and 24 at CityOne Exhibition Centre where local artists, YouTubers such as Nanasheme, Viners such as Aiman Afiff, DJ’s from famous local radio stations along with CQ Music singers will perform! This event is organised by youth of Kuching from Technology College Sarawak, lead by Nazreen Hussain. For more information about this movement, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook. com/painttheworldmalaysia. HIGHLIGHTS FRIDAY JANUARY 8, 2016 BY GUINEVERE A. PAKAR A culinary transformation in Detroit T3 Painting the world to unite young people AZIZA handing out cupcakes to one of the children in Oman’s Cancer Association. AZIZA Aznizan (centre) with Yousuf AlSalmi (left) and Omar Alismaili, two Omani students from her college who helped organise and started Paint The World Oman. ADAM Riyami with the children reading English storybooks. ONE of the Omani children playing happily with the balloons.
Transcript of Painting the world to unite young people
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WHO would’ve thought that something simple like friendship could spark and
touch so many lives all over the world! By now, I’m sure the name ‘Paint the World’ is slowly becom-ing well-known in Sarawak.
The Paint the World (PTW) movement started out in the country of Georgia by Lika Torikashvili with the idea unite the young people in Georgia and help those in need. The idea was then passed on to Aziza Aznizan when the two met in college.
PTW is not tied by borders, nei-ther is it specifically for a certain group of people. Aziza believes that this movement can be taken to a worldwide level, with a little New Year miracle. Paint the World has been spread to France, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia, Georgia and now Oman.
“In every country, you can see different types of society, different culture and language altogether, but one thing that is the same, is the appreciation of peace and love,” Aziza explained. “This time last year, Jan 2015, I head out to start Paint The World Malaysia with 7 friends.”
Since Aziza was still a stu-dent, she trustfully handed over the reigns to her friends as she returned to UK for her studies. Even without her, the movement grew and spread across Malaysia. Over a thousand volunteers – who called themselves ‘painters’ – joined the movement.
Among the most recent activi-ties done by this movement was the spreading joy during the Christmas season last December. Fifteen painters went from house-to-house to perform Christmas songs for the neighbour-hood of Miri to promote peace and Christmas joy. A Christmas showcase was also done in Bintang Megamall, Miri which showcased talented Mirians.
Only 4 days into the new year, Aziza headed
out with 4 friends to spread the movement into the Middle East by starting out Paint The World (PTW) Oman. Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country in the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding
a strategically important position at the
mouth of the Persian Gulf,
the nation is bor-
dered by the
United Arab Emirates to the north-west, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the south-west, and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the south-east and the Gulf of Oman on the north-east.
“Although no one speaks English, just Arabic, it is not hard
to send the same message and making these kids smile. The feeling is still the same when you know that someone is smiling because of you,” Aziza shared her experience in Oman.
Being a conservative coun-try, Aziza also shared that it was harder to bring about the move-ment in Oman compared to Malaysia.
“The youths in Oman are well-taken care of and adults seem to do everything. PTW is different in a sense because it
encourages teens to do things themselves and also think for themselves,” she explained. Even so, Aziza was not discouraged.
For Adam Riyami, the president of PTW Oman, he was intrigued by PTW because of the cause behind this movement.
“PTW is a brilliant way of spreading unity and encouraging the youth to give back to the less fortunate. It is a huge change for me to participate in these type of events given that in Oman, it’s very hard to start anything without the government (adults) agreeing which is a huge process. But over-all I’d like to continue giving back to the world and spreading the message and I feel like PTW gave me that encouragement,” Adam said.
He also added that despite the cultural reservation, it will not be that difficult to rope his friends into this movement because each of them understand the reason and point of these events, so they
would always prefer to help out and participate rather than
being complacent.For their very first
event, PTW Oman visited the children in Oman’s Cancer Association. With home-made cupcakes and bal-loons in hand,
they spent their day with the chil-dren. Despite being of a differ-
ent national-
ity, Aziza shared that kindness has no borders and wherever we are in the world, humans are still humans, thus she felt that every-one is like family.
“I made many new Arab friends and even a famous Omani icon, Mayya Al-Said who is a blogger, YouTuber, and Instagrammer who will attend PTW Malaysia concert 2.0 on Aug 6 in Miri along with painters from Oman. This is just the beginning of Oman-Malaysian fusion!”
Besides the concert in August, Paint The World will have a fes-tival this month on Jan 23 and 24 at CityOne Exhibition Centre where local artists, YouTubers such as Nanasheme, Viners such as Aiman Afiff, DJ’s from famous local radio stations along with CQ Music singers will perform! This event is organised by youth of Kuching from Technology College Sarawak, lead by Nazreen Hussain.
For more information about this movement, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/painttheworldmalaysia.
HIGHLIGHTS
FRIDAY JANUARY 8, 2016
BY GUINEVERE A. PAKAR
A culinary transformation in
Detroit T3
Painting the world to unite young people
AZIZA handing out cupcakes to one of the children in Oman’s Cancer Association.
AZIZA Aznizan (centre) with Yousuf AlSalmi (left) and Omar Alismaili, two Omani students from her college who helped organise and started Paint The World Oman.
ADAM Riyami with the children reading English storybooks.
ONE of the Omani children playing happily with the balloons.
