More Than Paint on a Wall

Back in December 2025, I received a text from Prof. Cheng, who taught me during my Master’s studies back in 2014. He asked whether the Kulliyyah of Medicine, IIUM would be interested in participating in the MyMural project, similar to one he had organised many years ago.

My first instinct was not excitement. It was, “How are we going to do this?”

Painting a mural sounded like a massive undertaking. There were permissions to obtain, budgets to prepare, artists to find, and a very large wall waiting at the end of it all. I had never directed a mural project before, and it honestly felt much bigger than something I could manage. Still, after receiving encouraging replies from our Kulliyyah administration, I decided that perhaps not knowing everything at the beginning was not a reason to say no.

So we took the first step. I approached a few Year 2 medical students whom I knew enjoyed art. Rai, Syaza, Ajie, Tasha and Busyra immediately volunteered. Interestingly, only Syaza had previous experience painting a mural during her school days. The rest of us were much more familiar with sketchbooks, watercolours, or digital art than painting on an actual wall.

We were all beginners in one way or another. Our original plan was to paint the wall at the student lounge on Level 4. We visited the site, measured the space, and started imagining possibilities. Ironically, none of the students had ever been there before. To be honest, although I knew the lounge existed, it was my first visit too.

Before we could begin, plans changed. The student lounge was relocated to Level 2, and suddenly our canvas changed as well. After discussions with Dr. Aszrin and valuable suggestions from Dr. Mai, we settled on the wall outside Lecture Hall 2. It was a much more prominent location, visible to almost everyone passing through the corridors to reach the department office, the labs, the lecturer’s rooms and the lecture halls.

It was also much, much larger measuring 10.7 m (length) x 2.6 m (height). I remember wondering whether we could really finish such a huge mural within a few months.

The students’ response was simple.“ We’ll give it a try, Dr.” That sentence carried us through the project.

Funding turned out to be another lesson in itself. Since the project had not been included in the original Kulliyyah budget, securing it was unlikely. We explored other possibilities before finally applying to the department’s trust fund.

Preparing the proposal became another learning experience. The students carefully listed every material we might need, compared prices, planned our expenses, and kept the budget below RM500. Alhamdulillah, the proposal was approved very quickly. In the end, we hardly touched the allocated fund. We managed with leftover petty cash from a previous Physiology activity, donated materials, and a little generosity along the way. Perhaps growth also means learning to make the best of what we already have.

The theme given by Prof. Cheng was “Homeostatic Harmony.” As lecturers, we naturally wanted the mural to be more than decorative. We wanted students to pause, look a little longer, and perhaps recognise some physiology hidden within the artwork.

There was brainstorming session with Dr. Roslina and Dr. Azril, plenty of online inspiration, and yes, even conversations with ChatGPT and Gemini. We explored countless concepts, from the human body at the centre, to seasonal themes, to different visual metaphors, before finally settling on a design that told a story while remaining educational.

Watching the students work together was probably my favourite part of the entire project. Each person naturally found her own strength. Syaza developed much of the background and landscape. Busyra and Tasha brought the characters to life. Rai and Ajie focused on ensuring the physiology concepts were accurate. Dr. Maizura and I reviewed the designs repeatedly until everyone was happy with the final composition.

Then came the question everyone asked, “How do you transfer a digital drawing onto a giant wall?” The answer was surprisingly simple.

A projector.

Instead of drawing complicated grids across the wall, the students projected the artwork directly onto the surface, preserving the proportions perfectly before painting began. Problem solved.

Painting itself became a journey. Many evenings stretched late into the night. During Ramadan, the students often returned after tarawih prayers to continue painting. Progress sometimes felt slow, but every session added another layer, another colour, another piece of the story

Eventually, just after Hari Raya, the mural was complete. Watching the students sign their names on the wall was one of those quiet moments that made every challenge worthwhile. The mural no longer belonged to an idea. It belonged to them. Tasha wrote a short description for the submission, but elegant.

From dawn to dusk, the body flows,
Sleep awakens, energy grows.
Breath and blood in rhythm run,
Kidneys cleanse what’s left undone.
Calm and chaos live as one,
In balance, health and life align.

We celebrated over lunch afterwards, although Syaza could not join us as she was recovering from a severe migraine. Every project has moments of joy mixed with moments of sacrifice, and perhaps that is what makes the memories meaningful.

A few weeks later, we received wonderful news that our mural had been selected as the first-place winner of the MyMural competition. It was a pleasant surprise, especially knowing that many institutions had found it difficult to even begin such a project because of the permissions involved.

The most precious thing we really gained is not the prize or pride. It would be the growth.

Growth in saying yes before feeling ready.

Growth in solving problems we had never encountered before.

Growth in discovering that a group of medical students could spend their evenings discussing paint colours with the same enthusiasm they discuss physiology.

Growth in learning that creativity and science are not opposites, but companions.

Most of all, growth in realising that stepping outside our comfort zone often leads us somewhere we never expected to go.

This project would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the Kulliyyah administration for embracing the idea, the department for believing in the project from the very beginning, and all our physiology lecturers who generously shared their ideas, guidance and encouragement throughout the journey.

Our deepest appreciation, however, goes to our student artists, Rai, Syaza, Ajie, Tasha and Busyra. Thank you for being brave enough to make the very first brushstroke.

To everyone who walks past the mural outside Lecture Hall 2, I hope you see more than colours on a wall. I hope you see what can happen when ordinary people decide to take one small step into unfamiliar territory.

Sometimes, growth begins with nothing more than saying, “Let’s give it a try.”

Written by,
Asst. Prof. Dr. Wan Fatein Nabeila Wan Omar
Programme director, Physiology Mural at Level 2 Kulliyyah of Medicine, IIUM