by CHIN JIAN WEI
RIUH! Merdeka took place over the weekend of August 30 to August 31 in Tapak Parkir Monumen Alaf Baru, Putrajaya. As usual for RIUH festivals, it boasted a large turnout of happy festivalgoers enjoying the live music and sampling the diverse array of food and fashion vendors. In conjunction with Merdeka month, four artists were engaged to craft a special collection of stickers that celebrate our country and its unique culture. Here are the artists and their work in all their glory!
Mantzu
How would you describe your art style? What type of art do you normally create?
Playful, colourful, bold, nostalgic and also, character-driven. My characters and art normally feature summer and small-town vibes. I like drawing expressive illustrations that blend traditional elements with modern pop illustrations. At the same time, it’s also my way of storytelling; warm, approachable characters that invite people into their world.
What is it about the stickers you’ve designed that you think captures the essence of Malaysia?
For me, Malaysia’s essence is in the little shared moments, like having picnics with friends of different races, kids playing outdoors on weekends, or simply chilling together. It’s also the pride we show when we display the Malaysian flag, whether on our cars or in our hands. And of course, food like nasi lemak is at the heart of our culture; it instantly brings people together. In the stickers, all these elements are captured along with icons like the hornbill and hibiscus, as well as the joy of festive moments.
What influences or references shaped the stickers?
Japanese pop art and culture are a strong influence. I have also always loved Japanese folklore, like yokai.
What was the process of designing the stickers like?
It began with brainstorming about all the things I feel are truly Malaysian. I drew my inspiration from the key visual that I designed for RIUH! Merdeka, especially the setting of Putrajaya. That’s why there are elements of picnics, stage performances, and kids having fun. I chose bright and cheerful colours to highlight the festive mood. The process felt like curating small but meaningful pieces of Malaysia.
What does Malaysia mean to you?
Home. It is the warmth of our people, the richness of our diversity, and the way food and everyday experiences bring us together. It is the pride we feel in our identity, whether through culture, tradition, or daily life. Malaysia is a place where our differences become strength, and joy is found easily in little things. I think that’s the coolest thing about being Malaysian.
Instagram: mantzu._
Baihaqi Ismail
How would you describe your art style? What type of art do you normally create?
I prefer to express myself more in the storytelling aspect of my art. Most of my art has backstories. I prefer to use vibrant colours and a little bit of halftone shading.
What is it about the stickers you’ve designed that you think captures the essence of Malaysia?
I tried to play around with things that represent Malaysia from my point of view. The typical things like durian and nasi lemak but I tried to implement some storytelling as well: nasi lemak is the most beloved food of Malaysia, and my nasi lemak has a very “love yourself” vibe. “If I love myself, everyone can love me as I am.” Also, the colours of the Malaysian flag: red, blue, yellow, and white; I tried to implement that in my sticker design too.
What influences or references shaped the stickers?
Unity is something that represents Malaysia. If you’ve noticed, the background of my stickers shows kopitiam tiles, which is a place where everyone can gather together and talk about this and that. The individual stickers, too, have things that everyone can relate to, regardless of their race.
What was the process of designing the stickers like?
First, I did some research on the things that can represent Malaysia. Then, I tried to play around with the concepts. From there, I sketched and illustrated and played with digital drawings. The colouring and the shadows were the last part of the process.
What does Malaysia mean to you?
Unity. That is what I tried to reflect on as I designed my stickers.
Instagram: baihaqismail
Nelson Lip
How would you describe your art style? What type of art do you normally create?
I like to use vectors to draw. I create a lot of children’s storybooks because I think it’s the easiest way to tell a story with some simple shapes. I’ve published 10 books, locally and overseas.
What is it about the stickers you’ve designed that you think captures the essence of Malaysia?
I used blue, red and yellow as primary colours, which also represent the colours of our national flag. I’m from Sabah, so I wanted to introduce elements from Sabah as well. That’s why I drew elements like the hornbill and rafflesia.
What influences or references shaped the stickers?
I really like the shape of the postage stamp. My stickers look like stamps, but they are actually stickers.
What was the process of designing the stickers like?
I spent half a day brainstorming with my friends, talking about what ideas would be cool. I just wrote down the taglines I wanted to include on my stickers, for example, the rafflesia, with its caption of “bloom at the right time”. The rafflesia takes months to grow but only blooms for three days.
What does Malaysia mean to you?
I think Malaysia is a very special country where we can live together with multiple cultures. Whenever I travel, I always feel proud to introduce where I’m from. When I see what’s happening in other countries, I feel really blessed. We have peace, clean water. I’m so grateful to be home.
Instagram: nelsonlip
Veshalini Naidu
How would you describe your art style? What type of art do you normally create?
I’m a multidisciplinary artist. I started with theatre, moved to poetry and spoken words, but I was trained to do illustration for video game design. Through that education, I learned traditional and digital painting. I’d say that all these things inform my commercial work. I do all kinds of styles, whatever clients need.
What is it about the stickers you’ve designed that you think captures the essence of Malaysia?
I wanted to subvert the usual things like food and traditional wear. Hence the flora. It’s specifically endemic flora.
What influences or references shaped the stickers?
I’m influenced by a lot of black and indigenous traditions. They inform so much of our aesthetics. This relationship to the natural world and it being a part of storytelling and visual documentation in so many cultures. This is the land that we are on, and this is the land that these plants thrive in. I also want to name all the work that indigenous activists, black activists and Malaysian Indian activists have done that put me here and allowed me to be an artist.
This crop of diverse artists has managed to come together to offer a variety of different stickers that cater to all kinds of people. It is a testament to the diversity of Malaysia that all these art styles manage to capture different aspects of our diverse country. Here’s looking forward to more from these talented artists!
What was the process of designing the stickers like?
I got all these books about local plants, whatever I could find from Popular and MPH. I just spent the first week looking through each page and searching for the word “endemic”. Based on what I could shortlist within my own books; I tried to research more online. It was a lot of poring over all kinds of papers, going through the indexes. It was not bad; it was kind of fun. I hyper-fixated on this project, so it was easy to do.
Once I had photos of the plants, I had a clear visual aesthetic that I wanted to approach. I wanted it to be pop art and loud. I also made sure to choose plants that looked interesting.
What does Malaysia mean to you?
I am a settler on this land, even with all my historical identity of being here. My responsibility for this land is to do everything I can to make sure it goes back to its original stewards.
Instagram: veshanaidu
This crop of diverse artists has managed to come together to offer a variety of different stickers that cater to all kinds of people. It is a testament to the diversity of Malaysia that all these art styles manage to capture different aspects of our diverse country. Here’s looking forward to more from these talented artists!
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