A female tourist from China recently came under fire after painting her own artwork over an existing street mural at Chew Jetty in Penang.

According to reports, the tourist, identified as Shen Shishi, painted a panda over a mural titled Girl on Scooter by a local artist. The incident was recorded and uploaded to Xiaohongshu.

The video quickly garnered attention from Malaysians, who slammed her actions as an act of vandalism since she was not authorized to do so.

@mohdnursalim1 seorang pelancong china telah menconteng mural di atas jetty cheng penang.. #penang #malaysia #fyp ♬ original sound - EasyEasyMarket

She was actually invited by the mural artist

However, it turns out Shishi did have permission to paint over the existing mural.

Image Credit: Sin Chew Daily

Sin Chew Daily reported that the mural’s original artist had personally invited Shishi to paint the panda over his artwork.

The artist, Zhou Huaxing, said he had seen Shishi’s artwork on social media and found it creative. So, he personally invited her to add her touch of creativity to his mural.

Zhou has since called on Malaysians to stop criticising Shishi, adding that the entire situation was just a misunderstanding.

Featured Image Credit: Xiaohongshu