By Tim Binnall
A massive mural which celebrates an alleged 1937 stop in Malaysia by famed aviator Amelia Earhart is being called into question by historians who say that the pioneering pilot never even visited the country. The enormous painting (which can be seen below) measures a whopping 88 feet by 12 feet and can be found in the community of Taiping, where it was unveiled to the public back in 2019. At the time, the mural was the source of some controversy as many residents felt that the artwork was excessive considering that Earhart was said to have only stopped in the town to refuel her plane before resuming her attempt at flying around the globe.
Now, three years later, the painting is back in the cross hairs of critics who reportedly say that the entire tale is simply not true. Local historian Nor Hisham Zulkiflee raised the issue on social media last week and said that, contrary to what the inscription on the painting says, Earhart did not stop in Taiping in 1937 and, instead, had only requested permission to land there in the event that her plane needed to be refueled. However, Zulkiflee explained, the aviator opted to fly on ahead to Singapore rather than make a stop in Malaysia. Asserting that he had told the mural's creators this information at the time that it was being painted, he lamented that "our input was ignored."
With that in mind, Zulkiflee lambasted the mural for the egregious inaccuracy and declared that "historical facts must not be changed, as this is something the whole world will be reading about." In response to the controversy, local official Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi said that she would "ask the municipal council to check on the matter, and if there are indeed any contradicting facts, then steps must be taken to make things right." Presumably that would entail removing the inscription on the giant mural which would wind up becoming merely a monument to an urban legend that apparently never actually happened.