Ways to beautify Saipan

At the times when Mr. Felix Camacho was governor of Guam, they had the problem of young students vandalizing buildings, walls, installations, constructions, bus stops, etc. These illegal activities gained such a huge scale and caused irritations and extra expenditures to restore damaged and graffiti-painted objects. The governor had to take action and Organics Law came into being. This law would involve parents, students themselves, and teachers to fight back the violations and stimulate conceptually approved street paintings.

The laws created a positive attitude to those who want to express their visions on the walls, bridges, and pavements and so on. Schools would promote their best painters to graffiti competitions. At Dededo Village, in the presence of officials, specialists, friends, art lovers, the competitors were given time and painting space. Talented ones got a real chance to perform their best, earn a valuable prize, and get people and specialists recognition and perspectives to grow as professionals. Since then, Dededo Village got one more attraction for locals ad visitors.

We like this kind of win-win solutions! The law has proved effective enough to have the wild form of problem dissipated in the long run. Youth’s talents got realized and one of the villages got more attractive.

Here on Saipan, when passing the intersection by the San Vicente Church and the Guangdong Hardware store, one can see the nice fence drawing. Flowers are drawn artfully and capture the attention. High art remains high even in drawing everyday and everywhere things like flowers our islands are so rich of. Our youth can do more. For example, the long fence of the CUC building near Joeten Housing might be decorated with meaningful and bold graffiti.

Our leaders and street-art enthusiasts could work hand in hand and organize more competitive drawings of our buildings, walls, fences, and everything surrounding us and catch our attention. It might be our history and cultural heritage paintings expressed in specific graffiti techniques. Our best people’s merits could be recognized this original way. Our best students, teachers, singers would get public respect as well. It might be temporary advertisements of goods and services and money shall come.

Why not see our leaders, poets, and scientists’ best thoughts painted on objects surrounding us? Seeing them and reflecting upon them everyday and many times, we would sharpen our mind and blood, get inspired by them and serve others better. This way, we could interact more harmoniously toward better living and better serving each other.

When you pass by the abandoned houses near to Garapan Elementary School, You can see nonsense graffiti. They just offend our eyes! It would be much better to channel the youth graffiti efforts based on a wisely elaborated conception by architects and other specialists on improving the image of our islands.

If beautifying concepts are realized as common-sense designs, the future generation (now just going to kindergarten or elementary) would learn a lot from good graffiti. They would grow with much respect for the arts and oriented to being wise and tolerant people.

We call upon our student and the community to support Mayor Apatang’s beautification efforts. Your everyday attention and care of those rows of flowers located at the intersections would improve Saipan’s landscape even more. For our dear tourists, well-cared for flower beds would also give a nice impression.

Teddy Guaio
Aging Center