Bosch promotes artistic road safety message

08 July 2017
Bosch promotes artistic road safety message
Working to improve road safety.​ Photo: Bosch Myanmar via Facebook

Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, has launched a creative initiative titled ‘Beauty Beneath’ to underscore its commitment to vehicle and road safety in Myanmar.
In collaboration with Myanmar’s leading contemporary artist Arker Kyaw, Bosch transformed an old building wall on Bayint Naung Road in Yangon’s Mayangone Township into an urban street mural that features a road safety message. 
“Road and traffic safety is a topic that affects each and every one of us in our daily lives. Each year, millions of people lose their lives or suffer from injuries. As a supplier of mobility solutions, Bosch can contribute to increase road safety and help make a difference by providing the right technology to equip vehicles with modern safety systems,” said Andre de Jong, Managing Director of Bosch in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. “With the ‘Beauty Beneath’ initiative, we seek to creatively intensify advocacy for vehicle and road safety, while supporting local artistic talent to gentrify a local neighborhood,” de Jong added. 
The ‘Beauty Beneath’ initiative is a part of Bosch’s ongoing “We Help Make A Difference” campaign in Southeast Asia.
Arker Kyaw revealed the beauty hidden underneath the timeworn and blackened building wall using a high-pressure power washer of Bosch’s Power Tools segment. It achieves efficient cleaning results with high flow rates and high pressure. 
At 120 x 60 feet, the wall is a highly visible space located in a heavily congested and high traffic part of Yangon. The art features a stencil of school children crossing the road, and a road safety message written in Myanmar urging motorists to stay focused on the road.
“Be it a canvas or a wall, it’s a medium for artists like myself to express ourselves. I am glad that ‘Beauty Beneath’ has enabled me to help deliver such an important message about the need for vehicle and road safety to the people of Myanmar, and I hope that it will be well received,” said Kyaw, whose works have been displayed internationally in Thailand and Indonesia. He studied Fine Arts at the National University of Arts and Culture in Yangon. As an artist, he has been leading the local street art and graffiti movement through a number of notable projects, including a 2012 mural of former U.S. President, Barack Obama and a 2013 mural of then-Myanmar President, U TheinSein. Earlier this year, Kyaw co-founded “No. 2 Art Area”, an art compound for street artists in Yangon.
‘Beauty Beneath’ is not the first time that Bosch has woven street art into its activities to promote road safety: In 2014, the leading provider of mobility solutions painted a 150-metre wall along Kabar Aye Pagoda Road in Yangon with road safety messages. 
Bosch says it is committed to help save lives by keeping roads safer.
According to the Myanmar Organization for Road Safety, Myanmar has the fourth highest death toll of road accidents in Southeast Asia. Last year alone, there were more than 16,000 accidents in the country. Statistics also showed that in 2016, roughly 13 people perished in road accidents every day in Myanmar. Meanwhile, the total cost of damages in the first quarter of 2017 averaged at 11.6 million kyat per day. This has brought road safety to the forefront, garnering multi-sectoral action in the country in recent years. 
“Bosch is strongly committed to our presence in Myanmar, and we have made the advancement of vehicle safety standards one of our key advocacies in Myanmar. We aim to work closely with the relevant parties to share our knowledge and expertise towards creating a higher level of awareness on the critical need for vehicle and road safety,” said de Jong.  
Bosch has been working on technological advancements with the vision of accident-free driving since 1978. The company invented the world’s first antilock braking system (ABS) for passenger cars, which is now a globally commonplace technology that prevents a car’s wheels from locking during an emergency braking scenario. This innovation allows the driver to maintain steering control and in most situations, shortens the braking distance without skidding. In 1995, Bosch improved the technology by developing the world’s first electronic stability program (also known as ESP or ESC), which is today equipped in 64 percent of all new cars worldwide.
In Myanmar, Bosch is presently helping to keep the country’s roads safer by upholding high vehicle safety standards with its automotive aftermarket range of products and solutions, including authorized repair workshops under the Bosch Car Service brand.