Can you imagine about 150 “bears” standing together hand in hand? It’s the kind of scene that warms hearts and endears them to whoever who sees them. And that’s precisely what Eva Herlitz wants to do. The United Buddy Bears were conceived by her to promote peace and international understanding while at the same time raising funds to aid children’s relief organizations in every country they visit. Herlitz came up with the idea after witnessing the New York Cow Parade where painted cows raised USD1.3 million for charities in New York.

Kuala Lumpur is the 23rd stop of the world tour for the 147 life-size painted bears drawn from 143 countries during the tour that originated from Berlin in 2002. Since then, more than 25 million visitors worldwide have seen them and over 1.8 million Euros collected in donations to children’s charities.

The Malaysian Buddy Bear at Pavilion Shopping Centre

Measuring 2m tall each, the bears represent countries recognised by the United Nations. Each Buddy Bear is painted individually by a selected artist from each country and the design represents the country’s culture, history, traditions and characteristics but not its political systems.

For the Malaysian leg, a total of 147 Buddy Bears descended recently onto Kuala Lumpur’s Pavilion Shopping Centre which quickly became the centre of attention for both locals and tourists.

Malaysian Buddy Bear
During the launch ceremony, the Malaysian Buddy Bear was unveiled for the first time. The lucky artist picked for this mission was renowned artist Imuda who said the Malaysian Bear is all about 1 Malaysia. Imuda’s design features elements of the main races, culture, flora and fauna as well as famous landmarks in Malaysia. It will join the other bears on their globe-trotting mission after the current exhibition ends here on February 15th 2012.

United Buddy Bears Tour Malaysian Organizing Committee

Launching the event was Dato’ Haji Zafer Hashim, President and Group Managing Director of Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad while those present included Yang Amat Dihormati Tan Sri Syed Yusof Tun Syed Nasir, Organizing Chairman of United Buddy Bears World Tour in Malaysia; Dr. Klaus Herlitz, Initiator of United Buddy Bears World Tour; Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Ahmed Fuad Ismail, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur; and Yang Berbahagia Datuk Dr. Victor Wee, Chairman of Tourism Malaysia.

Dr Klaus Herlitz Initiator of Buddy Bears Tour and Imuda in front of the Malaysian Bear

Four additional special bears were also part of the sloth (group of bears). They are The Golden Rule Bear symbolizing “Treat others as you would want to be treated”; The Global Ethic Bear symbolizing ‘No co-existence on our globe without a global ethic”; The Einstein Bear symbolizing “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding” and Respect for All Life Bear symbolizing “The greatness and the moral progress of a society can be measured with how it treats its animals.”

Don’t miss the chance to catch a glimpse of the world famous Buddy Bears at Pavilion Shopping Centre before Feb 15th.