Ibrahim Hussein was the resident artist at UM when he painted ‘May 13’, a mixed media work, in response to the Riots of 1969. Both the Police and UM authorities were against the work being shown publicly. Ibrahim appealed to then Prime Minister Tun Razak. A van under police escort brought the work to the PM’s office. There, the artist explained the rationale and meaning of the work, which included a Malaysian flag, painted over in black, to the Prime Minister. The PM approved the display of the piece, but extracted a promise from the artist to never allow the work to leave the country.