Overcomers in Malacca

Once upon a time, in the late 70s, God brought a bunch of teenagers from Petaling Jaya together. They became known as the Overcomers, and carried their ministry far and wide.

As the years passed, they grew up, many got married (some within the group), got jobs, got children... and a fair number kept in touch somehow.

Then on 13 August last year, Uncle Mark and Aunty Boon Kee hosted a reunion for the group in their USJ home. For the first time in many years, many in the group came together under one roof, and were reunited with their mentor from thirty years ago, Pastor Philip Sung.

And then it started. Again.

Old songs were fished out, old photos resurfaced, old memories recollected... some professed a need for more ginkgo. And plans were slowly hatched for a full-scale ministry trip to Malacca, present home and base of Pastor Philip.

Thirty years in the making.

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So where do I come in? Well, I happen to be one of the people represented in this group:


The children of the Overcomers (not all are in the picture).

Destined from birth to be a part of this incredible network, we were supposed to follow our parents to Malacca, as the ministry trip was also to be a family trip.

So we did; what choice had we? *wink*

But then it was later revealed that we weren't to just tag along, but had to prepare a performance for the congregation at Pastor Philip's Bethel Church.

After some eighty-odd exchanges via e-mail, we staged the surprise of a lifetime (okay-lah, our lifetime!) for our parents. And the rest is basically history.

Along the way, I realised we glorify God when we do what we do to the best of our abilities. Above all, I learnt that life is like a jam session of mistakes and learning; and I guess this is part of the legacy. After all, let's face it: our parents would have never called life a 'jam session'! ;-)

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I won't comment much on the pictures that follow, but there are two things I'd like to clarify, mostly for Zhen Yan and Melissa. I did not use Photoshop (to be honest, I don't know how!), but I did edit the pictures in terms of brightness and contrast. And as is evident, I played with colours a LOT, using another software.

A photographer once remarked that Photoshop (or any digital editing for that matter) should only be used to enhance an image and do what is beyond the scope of the camera, and not to cover up mistakes.

So my approach in the photos I did take (I didn't take all) was certainly not, "Never mind about this mistake lah, can Photoshop."



What is Malacca without dodol?


If only trees in our rainforests could bear these signboards.


Jumping into a rooftop jacuzzi under an orange sky.


Bryan looking very intense in the shower area.


A somewhat illuminated and angelic shot of Zhen Yan. This was taken either by Kevin or Zhen Quan.


One of the most difficult shots on the trip. Lighting was terrible on the beach; after all, a floodlit beach defeats the whole purpose of romantic evenings by the sea. So I had to use long exposure (I think about two seconds).


This is what Eunice, Melissa and Zhen Yan would look like on negative, if I'd used a film camera.


Experimenting on a trishaw-like cart with inverted colours and increased contrast.


The Overcomers... and families!

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Lessons learnt from mamak:

Zhen Yan: "Real men wear pink."
Ben: "And real men drink pink."