The Ikan Bandaraya Adventure

Jesus said to Simon, "There is nothing to fear. From now on you'll be fishing for men and women." They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him.

--Luke 5:10-11 (The Message)


It was the afternoon of Jia Hui's birthday. Who knew it would end up this way?

Rachel wrote quite a complete story on her blog. You can read it here.

before we started this getting lost journey, i prayed that we would walk into a violent street protest, meet prostitutes, gangsters, see a fire engine, watch a street poet graffiti at work and more........

but God had better things in store :)

God had better things in store indeed!


p.s. I threw the fish away today. They weren't gutted to begin with, so the salt wouldn't have been really effective in preserving them. Also I think this type of preservation requires heat (read: sunlight) and I don't dare attempt it in college; the monkeys might get ideas!

600: Entangled and Enthused

I think it’s fitting to mark the 600th entry on this blog with a reflection on my recent sabbatical from, and subsequent return to, photography.

* * * * *

During my break, I found myself immersed in several books on lighting and photography, borrowed from the library.

From Lee Frost’s The A-Z of Creative Photography I learnt to manipulate colour using coloured flash and long exposure times. And Gerald Millerson’s Lighting for Television and Film taught me a great deal about atmospheric lighting on set/location. Michael Langford’s Advanced Photography, however, proved a little too technical for my purposes!

* * * * *

Cast
Ai Wei
Amos
Evans
Rachel
Yen

Crew
Adrian
Ann Gie
Chian Ming
Jane
Zach

Props etc.
Ropes
Newspaper
Ketchup
Michael Jackson Live in Bucharest DVD
Black turtleneck
Black jacket
Giant torchlight
Car reflectors
IKEA Lamp (Global)
Rubber bands
Curtain lace
Ladies’ stockings
Face mirror
Large white bedsheet
Foil
Masking tape
Sony Ericsson K700i
Sony Ericsson K750i

(Some things weren’t used in the end, like the newspaper, ketchup, turtleneck, car reflectors, rubber bands and foil.)

Cost
Ropes (assorted thicknesses; total length 105 ft) RM 35.50
Giant torchlight (Eveready Dolphin) RM 40.00
Masking tape RM 4.90

* * * * *

In C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape writes these words to his nephew, a junior tempter called Wormwood:

Fun is closely related to Joy—a sort of emotional froth arising from the play instinct. It is very little use to us. It can sometimes be used, of course, to divert humans from something else which the Enemy [God] would like them to be feeling or doing: but in itself it has wholly undesirable tendencies; it promotes charity, courage, contentment, and many other evils.

Looking back over the last year-and-a-half, it was precisely the fun in photography that I had lost.


One of the things I learnt most from the Entangled Photo Shoot (and the Pesta Tiong Hua photo shoot three hours later) was that a photo shoot is not just a two-way cameraman-cast affair, but a three-way interaction between cameraman, cast/subject and crew.

In the past, I’d always controlled the scene on my own. But I have come to realise that it is extremely beneficial to everyone on set (and it shows in the final product, too) to have several assistants on hand.

It was Adrian who transported everyone (except those from 12th College, who opted to walk back together) back home, especially those living further away like Zach and Rachel. He also took many photos during the shoot itself and operated the lights at many key moments in the creative process. It was also he who took the ‘asylum in blue’ photo.

Ann Gie swapped her shorts for Rachel’s mini-skirt; it had a profound impact on the final product besides giving us lots of food for talk! Also, it was her Sony Ericsson K750i which provided all the lighting for the final few shots, which also happened to be the best pictures of the night.

As the night progressed, Zach got better and better as the lighting man. We nailed the final shot when he used my black UM Planner to shield Ann Gie’s phone camera flash to prevent unwanted stray lighting. Also, he directed the shot of the models tying up the cameraman and provided lighting for the asylum shot.

Chian Ming pulled out in order to rest ahead of some three tournaments ahead of her the next day (basketball finals, tennis prelims), but nonetheless transported virtually everyone and all the equipment to KPS where we did the shoot despite having just returned from a gruelling basketball match.

And although Jane could only stay awhile to see us get started (she had a discussion of some sort to attend), she helped pick up food from Sahur for Evans and set up the bedsheet as our budget backdrop.

The shoot wouldn’t have been what it was if the crew members did not contribute what they did. With much satisfaction and gladness in my heart, I present to you...

The Entangled Photo Shoot!

* * * * *


8.48 p.m. An attempt at 'cloning' Amos. I was experimenting with composite exposures. I think what I should've done was use a little flash to freeze him in place.


9.08 p.m. Adrian and his shadow. Just for fun.


9.47 p.m. Rachel's top is black but appears reddish under blue light, which was produced by placing a sheet of blue cellophane paper over the flash head.


10.17 p.m. Setting up the model and camera positions for the shoot.


10.31 p.m. Reviewing the positions before beginning the shoot proper at about 11.56 p.m.


12.22 p.m. The final and best shot of the first session. There was much room for improvement, and unfortunately I didn't notice that the door behind Evans was slightly ajar.


1.34 a.m. Set-up for the second session.


2.15 a.m. An exhausted cast and crew.


2.22 a.m. The crew in green light. Clockwise from top-left; Ann Gie, Adrian and Zach.


2.25 a.m. Potential album cover? Yen, Evans, Adrian and Rachel looking really 'hot' under red light.


2.44 a.m. The cast and crew decided to exact their revenge on the cameraman for making them endure a somewhat severe shoot. I had Zach fire a blue flash from the side; the picture turned out to be more asylum-ish than I expected.


2.52 a.m. More album cover potential?


Some feedback from after the shoot...

Ann Gie: My throbbing headache was healed last night.
Jane: Please don’t do that next time ya. Kesian them.
Yen: However exhausting the Entangled photo shoot was, it has failed to dissuade me from taking part in any more shoots.

* * * * *

I had barely two hours of sleep between five and seven-something, before I was awakened by How who came to give me my Pesta Tiong Hua III (PTH III) t-shirt and call me down for the shoot.


The glare from the morning sun provided the perfect opportunity to put the car reflectors to good use, for they had not been utilised thus far. This second shoot reinforced the lessons I learnt from the first, i.e. that a photo crew can be an invaluable element and that simple props used creatively can produce--if not surpass--the effects brought about by expensive professional equipment.


In the spirit of light manipulation, I decided to have all the exco portraits done with reflected light. One reflector was held to Say Siong's right slightly above his head level (to block the sun), while the other was positioned to his left near ground level to bounce the light and give a more dynamic, three-dimensional feel to what might have otherwise been a rather flat and dull photo.

* * * * *

After editing the best of the photos, I came up with this:


The Creative Director gave it a seven out of ten.

Others have commented that it looks very theatrical; one said it looks like a movie advertisement.

My art is not Deviantart. It’s probably nowhere near those strong, sparse graphics that often work so well as pieces of art. If you ask me, I can’t for the life of me tell you why I go through so much trouble to produce something that has lesser emotional impact than a lot of the stuff my peers (and many creative media photographers) are producing.

In essence, I realise my pictures have been increasingly complex experiments and games with light. And I truly believe it was this incident that set it off:


If you ask me what it is I hope to achieve with my pictures, I cannot tell you for I do not know myself. Perhaps once again I must turn to a comparison with the band that has time and again inspired me, encouraged me and challenged me over the last few years.

The early days of U2 were marked with many experiments, few breakthroughs, lots of fun and raw, imperfect glimpses of mountains yet to be scaled. We need only to recall the unusual percussion sounds on ‘I Will Follow’ produced by breaking bottles and running forks through bicycle wheel spokes. But it was the whole joy of working together and having fun in the recording studio that made U2 what they were, and I believe, what they still are today.

* * * * *

It seems I have been less prolific of late. When I wrote the 500th entry here, I was averaging 250 posts a year. This post arrives over a year after the 500th, so in terms of quantity I'm not half the blogger I used to be!

But what a year it has been! Growing as a writer, a photographer, a person...

Photography used to be about taking snapshots and selecting the best of the lot, editing a little and printing/blogging them. Now I am far slower; often I spend ages thinking of a shot, and more ages setting it up. The end results aren't always breathtaking, but I have noticed that each shot means something special to the people involved in it.

If I may indulge a little philosophy, perhaps the question that begs an answer at this point is, "What is photography?" Lai Voon Loong of The Star, Kelvin Chan of DDB and David Doubilet of National Geographic would probably give different answers. What about Benjamin Ong?

Maybe my answer reflects my status as a budget photographer with neither high-end gear nor the means by which to acquire them; I realise I have developed in this way because of the restrictions imposed upon me by my equipment.

And my answer at this point is this: I paint with light. I am less interested in a subject for what it is than for how it interacts with light. Not all my photographs are art, and not all my art is photography; but such are the photos produced when these two worlds collide. Perhaps in some ways I'm a minimalist; but if that is so, I am only a minimalist with objects and equipment, not with time.

I have also discovered that I have no compunctions when it comes to certain types of 'vandalism', like removing man-made objects from natural scenes or getting rid of items that get in the way.


There is no real way to end this post, for it is merely a transition from one 'epoch' to another. The Ipoh trip taught me a lot about photography and has inspired me in many ways. I will blog on it soon, once I get my photos and thoughts in order.

I have learnt a little here and there from great photographers, and glimpses of Ira Block and Lisl Dennis will be readily apparent. But Ipoh was more than a photographic holiday; at some points I felt as if I was walking in a past I never knew, but only heard of in stories. And at other points I felt a connection to the rest of the world.

I've been inspired to take my photography in certain directions, some of them eccentric and all requiring lots of hard work. I don't know when I'll be able to see those dreams and visions come true, but for now I suppose I can at least share them.

And in writing I have been challenged to embark on a project similar to Alice Munro's in her collection of short stories, The View from Castle Rock. There were occasions when I really could see myself as a National Geographic writer/photographer... ah, such dreams.

But the most interesting stories probably have little to do with my photos or writings. The most stirring, electrifying and perhaps ultimately encouraging tales are always about the people in a place: encounters with the pretty girls of Ipoh, theories about the agents of the criminal underworld, voices of another era and perhaps even another planet, a car that became one of the best models on the trip, and of course... the crazy things a bunch of young adults can do given the right space and the right company!


Coming soon.

Last year's last words

I wrote early last December that I would be without my photographs for awhile. However the cause of that was not to be.

The night of Christmas Eve, my parents surprised me with this:


Managing my photographs and jotting down thoughts when there's no paper (or on the rare occasions when I would rather type than write) has never been easier.

Thanks Mum and Dad!

* * * * *

At the Overcomers' Christmas dinner, I had my first feel of Nikon's D40. Marie had acquired a second-hand unit and was busy snapping the night away.

So it happened that sometime after dinner, the children nested themselves in the attic, watching Rush Hour 3. I found Eunice and Marie somewhere at the back of the room, and spotted their tripod. In the spirit of my recent experiments I thought of doing a long exposure, just to show Eunice what the camera-and-tripod combination is capable of doing.

This was the result, here corrected for white balance:


That was probably the highlight of the night, besides getting feedback for the 2nd College photo competition, settling a dispute with Eunice over Christine's camera model, and playing 'Christmas Isn't Christmas' with Uncle Lawrence.


(Note that in my long exposures, both here and in general, I usually allow for just enough light to bring out the features in all the subjects. You may have to adjust the brightness of your monitor screen to view the pictures clearly.)

Two Trips, Twenty Photographs

I generally dislike putting up entries with more than five pictures, but there are some reasons I'm doing this:

1. To share a little of my trips last December.
2. To keep an online backup copy of the photos, just in case.
3. To showcase the artwork of some of my friends.

The photos are more or less in chronological order; I didn't bother checking too much. :-P

* * * * *

Malacca


An alley somewhere in the vicinity of Jonker Walk.


We passed by a shop selling mirrors.


Not much of a photograph, but I was quite fascinated by the horse.


Oh, the copious amounts of background distractions we had to relocate in the making of this shot!


As if anyone would surf the internet here.


At the Geographer Cafe, Jonker Walk.


I was struck by the irony of a Malaysian flag on a Portuguese fort.


Valerie took this picture and christened it 'The Tired Traveller'. And no, I wasn't posing; I was only sitting there.


Entangled roots at the foot of St Paul's Hill, behind the Stadhuys.

* * * * *

Cameron Highlands


Early shafts of light greet the sleepyheads in the dorm.


Our little friend turned out to be quite a companion in our adventures.


Shern Ren strikes... and he scores!


Not the usual group photo.


The hands that give us BOH Tea. A personal favourite (picture) of mine and Li-Shia's.


The product of Joan's 'blunt, naive idea'.


Alaga, one of the plantation workers, at the barbecue pit.


Another of Shern Ren's triumphs. I like the backlighting.


I attempted this shot from an angle similar to that used in a dramatic black-and-white hanging in the hall at the MNS-BOH Centre.


While waiting for Mr Moorthy to send us down.


Probably the most artistic portrait of RELA officers I have yet seen.

The First Photo Win

Winner of the I-Snap Photography Competition, Minggu Minda Kreatif VII, 2nd Residential College, University of Malaya. (Picture cropped to 8R and slightly brightened.)

The competition was open to all UM students and ran for several months. The submission dates were 2 and 3 January and judging was on the 12th.


I'd like to thank, in general order of comments given, Li-Shia, Valerie, Dad, Zhen Quan, Eunice, How, Shannon, Adrian, Chee Seong, SooT and Yen. My shortlist was compiled based on your feedback.

(For the record, the winning picture was voted for by Dad, Zhen Quan, How and Christine. Though of course this doesn't necessarily mean it was the best of the lot, only that the judges saw it as the best of the pieces submitted, and I did not submit all the ones I shortlisted due to the limit of three entries per participant.)


I'd also like to thank;

Christine for helping me decide on the final three that would be sent, especially on such short notice.

Chian Ming for accompanying me to 2nd College (before TITAS class last Tuesday) to look at the entries on display (hence being the first to know when I received the phone call then), and for coming again with Adrian on Thursday to witness the prize-giving ceremony.

* * * * *

I told myself I'd say it if/when I won my first competition. Since there was neither time nor space for an acceptance speech, I'll say it here:

"This win is for you, Dad!"


In the greater scheme of things, I'd like to thank in particular:

My parents for supporting this 100% non-profit hobby of mine over the last year and a half.

Christine for introducing me to the world of SLRs and turning me into a Nikonian.

My friends who have over the years filled the frame of my camera. Every photo taken, every blunder made, every glimpse of glory was a step towards the photographer I am today.


All glory goes to God, because there are two equally miraculous stories behind this picture.

On the second day in Mersing, I decided in the morning's quiet time that I would structure my photos around Psalm 104; the fruit of that labour appeared on my blog in the 31 July entry last year.

What I did not mention on the blog (but which was referred to in an issue of the Triple-M, Mensa Malaysia's official magazine) was the story behind the bird picture. The 12th verse kept eluding me:

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
They lift up their voices among the branches.

The few birds I spotted in Mersing weren't on branches, and those that were were comfortably out of sight, hidden amidst the leaves. It was in Kluang that the breakthrough came. As we were leaving Michelle's house for church, this little bird perched itself on the bare tree.

Immediately I saw the photo I was waiting for, fumbled for my 55-200mm lens, quickly attached it to the D50 (I think I actually had to remove the other lens, either the 18-55mm or the 50mm, first!), pointed the camera out of the car window and pressed the shutter.

There was no time to adjust anything and I was too excited and desperate not to let the moment pass. And then the bird flew away, as suddenly as it appeared. I had no time to make a second exposure. If I could sum up the entire blessedness of the whole trip--for indeed it was blessed in many many ways--in one moment, that was it.

The second miraculous story is somewhat more general where it concerns photography: it is the miracle behind every photograph.

Because if you go back nearly 170 years to 1839, you would have heard the words exclaimed by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre when he produced the world's first photograph: "I have captured the light!"

And if you go further, much, much further back than that, you would have heard the first words echoing across a dark universe:

"Let there be light!"

The Ticking Rat

Tee Ming will be an MC for the Chinese New Year celebrations at her campus, USM Kubang Kerian. She wanted to include a poem in her speech and so turned to the last poet in the world I'd approach for help. *wink*

In conversation a little punlike idea came to me. I was thinking of the Chinese term for rat, laushu and somewhere along the way a word linked to a common rat-prompted emotion suggested itself: "Shoo!"

(Of course there is that other emotion: "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" but I think it might be a little too unorthodox. :-P)

So it started with this line, "Shoo laushu!" and Tee Ming was in stitches. I think we both half expected me to come up with something a little deeper and more serious, and half expected this crazy idea to be more fully explored.

Within the same conversation, the "tick tick tick" part came about, and basically I knew from that point on that this would not be a serious poem, nor was meant to be. And for the first time in my life I wrote something based entirely on a sense of loose fun, wild language devices and multilingual references.

(I will not elaborate upon it here, but the more musically inclined may attach some minor significance to the arrangement of the lines within each stanza.)

* * * * *

The Ticking Rat

There's a rat-tat-tat at the door;
The old year's not here anymore.
Caught between an end and a start
Be still, be still, my restless heart.

There is comes again; shoo! shoo, laushu, shoo!
I rest upon the rhythmic clock, as it
Ticks. Tick, tick, tick... tikus!
A yell echoes through the hall
Racing the yeli back to whence it came.

Run! Run! Run! The New Year has begun.

Selah

Cameron Highlands was a great experience.

And it was a great photographic experiment. Changing hands and drive-by landscape photography were some of the highlights.

And I probably had the greatest success-to-shots taken ratio of all my trips so far.


I am now in the midst of a three-week photo sabbatical.

I need to rest and, to borrow a U2 phrase but quoted on a much smaller scale, 'dream it up all over again'.

Into 2008 with mamak and junk food

So the new year has begun, and I haven't taken any photos yet. My first shoot is on the 12th this month for the Executive Council of my college's Chinese Festival.

So the new year has come, and I haven't written any essays/stories yet. My first assignment is for the April-May issue of Asian Beacon. Peer pressure? BGR? The perfect holiday? Youth temptations?

* * * * *


Spent the night of New Year's eve with these two. We spent three hours at Sahur's Cafe over e-mee sup, (a very spicy) mee ladna, rice with daging kunyit, SooT's bandung panas and several glasses of juice. We then counted down in one of the deadest places: Dataran Sastera in UM.

And believe me, last night it was DEAD.

Yen would remember the smiling Mat Salleh.


Introducing...

Shutterbug the Third (of the three of us).

Tostada chips and some new insights

Where was I about a year ago?


I stumbled upon an old draft a few minutes ago. It was written on 2 January 2007 and contained only a few lines (here corrected for punctuation), among which were:

Sivin's favourite quote of the day, spoken over tostada chips: "When all else fails, there's still chips."

and

I am a delayed person. Dr Chin once gave me a jab and said 'oi?' because I didn't cry. Only later did I cry. Delayed response.


I spent New Year's Day 2007 with Yen, Tien, Shern Ren, Li-Shia, Fang Hai and Sivin at Chili's Mid Valley. You don't get a more unusual combination!

Looking back, I should've shot the entire basket of tostada chips instead of leaving it only half in the frame. I suppose I've made the most leaps this year in framing, and perhaps most of all because of the 50mm lens. Prime lenses really make you think about what you're putting in and what you're leaving out. They make the photographer a lot more discerning.

Not that zooms are bad, but in the wrong hands they are more often than not an excuse for lazy composition resulting in crappy pictures. I use my 18-55mm now more than ever (since getting the 50mm), but the sort of pictures I'm taking post 50mm are markedly different from those before. For one, I'm now more inclined to use my legs instead of my fingers to adjust distance.

Didn't quite expect such a lengthy reflection on tostada chips. :-P


Speaking of reflections on photography, I've noticed that people who've never used an SLR almost always hold the camera shutter-side down when composing vertical shots, i.e. they twist their right wrist 90 degrees back. It happened both in Malacca and Camerons.

At first I wondered if it was a left-hander thing, as one of my friends is left-handed. But the others aren't, so it couldn't be. I think it's because most people are used to holding digital compact cameras that way; there's no need to support a lens, and as the camera is light it makes sense to just flick the wrist back for a vertical frame.

I never actually noticed all of this. I think it's because I always hold the camera with my right hand on top; any other way would exert a good deal of strain on the arm (except where space constraint is a factor).

(If there are any SLR users reading this and you disagree, please comment below. This is only a theory, after all, and I'm not even sure if anything I'm saying is true; it just seems to make good sense of the data so far.)


All is quiet on New Year's Day.
A world in white gets underway.
I want to be with you, be with you night and day.
Nothing changes on New Year's Day.

--U2, 'New Year's Day'

One tag too many!

Double-tagged by SooT. I'm going to attempt one now, and the other long and tedious one perhaps another day.

* * * * *

LIST OUT THE TOP 5 PRESENTS YOU WISH FOR:
(a) A holiday with Li-Shia.
(b) Nikon DX Nikkor 12-24mm f/4 lens
(c) Nikon Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 lens
(d) Nikon D300 DSLR
(e) A ticket to a U2 concert

LIST OUT THE REASONS FOR YOUR CHOICES:
(a) Do I need a reason for this? :-P
(b) Wide angle!
(c) Dramatic close-up shots!
(d) With all those lenses, a second body is useful
(e) Best band on the planet. Period.

THE PERSON WHO TAG-GED YOU IS:
SooT.

5 IMPRESSIONS OF HIM:
(a) Very musical.
(b) Has weird plans for facial and cranial hair
(c) Very intelligent.
(d) A great model (for photography; role model I'm not so sure :-P).
(e) Lightning-speed eater.

MOST MEMORABLE THING(S) HE HAS DONE FOR YOU:
Agreed to partner me on TM Squared. Much of it started from that point.

MOST LOVED INVENTION (does not need to be technologically advanced):
It's a tie between the pen and the camera.

WHAT DO YOU DESPISE THE MOST:
Hypocrisy. Mine included.

6 PEOPLE YOU WANNA TAG:
Li-Shia, Denise, Suit Lin, Kee Aun, Ming-Shien, Melody.

Malacca: Entangled

I did it in Mersing and I thought it might also work in Malacca: for want of better direction in my photography I decided to build my photos around a theme in Mersing. The environment there lent itself very well to the 104th Psalm which, in my opinion, is one of the grandest psalms celebrating God's creation.

At the end of the trip I had put together a collection of photographs whose very diversity astounded me. I have remarked that it was the best photography outing of the year so far for it was a breakthrough in many ways.

I would later learn that it is not uncommon for travel photographers to use the device of a theme or motif or, in the great National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson's words, an assignment. After all, you can't shoot everything while on holiday, and you certainly don't want the sprawling lack of focus in a photo collection characteristic of an attempt to do so.

Thus I decided to use Scripture again. But I think I learned there (and more so in Cameron Highlands, but more on that later) that God will not be used.

Considering the historical nature of Malacca and the abundance of colonial erections, the word 'stronghold' suggested itself to me. It wasn't long before I found myself at the 46th Psalm whose first and last verses read thus;

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble...

The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold

--Psalm 46:1,11 (NASB)

Also, I reminded myself that it was about time to start shooting for the Publicity Department of the PKV's Easter 2008 production. I asked Suit Lin for the theme a couple of months ago, and so I put aside that word till the holidays. It was 'Entangled' and I was free to interpret it photographically as my creativity and imagination led me.

My train of thought went something like this: Entangled. Stronghold. Colonial influences mingled with local culture. Entangled. Roots hold a tree in the ground. Tangled roots. Strong. A tree is like a stronghold. The Porta de Santiago (A' Famosa) is a stronghold. A tree can stand longer than a human stronghold. Trees are nature's stronghold. Entangled. God with us. God holds us fast. God got entangled in human history and culture in the midst of a Roman colonial environment.

Something like that.

So I set out to shoot photos which would juxtapose local elements with colonial ones, and I decided to use colonial structures as the subjects.

A personal mission of mine, totally unrelated to the Easter production and the psalm, was to shoot popular structures at unpopular times of day. Thus Valerie and I found ourselves at the peak of St Paul's Hill at the crack of dawn with nothing stirring but the wind and everything else dead but the shifting shadows cast by nearby sodium lamps.

This was the result:


Many have taken photos of St Francis Xavier in the harsh afternoon sun, so I thought I'd show the more mystical side of the St Paul's Church ruins. Along the way uphill, I almost thought St Francis turned his head! It turned out to be the movement of a leaf's shadow.

With the aperture open at f/8 I left the shutter for 20 seconds at ISO 200. It's an interesting photo, and the bright planet (not star, as it wasn't blinking) adds a dimension of life and timelessness to the composition. One of my favourites from my trip, but I suppose at most merely an experimental shot.

* * * * *

Half an hour ago, I decided to scrap the psalm, despite having all the photos I needed to illustrate it as I did Psalm 104. Some of the photos weren't good enough, and I didn't want to overshadow the photos that really mattered.

Because to me, the purpose of taking photos is not to illustrate Bible passages; the Word of God is so much more than that. But I wanted to show the connection; how God has amazingly, through His Word and random ideas, enabled me to make a picture I think perfectly embodies the spirit of all the various influences I mentioned earlier.

It was a great trip for my friends (the BF Classmates) and I, and we have a fair share of memorable group and individual photos. And for Suit Lin's mission, I shot from various angles. a mass of roots between the Stadthuys and the Aldy Hotel where we stayed.

But just over half an hour ago I saw one of my favourite photos in a totally new light. It looked good on the camera; it looked great on the computer. This is one of those moments when a photo just means so much to a person that every other photo pales in comparison.

When you look at it, there may be nothing special about it. But when I shot it mounted on a tripod from the near-impossible ground level angle, I had no idea I would be capturing such a rich scene in one frame.

* * * * *


It is dawn, and the sun has yet to rise. The white tomb stands in the middle of a garden; the green grass reminds the observer of the battle that was waged in Gethsemane three nights ago. Satan's forces fell when this man Jesus acknowledged his name.

"We are looking for Jesus."
"I am he."

It's just a pronoun to most of us, but the Jews knew the name of God. Above all Satan knew the name of God. I AM. Perhaps it reminded Satan of another garden, the Garden of Eden, where God promised to break the curse and crush the serpent. At Gethsemane the promise looked to be fulfilled.

But then Jesus surrendered and we all know what happens next.

It is Sunday, and before the sun is up (and before everyone knows the Son is up), the women are on their way to the tomb with spices ready and hearts perhaps not yet quite able to accept the death of their Lord.

Beyond the tomb lies the ruins of St Paul's Church. The house of God in ruins. When Jesus died something happened in the Temple; almost as if Jesus declared by the ripping of the temple curtain that he wasn't done with it yet. Indeed Jesus was well known for causing chaos in synagogues and the temple courts, driving out thieves and swindlers, healing the frail, claiming to be the Messiah. And now even in death he wasn't done with the temple.

So the church is in ruins, the tomb lies in the middle of the garden and there is a tree with huge roots in the foreground. Such a stark contrast: life upon life thriving in the halls of the dead. Perhaps the image also suggested itself to the women and the disciples; the irony of the dead being laid to rest in the midst of so much life.

We don't know yet that the tomb is empty, nor do we know that there are angels at its entrance bearing news that would be too good to be true. But that was Easter morning: a journey fraught with irony and unspoken grief.

A journey of entangled emotions and thoughts, thinking of Jesus' prophecies about himself yet knowing that dead people don't rise. Recalling Lazarus and thinking that maybe Jesus might just do what he said. Having seen the very gory death of Jesus and feeling that that hope was just a little too far away to believe this time.

But above all a morning when the God who chose to entangle himself in humanity would show the way through this tangled mess of our lives, bringing life through death and the promise that the strongholds of the tomb and our so-called 'great' constructions and obstructions are no match for the strong hold of God himself.

Thoughts on Pride and Precedence

Meet Yen Mii, a usually reserved fellow d'NAer but with some really interesting and profound insights and hidden depths of wackiness.

Today at some point in the journey from KL to Seremban the topic of pride for an educational institution came up. I commented on the differences between UM and the VI; how UM students don't seem to have nearly as much pride for UM than Victorians for the VI.

Yen Mii said it's probably because those who enter the university have never known what it is like to be proud of an institution with traditions and a rich history. And since the 'cycle of pride' is never started, there are few (if any) seniors to pass it down to the juniors.

Over dinner I realised this idea is also true in another context. Li-Shia says my Nikon P5000 digital compact camera has excellent colour reproduction, but I always beg to differ. It has, however, occured to me that my judgement is probably due to overexposure (no pun intended) to the SLR system such that I now expect a lot more from a camera than before.

But then again, Li-Shia is no stranger to my SLR-produced pictures. Is it then because I rarely see photos taken on digital compacts such that I don't have level grounds by which to compare the P5000?

Oh, the possibilities...

* * * * *

Written at 9.00 a.m. on 15 December 2007:

(On holding on to what you know is right in an otherwise upside-down world)

We do not know how long the night will last
Or when the dark will turn to day;
But if we do not hold our candles fast
There'll be none to light the way.

It's not about being Green

Henri Nouwen wrote, in The Way of the Heart:

"...the end of the persecutions [in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D.] did not mean that the world had accepted the ideals of Christ and altered its ways; the world continued to prefer the darkness to the light (John 3:19). But if the world was no longer the enemy of the Christian, then the Christian had to become the enemy of the dark world."

* * * * *

Last Thursday, when having lunch with Fang Hai and Guruparan at Annalakshmi Mid Valley, the topic of biofuels surfaced in conversation. Guru pointed out that, despite the success of cane ethanol, sugarcane plantations were eating into the Amazon.

I support biofuels and I think cane ethanol is a wonderful energy source. It was reported in National Geographic (October 2007) that cane ethanol has a lower retail price compared to an energy-equivalent amount of petrol, produces 56% less greenhouse gas emissions than petrol, and has a whopping 1:8 input:output ratio of fossil-fuel energy used to make the fuel compared with the energy in the fuel.

However, Guru's remark alerted me to the flip side of agro-fuels and, indirectly, the darker side of environmentalism.

Al Gore's recent hit An Inconvenient Truth had the world talking about global warming, but I have always thought of the whole environmental problem as much more than a matter of trading in carbon credits and/or adopting an energy-efficient lifestyle. Because if you think about it from his point of view, then sugarcane plantations are a good thing, because they maintain the green cover on the planet in addition to producing cheap, clean fuel.

But then in Annalakshmi I saw the whole 'Let's Fight for a Greener Earth' argument fall before me. Extrapolating the idea to Singapore (and to YTL's Sentul East and Sentul West projects), I realised that green landscaping is not the same as conservation. Singapore is well-known as a 'garden city' with lots of trees everywhere, but no serious biologist will consider Singapore's greenery a thriving ecosystem (save, perhaps some parts around Bukit Timah).

The point is, we can eradicate all the forests on Earth and still maintain the greenery. Brazil's situation is proof of that: clear all of the Amazon and replace it with plantations; Earth remains green, global warming is in check... so what's the problem? Only this: we would have lost thousands upon thousands of plant and animal species, most of them probably as yet unknown to science.

Mr Gore and a lot of 'green earth' activists overlook this. You can fill a city with trees and have all the plant-a-tree campaigns you want, but the value of a forest is not that it has a lot of trees; it is that it has a lot of different trees. That's what biodiversity means, and diversity means there are plants that just won't be feasible in a city either due to maintenance or aesthetic issues. Keeping Earth green will keep carbon dioxide levels low, but not prevent mass extinctions.

Deforestation is a bad thing; reforestation good but nearly impossible. To effectively 'reforest' a plot of land, the reforester has to know the exact composition of plant and animal species in the area before it was cleared. And even if all the plants can be replaced by some miracle of seed-sourcing, most of the insect and animal species may be gone for good. It is also folly to assume that animal species are homogenous in the same region; Perak's rainforests exhibit a different biodiversity from those in Pahang.

Global warming is a big issue, but it is only a small portion of the environmental problems humanity faces. Ultimately the question is not about monitoring greenhouse gas emissions because from an evolutionary point of view, it is no threat to the environment at all, as polar bears which lose their icy homes will probably evolve aquatic appendages... or die in a classic case of 'survival of the fittest'.

And surely the Big Meltdown can't be any bigger than the other famous disruptions in the history of the universe like the Big Bang, the Big Dino-busting Meteor and the Ice Age. I mean, we're probably living in the Oven Age; what's so bad about that? Thermophilic bacteria aren't complaining.

The heart of the problem is what we make of Earth. Is it worth saving? And if it is, why? To me there is no better answer than the preservation of Earth's biodiversity. But this is also the least profitable and fashionable reason. Al Gore has made environmentalism 'cool' and accessible, but there is more to it than high-profile campaigns. It involves convincing governments all over the world to choose the preservation of nature over massive economic gains, and in a greedy world it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.

I believe this is a subject I will return to in the near future with newer insights. Environmentalism is a big thing and questions about what it is and how best to go about it have yet to be answered at length.

* * * * *

So where does the Nouwen quote come in?

If we take it as part of our Christian duty to care for the environment as stewards of God's creation, then the present situation is this: the world is also following suit. Environmentalism is becoming a subject of international acceptance, much like the Church under the rule of Constantine the Great.

But the physical growth of a church (i.e. its numbers) says nothing about its spiritual condition. Likewise environmentalism is becoming something like wearing a red ribbon in support of AIDS sufferers not because you actually care, but because it is easy to do so. Not many who eagerly wear the badge will volunteer to work amongst AIDS patients for fear of, among other things, infection.

The world has ceased to become the enemy of the Church in this sense. In fact there are Christians who claim the environment is not worth caring for, simply because the universe is temporal and we should be investing in heaven, not earth. (I shall leave the stupidity of this statement to speak for itself.) Hello, if this Earth is pointless, then why does the Bible open with a grand account of God creating it and declaring it 'very good'?! Does an artist produce a masterpiece only to have it trampled underfoot by swine?

But the alignment of the world to what seems to be a noble ideal does not mean that it has accepted the ideals of Christ. As I have pointed out, the vogue in environmentalism today is about doing as much as we can but not too much; it's about convenient methods which do not compromise on profits too much. It is, ultimately, merely utilitarian.

How does the Christian become the enemy of an environmentally conscious world? Not by saying the environment is not important, but by being aware of the hypocrisy of environmentalism. By remembering the Maker of all things created, seen and unseen. By working for the preservation of God's creation despite it being difficult and unprofitable. In many ways this reflects the call of Christ to deny ourselves, carry our crosses and follow Him.

In His teachings, Jesus would begin with a contemporary problem, examine it in the context of Jewish (and sometimes Roman) law, and then shed 'new' insights on it based on the original purposes of God. Like when the Sadducees asked about marriage and heaven, and Jesus said that they had their whole concept of God wrong, that God is God of the living and not the dead.

Our contemporary problem is the deteriorating world. In the context of present-day environmentalism, we are aware of measures we must take to keep this world afloat. But we must move beyond the sacrifices of lambs and pigeons to the One Sacrifice; beyond the purposes of man to the purposes of God. To save the world because at the end of the day, it belongs to God and He will call His stewards to account. And we are His stewards.

Judgement and Botanical Photography

I have of late been drawn to the biblical passages on judgement, specifically the writings of the minor prophets. Just now, in the evening, I read this in Amos and it really jumped out of the page.

"You only have I chosen
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your sins."

--Amos 3:2 (NIV)

Amos begins with prophecies on the destruction of the nations around Israel and Judah. But then the judgement on Israel and Judah is even harsher, because they disobeyed the Law of the Lord. Much more was given to them, and thus much more was expected.

I couldn't run from it. God has given me so much, and for me to stoop so low...

Father, forgive me. Forgive us. Let the judgement not be too harsh.

* * * * *

Went shooting at the Orchid Gardens in KL with Kelvin yesterday. The following are some of the best pictures of the day, all shot with his lenses on my camera. Proof that it is, above all, the lens and not the camera that makes a picture great (besides the photographer, of course!).

Minor highlight and shadow adjustments, and a little sharpening here and there, on the computer.


Close-up of a half-floating flower in a pond.

Nikon D50 + AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8 lens, 1/320 sec at f5; ISO 200


This orchid reminded me of the elegant orchid mantis. And I began to wonder, does the mantis resemble the orchid... or does the orchid resemble the mantis, as in this picture?

Nikon D50 + AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8 lens, 1/100 sec at f5; ISO 200


Some of the orchids for sale.

Nikon D50 + AF-S 17-55mm f2.8 lens, 1/250 sec at f5; ISO 200


Possibly the best insect shot of the day. There were many interesting insects, from fruit flies to shield bugs, but the excessive wind made focusing a nightmare and many of the shots were blurred.

Nikon D50 + AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8 lens, 1/200 sec at f5; ISO 200. Cropped from the original as I dared not approach too near for fear of scaring the wasp off.

* * * * *

(I comment on the following out of context.)

Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?

--Amos 3:3 (NIV)

Walking together is so much more than the agreeing. It also comes with the bearing whatever comes of it.

But by the grace God that is exactly what we will do.