Category: My Abstract Life

Categories
Whacky Thoughts

Crash! A “Retired” Cyclist Perching At A Flyover Overlooking The Streets Of Singapore

I looked at the road outside my home and I remembered one past event

“You really should relive your days of glory, pick up a bicycle, and cycle with us,” said my good old friend Rob time and time again when we meet up for lunch.  And as always, I laughed it off and changed the topic.  His determined eyes do pierce through my heart, though I am not showing it at all.  Ah, the fire of passion and what remains as pride and ego on what I have humbly achieved as a cyclist, a long time ago back in UK.  Maybe those eyes of determination in getting me back on a bicycle are now mixed with a tint of doubt, on what I claim I have achieved.  Alas!  My passion has taken me further than being a recreational cyclist.  But Singapore is not a conducive environment for anything more than that.

In my humble opinion, that is.

My friend TK shared with me an accident he witnessed, at the exact location as we emerged from the Raffle City car park.  It was heavy pour, on the last day of the IT Show, and I was dropping him off to another building, where he parked his car.  “There were cars parked right here, not moving, aligning passengers, holding up traffic” he began the story.  One car behind grew impatient, honking and prompting the cars in front to move.  Still, the road was blocked.  The driver from behind managed to go over the divider, slowly passing the stationary cars in front, staring fiercely at the people inside.  As the car inched towards the main road, while we presume the driver was still staring at the culprits of the holdup, in anger, a bus went by from the left and smashed onto the car whose driver was too busy staring at other drivers, not looking at the main road ahead.

Bam!

As TK finished the story, he screamed, “Watch out!”  I too was inching towards the main road while listening to the story attentively.

I love to cycle, back in the UK.  It is the climate, the long distance, and the hills.  Here in Singapore, it is humid, a city, and is mostly flat.  Back then when I was in UK, the government has law and infrastructure that supports the cycling community.  In the town of Oxford, there were (most likely still are) cycling lanes alongside with the main roads.  Cycling on the pedestrian pavement was not allowed, neither was cycling in the dark with no light.  Cyclists must observe all traffic rules.  They gave hand signals when changing lanes or even to indicate going straight.  The drivers took care of the cyclists and gave a much wider space when overtake.  In short, my vision of a conducive environment for cyclists – recreational and enthusiast alike – should be as such.  The government, the motorists, and the cyclists all play a part.

My friend Rob and I talked crazy ideas evolving about cycling all the time.  From automatic tyre pressure adjustment based on terrain condition (and the how), to real time injection of glucose solution into our blood stream as our bodies take the toll of intensive cycling (and more).  Then one day, he shared with me one accident that involved one of our common friends.

Three cyclists, at the East Coast Park service road, formed a line, one after another.  A car tried to overtake, impatiently, as it followed the cyclists from behind.  When the opportunity aroused, the car sped away, swung in front of the cyclists, and jam braked.  Our common friend couldn’t stop in time, smashed onto the back of the car, thrown into the air, landed onto the ground with a dislocated shoulder and scratches.  He was hospitalized, out of work for one month.  It was a hit and run.

Bam!

It is always good to wrap up a writeup with a more positive picture.  So picture this with me.  I was in UK, with my partner, and we cycled from Oxford to Edinburgh, with our camping gear.  One hill, must have been somewhere near Scotland, looked pretty majestic from a distance, but it induced fear.  It was a long and steep slope.  20 kg at my back, in bright daylight, I challenged both the limitation of my physical and mental strength.  Halfway through the slope, one huge farming tractor, the kind of big wheeler, trailed behind me, not overtaking me.  Just trailed behind me.

My body were aching, but my will was strong.  My partner he gave up halfway and had decided to push the bicycle up.  I pressed on.  And towards the top of the hill, the huge tractor overtook me, with a wide margin away from me.  The driver gave me a huge thumb-up and drove away, disappeared into the horizon.  At the top of the slope, I collapsed onto the grassy ground by the side of the road, I looked back, waiting for my partner.  That, was the scene that has been with me, will be with me for the rest of my life.  That thumb-up, the back of the driver, the support, that tractor, and my bicycle.  That, is what I want to relive.

Categories
Experience Sharing

So I Conduct Global Training Over The Internet And I Look Inside My Stomach Hard for The Butterflies

WebEx Screenshot

I am not trained as a trainer but the training opportunities find their ways to me, over the years, since I have started my humble career.  It’s always a full circle, from one end to another, from another end to the same one I have started from.  You strategize, you design a new business process, you put in place a piece of technology, you create a communication and marketing pack, and then you train.  It is because ultimately it is human who is going to be trained on how to use that shinny new piece of technology to enable a new business process that is aligned to a strategy.  That pretty much summarize what I do for a living.

Over the years, I have learned much on the art of training, from my peers, the people below and above me, and my audience.  Over the years, I have trained a small classroom of people to a crowd that filled a hotel ballroom.  I love to train.  Especially those that have a dose of uncertainties like the breakout groups.  Time and time again, people pull me aside and ask if I find talking about the same topic boring.

Not at all.

Each group is different.  The rapport and the effort put in to build the rapport is different.  Each group has its own challenge.  And in as much as my objective is to impart knowledge, my personal goal is to learn from my audience, through group sharing, through the questions they ask, and through the observation on what works for them.  I love the accumulation of war stories and confidence and success as I maneuver from one group to another.

One good friend of mine used to tell me that if we can feel the butterflies on our stomachs, it is a good sign.  It shows that success matters.  It keeps us on our toes.  She told me that each of us has a personal ritual to go through prior to the conduct of the training.  I have not shared mine with her.  I used to pray in the toilet prior to showtime.  Yes, I too used to feel the butterflies.  It’s a feeling that can be unsettling.  What if I couldn’t deliver the speech that has been written and rewritten a thousand times?  What if I couldn’t connect to the audience?  What if they see what I don’t know instead of what I do know?  What if …

Though I dreaded the butterflies, thank God most of the sessions I came out OK (some with good recognition).  These days, I am at that one end of the cycle again: It’s training time.  What is different today from the past is that due to the duration and depth of this global initiative that I have been working on, I am very comfortable in conducting the training.  And after all the local classroom training I helped to conduct, the next step is to reach out to the rest of the world.

Since I am not that keen to travel – love Singapore too much! – I am happy to conduct training over the Internet (we use WebEx just in case some of you may be able to relate).  It is a whole new experience.  At my laptop, I can see who have dialed in, I can punch in a telephone number inside the software and it will make the necessary call to the participants who can’t get connected, I can mute individual phone lines (you’ll be amazed at how many people accidentally put their phones on hold and all of a sudden, everyone logged in hear some music played), I can present a document, share an application, see the Q&A window gets populated, chat room that keeps the private and public messages popping.  Wow … very funky!

Initial excitement aside, it can be hard.  At times I feel like I was a DJ talking to myself.  Imagine this: you are in a meeting room, alone, in front of you a laptop and a speaker phone.  Everyone is on mute.  And you keep talking, no faces to be seen, no responses to be heard, just you and your voice hoping that someone is awake on the other side of the telephone line.  Do they like the pace?  Can they understand me?  Do they get my lighthearted comments?  Are there VIPs in the call?  No idea.  Silence.  Just me and my voice and the speaker phone.  All the way from “Welcome to our today’s training session” to “Thank you for your time and you may disconnect now”, do people get fired for delivering a lousy training over the Internet?

No idea.

At times I wish there were a few butterflies in my stomach, to get me in the mood with heightened alert.  Sessions after sessions, I look forward to the online Q&A the most.  Because that is the only variation I encounter.  Oh gosh, wouldn’t that become really … boring?

Well, you know me, I can’t stand boredom.  So, each web training I conduct, I always tried to crack a totally different set of jokes (like instead of meeting Bill Gate for lunch, for the same scenario, I golf with Steve Jobs … and then, I drop this scenario altogether and crack another joke on a different situation), share a different set of stories, deliver the same message in a slightly different way, rearrange things just a little bit – do something that keep my sanity.

I am not trained as a trainer but I love to train.  And no, I am not a full time trainer.  I just step into a role available while having another role to play.

Categories
Memorable Events Photography

My Sister’s Wedding in Singapore – Thank You For Your Warm Wishes

We wrapped up the night with a group photo

It is amazing how pressure can propel us to do the seemingly impossible.  I woke up this morning barely 8 hours after I shot the last photo of the evening and my parents were already pacing around my living room hinting or rather strongly hinting that they wished to take all the photos I have shot for my sister’s wedding as they are.  As they are?!  It is hard to explain to them why they can do that for point-and-shoot photos and not for the 500 pictures I took with my dSLR camera.  I find it hard to believe that too.  It has got to be my skill, or the lack of it.

And because it breaks my heart to see my parents fly back to Hong Kong disappointed, not only have I done the necessary photo shortlisting and touch up in record time, but also have them published online with a less than 24 hours turnaround time.  I am happy with the results.  Some of the shots I really like.  I suppose Benny and Lora may have passed this blog entry to you for viewing.  Maybe you were there, maybe you couldn’t make it.  As a proud brother of Lora and a good old friend of Benny, I thank you for your warm wishes to the wedding couple.  I am pretty sure in time to come Benny and Lora will share the professionally done up photos of the event with you.  Meanwhile, here are some of the candid shots I have taken to complement the event, arranged chronologically in three albums.

PS. Stay tuned for a little write-up on how the day went.  Thank you for viewing the pictures and as always, feedback is welcome.

Categories
Snippet of My Life

Snippet Of My Life Episode 16 – I Quit

The Economist

I jumped out of my bed in the middle of the night, thought I saw lava flowing out from my attached bathroom, with the door left ajar.  My logical mind kicked into action.  The first thing I did was to save my phone that was lying on the floor connected to a charger near to the bathroom door.  I switched on the bathroom light, took my beloved Nokia N96 as far away from the lava as possible, and put it right next to my pillow.  Snuggled underneath my blanket with my half-opened sleepy eyes staring at the bathroom door, minutes had passed.  Reality hit me.  No, there was no lava.  I switched off the light and went back to sleep.

Work stress, economic climate, The Economist that generates more questions than answers, or maybe it was the aftereffect of my frequent visit to the World of Warcraft, my head is stuffed with dreams these days.

Workload is the same.  People are asked to go.  Departments are dismantled.  It’s cost cutting time.  I wonder who is more stressed: the asked-to-go or the left-behind.

For the past decades, time after time, I tried to read The Economist.  The drawings entice me; the article titles entice me; but I could not get pass the first paragraph of any article.  Money wasted.  Decades have passed.  I am none the wiser.  Picked up a recent issue while Cynthia was buying a loft of bread at a convenience store.  Paid twelve bucks.  And I have read almost all the articles within a week.

Oh my.  I actually enjoy reading The Economist!  What an exhilarating revelation.  I said to Cynthia: if I can read 6 issues, continuously, I may consider subscribing to the magazine for a year.

Here are some numbers that you probably won’t get from The Economist.  PC Gamer, I read mostly all the contents including the advertisements every month.  Today, there are 11 million online gamers subscribed to the online game World of Warcraft.  Each month, Blizzard Entertainment receives USD 165,000,000 from the subscribers worldwide, myself included.  That is close to USD 2 billion a year.  The total running cost is USD 200 million for the past 4 years.  Each yearly game expansion translates to one time revenue of USD 400 million from the community within days if not hours.  I am not going into the amount of money some subscribers pay to transfer the characters from one server to another, rename and change the genders of their characters, to pay for the merchandise, and etc.

Economic downturns means more people not having a job, means more work loaded onto my plate, means more people have time to play online games.  USD 15 a month doesn’t seem excessive for a dude who needs to put his talents somewhere (OK, private joke for the WoW community).

If I could choose a time to be born, I wouldn’t have picked this era of capitalism, of consumerism.  On one hand, mother Earth cannot sustain the way and the pace we consume resources.  On the other hand, we ask our people not to stop consuming in order to keep the economy going.  Our progression depends upon how effective and efficient and extensive we consume resources.  But for what purpose?  No one is interested in the true cost [determined by our predecessors] until we hit the problem (think satellite debris up in the sky).  We put our best brains together, created a risk management framework (Basel II), and now we ponder: maybe 20% capital adequacy is more resilient to the financial downturn.  We create a manmade economy and load our future generations with tons of debt.  OK, I quit.  Thank you Mother Earth for having me around.  I am moving to Planet Mars to start anew.

Categories
My Favorite Whacky Thoughts

U2! Down the Memory Lane on a Nostalgic Hazy Friday

UB40 didn’t make it, U2 does.  When I was a little boy, I often camped at the record stores, going through the catalogue organized by alphabets day after day, month after month.  There weren’t that many group artists under the letter “U”.  “Red Red Wine (1983)” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love (1993)” still put a smile to my face.  But I wish there are more from UB40.  Its association to U2 according to the secret dream world of mine on a nostalgic hazy Friday stops at the letter “U”.

You ask 100 people what music means to them and you may get 100 different answers – from the extreme of “music is my life” to “music is just the background”.  But what does music mean to me?

I think music is to inspire, to freeze a moment in life that hearing the same song is to reminisce and be drifted to that same place in time.  I remember one past relationship whenever I listen to “With or Without You”.  She loves the song, I love the simplicity.  It is a song I sing along with, play my guitar with, a kind of secret love affair so visually crafted – the thorns and the shore – and beyond which, “With or Without You” has planted the seed of inspiration to my music creation journey.

U2's Get On Your Boots

I started to collect Compact Discs two decades ago.  And “Achtung Baby (1991)” was amongst the very first set of discs in my collection.  It was the time when all of a sudden I have my own stereo system, have the means to blast my own music, the kind of empowerment that any young boy may find it overpoweringly exhilarating, sharing his music in the presence of his family members.  No, it was not the era of angst, nor the age of the nu-metal.  It was the day of “Money for Nothing” and the good old “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”.  It was a time when “Achtung Baby” was played during every meal and at the corner of my curious eyes, I tried to catch a glimpse of my father’s reaction.  None.  He was cool with “Achtung Baby”.  He didn’t express any liking to U2 like he did to Prince.  And there was no dislike either.  So vividly I remember the dinning table in my humble living room in Hong Kong, with my family around the table, and the stereo by the window on top of a study table that was handcrafted by my father, with my help.  I can almost smell my mother’s cooking.

Music Power House!  What a nostalgic chain name.  Back in the days of UK and Paris, I camped inside HMV, inside Tower Records.  In Singapore, back in the late nineties, we had Music Power House (MPH) – a beautifully renovated, comfortable, spacious store that sold music and more.   Our National Library at the old site is gone, so is MPH next to it, making way for a tunnel that all of a sudden, appeared from nowhere.  The rapid change of the Singapore landscape: one day we had an underpass, one day it was gone, one day we had a pedestrian flyover, one day it was gone (the connection between the Citilink Mall and SunTech Mall in case if you wonder).

I bought “Zooropa (1993)” that came with a shiny silver MPH sticker and U2’s music has accompanied me during some of those long, long hours of traveling in Singapore.  Some say the traffic system here is efficient but as someone who was born in Hong Kong, I have my reservation.  Back in the days of “Zoorapa”, I had a Discman.  It was the days before wireless phone has become popularized.  I doubt if anyone back then would imagine that we could listen to music from one of these devices.  Maybe one day, music can be streamed directly into our brains.  I like “Zoorapa”, I really do.  The bizarre experimental sound of “Numb” and “Babyface” just works for me.  Don’t beat the oddballs.  Mass appeal doesn’t determine artistic value.  It is the same oddball who thinks “Monster” is the most interesting R.E.M. album ever made.

Paris, in the late nineties, I was the only one from Singapore working with a French client in the land of romance.  English, is a precious ”˜commodity’ in Paris.  The music, the television programs, the road signs, the food menus, the conversations around me, everything is in French.  My rare moment of getting in touch with something I can understand was the MTV program that I looked forward to, every working morning, inside a hotel room that I stayed for months.  It was this period of time when “Discothèque” from the “Pop (1997)” album was played and I would dance to the funky beats, amazed at the then 37 years old Bono.  His energy was infectious.  Disco music being brought back to life in the late nineties.  Paris, in the land of romance, watching Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. dancing in that silly disco beat every morning.  It was the anthem of my life.  I believe I could fly, I believe I could climb the Eiffel Tower (which I did, to the second level).

People don’t like “Zoorapa”, but I do.  People don’t like “Pop”, but I do.  And when U2 – in their own words – reapplied for the job to be the best band in the world in the beginning of this new millennium, I get disconnected with their last two efforts.  They have just released a new single “Get on Your Boots” from the upcoming album “No Line on the Horizon”.  It is meant to be a departure from their previous two albums.  If it is so, this oddball may love it.

Categories
Announcement Whacky Thoughts

Wrath! And the Pebbles Bouncing on the Marble Flooring of the S’pore Sphere – A Metaphor

A photo taken at a zoo in Hong Kong ... these animals have a very nice "voice".

To my readers who may have heard recent shocking news with regards to the brand new Association of Bloggers (Singapore) , well, I am still the secretary who intend to see this through (read my new theme for 2009) together with EastCoastLife.  I believe that challenges and obstacles are there to propel us forward, setbacks are there for us to see how badly we want that something, and if we want it bad enough, the entire universe will conspire to make it happen.  These are borrowed ideas from Paulo Coelho and Randy Pausch.  Those who have worked with me know my style.  Some see a wall and they stop.  I see a wall and find a way to crash through it.  Mark my words: AB(S) is re-grouping for round 2.

Democracy Comes with a Price

Recent events in my life trigger a recollection of an episode that happened last year, in a different setting, rather unrelated to these recent events.  Nevertheless, it has been in my to-blog list for quite some time.

In as much as I wish to see myself as a coffee boy, I am not.  But somehow, during those weeks of working with an International crowd flying from all over the world and into Malaysia, my priority then seemed to evolve around coffee in the morning and the food that we served.  Noises on the ground seemed to have a life on its own, an infectious fire that moved from the topic of workshop logistics to the aggressive inquisition on the leadership’s decisions previous made (read previous blog entry, quite a funny read).  Everybody wants to make decisions, but who is going to do the work?

One evening, my then project director of an African origin looked at me with his usual fatherly eyes, a look that has calmed many turbulent situations throughout the course of our project, and he shook his head and said, “Democracy comes with a price”.  I concurred.  When everybody is talking and nobody is working, when the directions and decisions set by the leaders are in a perpetual cycle of questioning and debate, nothing moves.  [Too much] democracy hinders progress.  Like most established organizations, a good level of chain-of-command is good.

One Message Different Delivery

Recent observation in life triggers my thought on how one single message can be delivered in different ways that has such a high contrast of shock and awe versus nurture with hope.  Hypothetically, I could make a sweeping statement saying that, “Singaporeans complain a lot, too much for the good of our progression of […]”.  I could hypothetically quote examples from my personal experience working overseas, perhaps add on my friend’s true story as well.   This good old friend of mine leads teams within a call center located in Malaysia handling calls from the region.  Let me tell you, he dreads calls from Singapore.  Specifically, Singapore.

That statement probably won’t sit too well with the public.  Hence, the hypothesis.

Alternatively I could quote the late American professor Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture and promote the idea of “Don’t complain, just work harder” (somehow there is an unspoken rule saying that whatever you write is less credible than quoting from other people).  And hope that someone listens.  Hope that people realize that they can be much stronger without being consumed by the negative energy of complaining just a tad too much.

Whether it works or not, at least I have done my part.  Share this with someone: don’t complain, just work harder.

On the Photo in This Blog

When I was studying in Hong Kong, I enjoyed studying at the Zoo located just a stone’s throw from my school in the morning and in the afternoon.  The serenity has its charm.  Once in while, animals from one cage would start to – for lack of a better word – make a lot of loud noises and that would trigger animals from another cage to do likewise.  The next cage, and the next.  Soon, there would be a symphony of animals’ calling that I could immerse into.  Suddenly, the zoo seems alive.  Some noises are just music to the my ears.

I took this photo during my trip to Hong Kong last December.  I wish the animals were not caged like those in Singapore Zoo.  Here is a close-up of that photo with high key effect.  If you see some shadow at the foreground, you are not seeing things.  It’s the cage.

A Close-up

Categories
Memorable Events Photography

River Hongbao 2009 Opening Ceremony – A Media Coverage

A sample of photos taken during the River Hongbao 2009 Opening Ceremony

I am honored to be invited as part of the media crew to cover the River Hongbao Opening Ceremony.  Having no prior experience to cover event of such scale and significance, I followed closely to EastCoastLife, the president of our Association of Bloggers (Singapore), listening to her advice on who is who, what to anticipate, and the general tips to cover events and etc.

In this blog entry, I am going to share two photo albums with you. 

  1. Click here (or onto the image above) to view my personal favorite collection created using Nikon Capture NX2
  2. Scroll down to view the event collection created using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.2

On the Event

From now till Feb 1, there are many reasons to visit the Floating Platform just off Marina Square.  First, you get to walk around the platform built originally as a temporary location for the National Day Parade.  The last time I visited the same location was during the National Day Parade Preview back in 2007.  One fine piece of work built by the Singapore Armed Force, MINDEF, and DSTA.

Second, there are lots of photography opportunities.  Beautiful light with lots of color.  At the center of the Floating Platform is a performance stage.  Check out the show schedule here.  Lots of talents.  EastCoastLife and I enjoyed the cultural performance thoroughly.

Third, admission is free.  The venue is well organized and secured.  Tripods are allowed so bring your family and friends and take some memorable shots!  If you drop a link of your photo album here, I will gladly take a look.  Let’s learn from each other.

A Media Crew’s Journal

It was the first time I stepped into a Press Conference.  We were side by side with the traditional media.  And I am happy that my camera is of an industrial standard as compares to what the pros are using.  We are all Nikonians, we are friends immediately without the need to exchange words.

Peggy Chen, our friendly media point of contact, walked us through the program in Mandarin.  I tried very hard to understand what she said (I am a Cantonese) because she did give out useful information on what to expect, where to take your best photo shots.  I think I understood about 70% of what she said.  When she repeated the information a second time in English, I was in tears of joy.

The professional photographers move very fast.  We were dashing ahead, turning around to take some killer shots, and dashed out again – as our VVIP (very-very important people) walked amongst the crowd.  Over 800 shots were made on that evening and I am amazed on how Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Wong Kan Seng managed to smile in almost every photo I took throughout the entire event.

I was told that firecrackers were banned in Singapore and now recently lifted.  When EastCoastLife asked the security guards if we could get up close to the firecrackers and they were shocked, politely said no.  After seeing how explosive those firecrackers were, I personally am glad that I was nowhere close.

As you can see in the photos here, the performance was beautiful, professionally done.  Apparently, EastCoastLife has seen the preview and was tipping me on what shots to take.  Neat!  My personal favorite of the entire collection – besides the picture of a very pretty Chinese girl on stage – is the 6 men stacking up in the form of a totem. 

Sharing of Photography Experience

I have many photography mentors to help me with this learning journey.  So, I wish to thank Ken for the wonderful tip on: bring more than one lens for the event and change on the spot.  Because of this tip, I brought along my telephoto zoom lens as well.  I am so glad that I did.  I would have missed quite a number of shots that turn out to contain some of my favorites.

I also wish to thank Mathew to convince me that there are industrial strength battery chargers out there and with the right batteries, my camera can perform as though it is on steroid.  And just the day before, I invested S$200 for a charger and countless batteries (12 high capacity ones and 8 free not too high capacity batteries that come with the charger).  That makes my already heavy camera even heavier.  But that is no big deal, just need to do more weightlifting.  With all the quality batteries, my camera was shooting at 8 frames per second with the flash gun to match.

Two awesome tips!

Besides the two lenses – wide angle and telephoto – I brought my tripod and shutter release cable as well.  That night was also the first evening I tried the MUP (mirror up) function to minimize the mechanical vibration caused by the movement of the mirror inside the camera.  MUP only makes sense if you have a shutter release cable.

I have nearly underestimated the number of photos I would shoot especially with high speed shooting mode.  My 8GB Extreme IV memory card was barely enough (for over 800 shots taken).  I have completely depleted the 8 AA rechargeable batteries on the grip.  And I reckon my flash gun would need new batteries really soon.  Hence, lessons learned are:

  • Always anticipate where the VVIP will be heading.  And keep dashing forward (without knocking anyone down!).
  • Observe where the professional photographers stand (great tip from EastCoastLife).
  • If you can’t afford an extra camera body (like me), bring extra lenses for the event.
  • And if you are using one of the entry level dSLR cameras, do yourself a favor and get the 18-200mm lens (for my D700, I use the 24-70mm and 70-200mm, both at f/2.8).  It costs S$1,000 but you can almost shoot anything from any distance especially with the flash gun mounted.  Not large enough aperture is seldom an issue with flash.
  • Bring extra memory cards and batteries.  Even if you may not need to use them, they offer a good peace of mind.
  • Bring along an assistance to help you with your gears.  Better still, bring a pretty one so that he or she can be your subject if need to too.

Afterthoughts

As a blogger who participate in the New Media movement, I can certainly see the benefit of being part of a legal entity that complies to the Singapore Societies Act.  Much like how bloggers – myself included – get into company events through the PR companies, an association for the bloggers get us in touch with the events of national significance. 

Being bounded by the Societies Act does have its restriction, especially in the areas that touch onto Singapore politics.  But the upside is that not only the government, but also other established associations acknowledge our existence.  More doors will be open for us to “promote, protect, and educate” our members.  And inevitably, our key stakeholder list will expand beyond the Blogosphere – for the better I reckon.

At times I wonder how many active societies are there in Singapore.  I think in time to come, there will be more and more associations for the different groups of bloggers to cater for different special needs.  Is there a one size fits all?  Probably not, in my personal humble opinion.

Related Link: Personal Photo Collection – River Hongboa Opening Ceremony (A Highlight)

Categories
Memorable Events Other People's Lives

Featured in My Paper – Behind the Scene

My Paper

This must be the first time I see my Chinese name printed on a local newspaper.  I think my parents in Hong Kong would be happy if they read that.  The first time I saw my English name printed on newspaper was back in the Project Eyeball era.  How I miss Project Eyeball.  The good old days.  Had it been published free of charge like My Paper and TODAY and let the advertisement funds the operation, I think it would survive.  I still believe that the 80-cent Project Eyeball was ahead of its time.

After numerous long email exchange, MSN exchange, and short message exchange with the friendly My Paper journalist Koh Soo May (who has a lovely Chinese name that unfortunately I don’t know how to type it out here) over the weekend, I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into my favorite Coffee Bean at the Republic Plaza looking at the pile of My Paper at the counter.  You know what it is like when you interact with a journalist.  There is this element of uncertainty on what he or she is ultimately going to write, whether you will be in a positive or a not so positive light.

I tried to keep my cool but couldn’t contain my excitement.  I flipped opened the bilingual paper.  Front page (the Chinese side), I saw my site.  Gosh!  And on the third page as well.  I am much impressed by the level of details on the coverage of the topic: Bloggers – Power to the Commercial World (something like that in English).  Journalist Soo May has managed to interview the Companies, the PR firms, and the bloggers covering the areas of social media, product and service reviews and endorsement, and the trend within and outside Singapore.  Bravo!

Good read it is, I was so excited and delighted that I told one of the staff in Coffee Bean quietly behind the counter that I was on My Paper.  That was, by the way, after she asked me for a career advise if she should study Medical Science or Nursing (I love the staff of Coffee Bean at the Republic Plaza, very friendly people always with a smile).  She too was so excited that she grabbed one of the papers.  And then I realized that she cannot read Chinese, and I realized that quite a number of my good friends cannot either.

Oh well, for those who can read Chinese, click here to view the first page and here to view the subsequent one.

I guess most of us read the paper or any publication without really given much thoughts on what’s behind the scene.  After briefly worked with Soo May observing how much time she put into the articles in the middle of the night and over the weekend while busy reaching out to the network, I think I now read the newspaper with a better appreciation.  I always thought that my few hours spent per blog entry is hard work.  I certainly wouldn’t wish to write for a newspaper agency for now.

And so, this blog entry is dedicated to all the hard working journalists who face all sorts of challenges to deliver us stories, stories that don’t usually have a long lifetime and before they are even published, these journalists need to work on the next topic, and the next.

External Site: MyPaper.sg

PS. There is this one person from TEXT100 I would like to thank for all the wonderful opportunities and you know who you are.  Thank you!

Categories
Memorable Events Photography

Captured Moments of My Sister’s Wedding in Hong Kong (2008.12.28)

A Sample from My Personal Collection of My Sister's Wedding

Fortunately I was not the main wedding photographer.  What hard work it was!  With no control over light quality, background, and where everybody stands, I did the best I could.  And I did the best I could with my first dSLR camera that was less than 2 months old and my non-existing knowledge of Photoshop.  At times I am amused by the faith my little sister has in me.  I love my little sis.  I have been practicing hard, for this very moment.

Can’t wait to see the result?  Click here but please do come back.

I have been resisting to ‘photoshop’ my pictures for a long time until now.  Simply because I’d like to show the world what I can possibly do with my camera and my camera only.  Here is an analogy for you.  Showing you what could have done with my camera (to the point of no cropping) is like performing my music live to you.  The artwork is not perfect, it has its flaws, but (I hope) it has its charm, a sense of genuineness.

Most professionals do some forms of post production work on their photos.  Competitions allow that too.  Hence to me, admiring a moderately or heavily ‘photoshopped’ picture is like listening to a music album.  Perfectly finished and generally accepted.  Some cross the line and they have become more like a digital art to me.  No disrespect to those who are skilled in post production work, I personally enjoy playing my music live.  I.e. my photos as they are being shot (or could have been shot).  Having said that, after ‘photoshopped’ this little photo collection of mine, I do enjoy admiring the end result of this twenty odd pictures, out of 500.

It is surreal to think that my little sister is now married.  It seems like yesterday when I changed her diapers, when I was 4.  Now, here are the rest of my photo collection.

Related Link: Personal Photo Collection of My Sister’s Wedding (HK), What a Fruitful Year that Ends with a Bang: My Sister’s Wedding

Categories
Reflection

A New Theme for the New Year – Follow It Through!

A Volcano in Bandung, Straight from my Nikon D700

Following my annual tradition in determining a new theme for a new year – pretty much like how a Pope is chosen – a few ideas have been going round my head for days and I have been waiting for an answer [from above].  As though I saw fumata bianca raising up from my ears, one day I woke up with such clarity of this-is-it.  Avid readers have witnessed how such a simple concept called theme has shaped my life in a sustained manner over the years.  I welcome my friends’ questions such as “Does it really work?” and “How does it work?” and I would like to briefly share my thoughts with you.

One, unlike New Year Resolution that often revolves around things that I should not do and things that I set out to do, a theme captures the essence and the internal driving force and reasoning on what I aspire to achieve, which gives me a much stronger willpower in battling with the daily little decisions.  And two, annual themes are aggregative in nature.  A theme is supposed to make me a better person and after one long year of practice, it should become my way of life.  Sure, there are occasions when I need to take out an old theme from the closet, blow off the dust, and give it a new look.  Every year, I have dreamed of a new theme since 1996.  Some themes are public, some are not.

This year, I pick the theme “Follow It Through!”.  Last year’s theme “Do It!” has done wonder.  It prompted me to start doing so many different things and has kept my life very exciting albeit chaotic.  But it has its shortcomings.  Quick wins and low hanging fruits are favored over longer term activities that require sustained effort and resources and interest.

Sustained interest is hard.

So what kind of ”˜projects’ fall under the umbrella of “Follow It Through!”?  Quite a lot as it turns out to be.  I want to continue to head towards a healthier lifestyle.  Already abstained from alcohol for close to one full year, I want to substantially reduce the intake of meat (especially red meat) and unhealthy ingredients.  And I want to resume my regular exercise ritual.  I want to look healthy, feel healthy, and be healthy.  Why stop at body health?  This year, I have resumed my spiritual ritual and have started to attend Mass regularly.  Weekly close encounter with God seems like something mandatorily non-negotiable.  Besides, I begin to derive new meanings to my reinvigorated faith.

My friends ask what our band will do next.  Good question.  We finally played a live gig.  That is “Do It!”.  Now, we need a series of next steps.  That is hard work.  Cynthia and I have passed our level 2 Spanish test with ”˜flying colors’ as informed by the school (more update to come!) and we intend to continue to level 3 and 4 in the year 2009.  That too is hard work.  Our home is long overdue for stage 2 of renovation.  I think Cynthia would jump in tears of joy when she reads this.  It is high time we execute what we have been talking for years, what I have been sitting on for years.  That is very hard work.

Many ideas have been floating in the air for far too long.  I see fumata bianca.  It is less sexy than “Do It”.  But it is time to “Follow It Through!”.

PS. A picture taken during my trip to Bandung at one of the volcanoes.  It is straight from my camera as I prefer to do without post production if possible.  Strangely, the color looks a lot more vibrant before I convert the image into JPG that is what you see here.