Island of Dreams

Sibu Island Resort (SIR) was the favourite island I loved to visit for my annual retreats. It is one of the few beach resorts lying on a cluster of island known as Pulau Sibu. SIR was the only resort on one of the islands and it's my pauper's Club Med. I enjoyed walking down to the semi-private beach where I once tried to rip apart a coconut as if I was an Orang Utan. I spent many good times and cherish memories with friends and my wife.

The small little island is where we would go to snorkel. I remember during one of my visits, the boatman left us about 50 metres from shore as it was high tide and he didn't want to risk his boat running aground on the corals. We swam against the outgoing currents to reach the shore. It was then that we met a guy from East Malaysia, and he caught a really large squid that day. He took it back and had the chef make a tasty grilled-squid dinner. He was really kind and shared with us his feast.

I wish I could turn back time... so much has changed. Pain and suffering had crept in.

Anyway, since it is also the National Day weekend for Malaysians, I dedicate these fond memories to my friends across the causeway (some in Singapore). Merdeka!

Lonely Boy

This picture was taken outside of where we stayed during our trip to Siem Reap. We just had our dinner and were on our way back to the guesthouse when I saw this guy sitting on the roof of the opposite building; watching and waiting as Mother Earth drew her curtains.

I used this picture a lot whenever I felt lonely, but perhaps it is more deserving. There's a time to "act" and left for the day. When evening comes, we go into silent contemplation and reflection. That's what it should portray!

Why does dawn symbolise hope while dusk is often associated with despair? I have always enjoyed sunsets, they remind me of rest that I desire.

Sunset in Kaslo

Lakewood Inn is perhaps the most memorable stop we made on our nine day journey. First, we got lost. Yes, for the first time in the entire trip, my Garmin 60CSx failed me. But not that the GPS wasn't any good. It is still the best navigation device I have used so far. The problem was with the maps. Lakewood Inn was so remote that even the townsfolk in Kaslo did not know of its existence.

Fortunately, a quarter solved our problems. We called and our host gave us general directions on how to get to the inn. And so we backtracked and headed down a steep winding dirt track that eventually brought us to our destination. Phew.

It's the kind of lakeside resort that gives you the creeps (Crystal Lake feeling), but yet had so much peace and tranquility suitable for a restful vacation. There was no communication with the outside world except at the owner's home.

If you are in need for a real vacation, I would strongly recommend Lakewood Inn.

Dawn Breaks Over Medicine Lake

This picture was taken during my road trip in 2006. We woke up early during our two days stay in Jasper to try and catch sunrise in the mountains. Here as dawn breaks over the mountains, a strong warm beam casts its light on the trees growing along the banks of Medicine Lake.

The Last Beacon

This picture was taken at Porteau Cove on our way to Whistler. A spider had spun a fine web just next to the lamp, giving the feeling of age and abandonment. The lone lamp with the blue sea as a back drop acts like a beacon, hence I entitled this picture "The Last Beacon".

Thing of the Past?

This picture was taken at protest march staged by Dr Chee Soon Juan and his supporters, during the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Annual Meeting 2006 that was held in Singapore. These "protesters" were recently charged for their willful disobedience of Singapore's strict laws against public assemblies. In the coming days, we may see some amendments to these rules after a rousing National Day Rally speech by Prime Minster Lee Hsien Loong.

Disclaimer: I took this photo as a record of events that I believe belongs to Singapore's history. It does not support any political parties/agendas or represent my political views.

Keeping It Clean

This is one of my favourites, even though some might disagree with the framing, blur and noise. Here it reminds me of the people who have taken the less glamorous vocation of cleaning the streets, and how they have kept Singapore "Clean and Green".

Lonely Hope

Yellow is frequently used to symbolise hope and gray is commonly associated with stormy periods. It reminds me of how I often felt and sometimes still do, and I had a Barry Manilow song to help me get through.

Fill My Cup

This was another picture taken in Chinatown, Singapore. We were at a Hindu temple taking snapshots of worshiper on the sunny weekend. There was this cute little boy running around drinking goat's milk. Before this photo was taken, he was busy posing for us photographers wannabes. Later, her ran to this lady (I assume that's his grandma) and asked for more milk.

The caption for this photo inspired me to find an old hymn on Imeem, and here's what I found...

Yellow Meat Guarantee

A taste of home. I didn't realise I had this picture in my stash. This was taken for my Street Photography course assignment. A group of us spent the afternoon and evening in Singapore's Chinatown taking pictures. Funny... I wonder what other meat colours can you find in durians. Pink?

A Helping Hand

I took this photo from a coach shuttling us from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, our next and final destination. We were passing one of the rural villages along the banks of the Tonlé Sap when I saw these two ladies packing their personal belongings atop a minivan. The misty effect is not the result of any camera tricks but because the photo was shot through a glass window.

Infinite Chains

In one of the rooms on the ground floor of Tuol Sleng, shackles used to chain prisoners are hung in rows that provides a grim remembrance of how many victims were tortured and kill on this compound.

Finding Myself in Vancouver

Here's one more from the Granville Island photoshoot. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to move out of my comfort zones.

Trapped

Today's my friend and colleague's last day at iCapture, so I thought I post something different and dedicate it to our friendship. This series of photograph was taken at Granville Island, a TFCD shoot with Sally. There were three photographers that day: Byron, my sister and I.

The Room

This is one of the rooms used to imprison the innocent. The chains shackled the detainees in the cramp makeshift walls. The size of this cell was already considered a luxury.

Green Pastures

These photos were taken as a record of prisoners who were imprisoned, tortured and killed. This is one of many boards that captures the images of these men, women and children who were murdered by pure insanity.

You will find many close up photos of these victims here. Looking at them brings me tremendous sadness as I recall the many stories of pain that hung on the top floor of this savage building that used to be a school.

Till today, I remember the story about a woman engineer who answered Pol Pot's call to rebuild the Angkor empire. She was trained in developing irrigation systems and quickly left her village so that she could help develop water systems that could help bring back the golden era where padi fields were bountiful. Little did she know that she would be sent to her death.

Can such cruelty and injustice exist?

Sadly and painfully... yes.

The Bed

A bed is always considered a place to rest, a place of comfort. But in Tuol Sleng, this was exactly the opposite. The picture hanging on the wall was taken shortly after Vietnamese troops liberated the city. The bed and instruments of torture were used for the most unthinkable reasons.

The Burning Bush

The tree, evening glow and streaming clouds gave an impression of a fiery forest. The picture was taken in Kaslo, BC.

Determination or Desperation?

This picture was taken at protest march staged by Dr Chee Soon Juan and his supporters, during the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Annual Meeting 2006 that was held in Singapore.

Disclaimer: I took this photo as a record of events that I believe belongs to Singapore's history. It does not support any political parties/agendas or represent my political views.

Despair

This picture is self-describing. The pile of bones and rags were left there deliberately as a testimony to the horrible crimes committed.

Learning

This being an auspicious day (888), I shall post a more palatable snapshot of Cambodia.

We visited Siem Reap after spending 2 days in Phnom Penh, during which, we visited the famous temples of the great Angkor empire. Despite my fear of heights, I decided to join my friends in scaling to the top of Angkor Wat, and I was really glad I did. I found this scene of a professional photographer (inferred from the D2X strap and her request for a signed model release) conversing with two monks. I assumed she was on a photo assignment.

What makes this my favourite photo taken during my trip to Cambodia, was the humility to learn portrayed in this setting. Let me attempt not to sound too prejudice... the couple appeared to be from a first world country, while the monks were obviously from a much poorer and less developed nation. Even so, the lady photographer found it necessary be seated at a lower position as she listened attentively to her "teachers". Remarkable!

Blood Memories

When we arrived at Choeung Ek, many little kids came to greet us with offers to pose in front of our cameras. You would hear their pleading voices saying, "Kamera, kamera, one, two, three smile." And, "1 dollar, 1 dollar". We had learnt that these kids were often victims of syndicates exploiting the little ones to beg for the tourist dollars. And I guess that's why I was very reluctant to take up any of their offers. Besides, if you obliged one kid, a flock soon follows.

In the middle of the Killing Fields site stands a structure known as the Stupa. Interestingly, this is what a stupa is supposed to be:

A stupa (from Sanskrit and Pāli: m., स्तूप, stūpa, literally meaning "heap") is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics--once thought to be places of Buddhist worship--typically, the remains of a Buddha or saint. [source]

But for this great monument, skulls, bone fragments, clothes, sandals etc., are placed on wooden shelves as a testimony to the horrible crimes that happened on this bloodied soil. At the entrance of the stupa, there's a small urn for placing joss sticks offered for the dead.

Being there, and even now, it all seemed so surreal. How could men be so capable of such atrocities? Men, women and children brutally beaten to death and thrown into pits to die. But sadly, it is real.

Peek in the Past, Look to the Future

Perhaps some of you might recall that I was using this title as my MSN Personal Message together with this photo as an icon. This picture was also taken from within the minivan that was bringing us to Choeung Ek.

The full caption I had in mind actually consists of three parts, but for brevity I decided on only using the first and last phrases. Here's what the picture attempts to portray:

1. Peek in the Past - I was seated in the middle on the first row, and had a perfect view of the road ahead. It was hot and sunny that day, so whilst we sat in the van, we had the curtains blocking out most of the sunshine, hence giving this high contrast view through the windshield. The vehicle had just turned from a well-paved asphalt road, onto a dirt track as we made our way to the Killing Fields. There were no road dividers, and you can see oncoming motorbikes and bicycles sharing the narrow path. Looking out, you can also see zinc-roofed timber houses that were a stark contrast from the brick an mortar buildings in the heart of Phnom Penh.

2. Dwell in the Present - The three of us were shaded in the comfort of the minivan and kept cool with modern day innovations such as the air-conditioner!

3. Look to the Future - It was a long journey and we were anxious to arrive at our destination. The narrowing perspective of the road also gives a feeling of the "light at the end of the tunnel".

Exposing My Toast

A special request from stan, here are the codes...

Python script to query Freebase [download]:

from django.utils import simplejson
from freebase.api import HTTPMetawebSession, MetawebError

mss = HTTPMetawebSession('www.freebase.com')

print 'Content-Type: application/x-suggestions+json; charset=UTF-8'

form = cgi.FieldStorage()
queryString = form['q'].value

try:
 results = mss.search(queryString, 'false', '10', '0', 'html')
 suggestions = [queryString]
 terms = []
 for result in results:
     terms.append(result.name)
 suggestions.append(terms)
 print simplejson.dumps(suggestions)
except Exception:
 print "<An error occured.>"

Additions to freebase-python API (session.py) [download]:

def search(self, _query, _strict, _limit, _start, _escape):
 """search Freebase"""
 service = '/api/service/search'

 self.log.info('%s: %s',
               service,
               Delayed(logformat, _query))

 r = self._httpreq_json(service, form=dict(query=_query,strict=_strict,limit=_limit,start=_start,escape=_escape))

 return self._mqlresult(r)

Please feel free to point out any areas that I can improve. I'm still trying to resolve the issue whereby the suggestions do not return quickly enough.

Note: The text is truncated at the end. I will post a link to the source codes later. My apologies. [Updated] Download links now available.

Pagoda of Enlightenment (Wat Phnom)

This majestic Wat (pagoda) was one of the first landmarks we visited when we arrived in Phnom Penh. The weather was hot, humid and we had just settled in. Hardly a good start to our adventure.

Before visiting the temple, we each had a USD1 meal that included a plate of "nasi goreng" (Cambodian-style) and a huge fresh coconut. After lunch, we walked up the stairs to visit the temples that were built atop the same hill. Whilst taking pictures and enduring the warm afternoon, an english-speaking local guide walked over and offered to show us around. We knew what this meant: a huge tip was to follow.

Strangely, my worldly-wise friend decided to take up his offer and hence, we spent most of the afternoon walking around, appreciating the architecture and listening not so attentively to the stories the guide was sharing with us. I was preoccupied with snapping pictures and was hardly paying any attention to him. Although I did learnt that head of a Buddha statue was buried under the concrete dome. The statue head was recovered by Lady Penh who later erected the hilltop temple to house it. The capital city was also named in her honour.

After our mini-tour, he brought us to a nearby drink stall to cool down from the heat. There the killer question came - how much? It didn't turn out too expensive, only USD10. Seven dollars for his time, and 1 dollar for each can of coke we drank. I just didn't like the feeling of being suckered.

But while we were seated chatting with him. He suddenly told us about how he planned to live his life. It had all the hallmarks of a practising buddhist and I deeply admired his simplicity. He was a tourguide by profession. He had been doing outbound tours previously, be recently changed to inbound tours such as the one we just had. And when he has earned enough, he wanted to travel the world. After he is satisfied, he planned to return and settled down - wife, kids etc. Then he would school his kids and watch them grow up. Then when he's old, children are all grown up, he'll daily sit out in his backyard and await his death.

That short time we had conversing about his life made every cent count.

Another physical milestone

... and a picture to celebrate the breath-taking moment (something we lacked at that point in time).


Here's an earlier photo of Cypress Lake at an elevation of 802 metres.

Rift

I took this picture in 2006, whilst travelling with two friends in Cambodia. We were on our way to the Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields. It was a really hot day, but I guess these Cambodian kids were used to it. I wasn't too sure what was going on, but I snap this shot from the minivan.


Thoughts about this photograph came only after I returned home to Singapore and worked on processing my huge stash of images from my trip. This picture signifies many conflicts we know of; we turn our backs to each other and cross murky barriers. Sometimes we use tools that lead to bloodshed. Aren't there better ways to resolve our differences?