1) For finding an elusive Hani translator online and getting the job done quick and good.
2) For finding an ex-student, sweet Duc who sat down for 7 hours straight with me to translate the nightmare of a week’s worth of Vietnamese interviews. Even when I almost gave up, he didn’t. Thank you for your remarkable attitude and for making my day when you thanked me for being the first person in your life to pay you a salary!
3) The mighty little red ants, especially dear Kang Li, for helping me produce the six slideshows and lifting off a huge weight on my chest.
4) Jeanette for buying me lunch on a stressful Friday, and for the familiarity of it all.
5) Iggy for being with me every step of the way. No day no night for me, no day no night for you.
6) Emails of encouragement from people who matter
7) Xinyi and Pi, I would not have made it without you. And my sweet friends scattered all over.
8) Jony for ensuring my house is a home (Food).
9) Mike Tze for so many things, that led to even more things.
10) My mum and dad for imparting their tenacity to me, and teaching me that passion matters, a lot.
11) Uncle CY for being in Beijing and readily helping me photograph Mr Bird, who luckily happened to be there for a conference too.
12) Mr Bird for accepting our interview.

Crazy work week, character building.
Whatever it is, I know it’s all going to be worth it.

SOMETIME earlier this year after reading that Singapore would host APEC and President Obama, I was determined to get myself involved in one way or another. As the months went by it was always at the back of my head – How can I photograph it since I’m a freelance photographer and the wires would definitely have no space for newbies to be in the thick of action.

Sometime in late August, I received a phonecall from S. S was one of those people I knew online from my teenage blogging years. Although we hardly ever had a face-to-face conversation, she always lurked in the background with utmost support for what I do. It was also thanks to S that I got to represent Singapore at the ASEAN Youth camp in 2008. This time round, she had connections to an official photography job for the APEC Business Advisory Council dialogue meetings – on condition that I had to pull together four other photographers and work around the allocated budget.

I was absolutely thrilled. Managed to round up four other guys and grew progresively excited as the whole country went into full preparation mode to welcome the APEC delegates and leaders. I was especially excited to see Obama, Arroyo and Hu Jintao up close and personal, without having to jostle with the other media. Alas on the morning of the assignment, the papers reported that Obama’s flight was delayed and he would miss the dialogue session. Damn! Huge disappoinment there.

Still, it was a very privileged experience to have official access to photograph these world leaders. I was trying to reconcile the preconceived ideas I had about them — These people were on the papers 24/7. I grew up watching some of them on CNN. Their words moved markets, their policies moved people. They were loved, hated, respected, shamed.

And at some point while trying to avoid getting shoved by Hu Jintao’s bodyguards and chasing Abhisit before he vanished into the crowd, it struck me that these prime ministers and presidents were mere human (with an unimaginable great weight on their shoulders). Suddenly my camera bag didn’t seem that heavy anymore.

Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who came by Objectifs last Saturday. This was my third photo fair, having taken part in last year’s Affordable Photo Fair and 2902 Gallery’s On the Wall event, and definitely my most successful one to date.

I love photo fairs because I get to meet people and share with them what I do. To kick it off, the thrill of having a very nice lady buy not one, but five of my photo prints pretty much got me on an adrenaline high for the rest of the day. Thank you to everyone who bought sets of Road Stops 2009 and a print or two. Even if you didn’t buy anything, thank you for just coming by my booth and asking me questions… questions that remind me of the stories behind the images, the motivation that pushes me to walk this path. I am really glad to have you listen to my stories. Special thanks to the superwomen at Objectifs for organizing this smashing event in their lovely new home, my dearest friends and family who came in full force with lunch and snacks in hand. :)

Here’s a slideshow of the prints up for sale this year.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

If you missed the fair and are still interested in ordering prints or Road Stops 2009, please view free to view the Catalogue and contact me. I’m always available to meet up.

You are invited to The 4th Affordable Photo Fair on 21 Nov (Sat) from 11am – 7pm.

Here are some of the images on sale. I will also be launching Road Stops 2009, a set of 12 greeting cards.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

For more information, check out the Catalogue and visit http://www.objectifs.com.sg/apf/

See you there!

Out of Focus exhibition opening/Listening to Steve McCurry's Speech (Photo: Jonathan Loh)

IT’S been almost a month since one of the best days in my year-old career. Thank you all for making it possible — Emme and my friends from Objectifs, Shirlene, Mum, Soe Soe, Pi, my supportive, lovely friends and family and of course, Steve for graciously opening our exhibition and your endearing speech. All I remember from that night now is talking nonstop for three hours, hugging people and laughing. As a freelance worker drifting from place to place and going through experiences largely alone, exhibitions work wonders because they, hopefully, help close the inevitable distance between my self and social circle that’s emerged with this career path.

Many people have asked me — Why Burma? Why Monks? For a start, this project originated in 2007 when I was working on my final-year project at Journalism school. Out of all the 10 ASEAN countries that I had travelled to, Burma was the only one that really touched my heart. Maybe it’s because we’re so different. Growing up in sheltered Singapore where I never ever had to question if there was a next meal or whether I would get to go to school, I was humbled by the effort taken by different social clusters of parents and monks to educate their children. No longer was education just about A1s or distinctions, there was a noble, greater goal behind it — to bring change to the country. Many times, I wondered how things would be different if Aung San Suu Kyi were freed. Some Burmese whom I interviewed have accepted that such change will not happen in their lifetime. Buddhism helps to ease the pain, it helps them accept their situation and look forward to a better future. They believe education will lead the way there, eventually. I grappled with the idea of acceptance because here in Singapore, I was always taught to improve. It’s always about getting more, progressing faster, becoming better. Where does it end?

The children I photographed were so contented with their simple lives. It’s true in a way that you can’t lose what you never had.

I will be showing my work on child monks in Myanmar as part of the Month of Photography Asia at the SMU Gallery from June 20 – July 19.

Join me for the opening on June 20 from 6pm onwards if you’re in town! Really honoured to have National Geographic Steve McCurry As the Guest-of-Honour.

About OUT OF FOCUS

An annual component of the Month of Photography Festival is Out of Focus, an exhibition aimed at presenting new photography talent in Singapore. Each year, the Festival exhibits emerging Singapore-based photographers. Out of Focus 2009 presents the works of three emerging Singaporean photographers: Jean Loo, Muhammad Nuruddin Bin Ahmad Fuad (Dyn), Then Chih Wey. Each of the three photographers explored Asia in their own way. In Jean Loo’s series, “Saved by Buddha”, she documents the ethnic minority children in Myanmar who have been handicapped by their country’s internal strife and who find a safe haven in monasteries and the opportunity to receive an education. Dyn has chosen to engage literally in his own backyard an open field near where he lives and spent many nights photographing the environment. This series of long night exposures questions the permanence of space and reality versus fiction, challenging the viewer to reconsider his/her environment. Then Chih Wey decided to step away from the daily grind to embark on what became an 8-month trip across South and Central Asia. His thoughtful yet visually poetic images give us an insight into Bangladesh, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan and Iran.

About SAVED BY BUDDHA: SULAMUNI’S SEVEN

This is the story of seven young novice monks from the Palaung hill tribe who live as novice monks in the Sulamuni Brick Monastery in Mandalay.

For most of Myanmar’s rural population, monastic education is an escape route from the fields of poverty into a better future. Living a simple life guided by Buddhist teachings, the boys are provided with free food, lodging and education till they turn 16. This way, they are ensured a shelter from the harsh conditions beyond the walls of the monastery.

Coming from a privileged nation where there was no question about access to basic education, I was humbled by the effort undertaken by the network of monks and people scattered across the country who are all trying their best to provide each underprivileged child with a chance at improvement.

In the grander scheme of things, this is their way of sowing the seeds of change as they educate these children who hold the key to Myanmar’s future. Having survived a destructive socialist rule only to end up under the tight control of a power-hungry military junta since 1988, the country’s walk to freedom is nowhere near the end. The light at the end of the tunnel, though, still shines for those who believe.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

Date: 20 June 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 6pm onwards
Guest of honour: National Geographic Photographer Steve McCurry
Guest of honour arrival: 630pm
Venue: SMU Gallery / Singapore Management University, School of Economics, 90 Stamford Road.
Nearest MRT station: Dhoby Gaut MRT
Public parking is available within the SMU building and nearby at The Cathay and Plaza by the Park buildings.
Dress code: Smart Casual
Exhibition dates: 21 June – 19 July / 12pm – 7pm. Closed on Sundays

Hope to see you there :)

People make Places. And when there’s 1.13 billion of them, or one sixth of the world’s people in one country, get ready for an amazing adventure. It was in Bangalore’s City Market that I wondered where in the world I was. In the middle of honking buses, overpowering flower scents and endless streams of humans and cows, I stood rooted to the ground, unable to do anything but absorb the life that unfolded in front of me. In the course of documenting this mix of colour, chaos and character, I found another side to Magic.