New Year, New Perspective

Every year we strive to achieve new goals. For some, it's as simple as learning a new language, or waking up earlier daily, sometimes we get into more complex decisions to examine the heart and tap into the complexities of being a better spouse, parent, child, partner or employer. And in the midst of all these issues, we forget that we are blessed. Some people may very well be fighting a life threatening illness and may just be fighting to live through the day or to feed the family.

I've never really penned down my year end thoughts and decided (apprehensively) that i should do so this time. I have read many blogs and contemplated contemplating the year that is about to pass; and come. I'm sure like many of my friends we fear the commitment which comes with voicing out one's thoughts. Sometimes i even fear looking back to see what i have or worse; haven't achieved. Then there is the whole issue of goals. Do we put too much pressure on ourselves? Do we just write them down to make ourselves feel better psychologically? Perhaps. Good for you if you have achieved them over 2007. But what's to come in 2008?

My friends have told me that i've become calmer as a person. More collected as compared to my old impulsive jumping up and down like state in the past. They say this to me in reference to ever since i've had Nate, my son, who's 13.5 months old now. I struggle to see the change in myself but i choose to take it as a compliment. I hope that it only means that i can make more thoughtful decisions and perhaps have matured. Or maybe i'm just getting jaded in which i hope not. I'm still emotional most of the times but I'm trying to keep that under control. I am one to show my feelings outwardly and am not very shy about it, most times i can't help it even if i try. I think there is something very sad sometimes about people hiding their true feelings from each other because of pride. But that's a whole different topic and i hate to digress.

So how do we approach the new year? I've been thinking hard about it. Do i look at what i haven't done? Do i try to achieve what i haven't done in the past year, next year better? Bigger? And Faster? Yes. The logical answer is to move upwards. But from what basis is all this done? Who are you comparing yourself too? How much can you afford practically as a person? And what approach is your heart taking. What is your anchor?

My senior pastor gave a very good sermon yesterday. Pastor Edmund mentioned about how we need to get rid of the spirit of complaining and the spirit of comparison because we can never be satisfied; which means that we can never be happy. I agree. We spend too much time complaning and comparing and worrying. And the only way to break this bond is in 3 words: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.

And when we do some soul searching as we count our blessings, we find our wants changing into needs. We become more appreciative of our family and friends and we become less greedy. It makes one happier. Thank God.

So now as i write, i find myself calmer. Worrying about the future is not going to help. Yes there is a need to self examine and move on; but not without the Grace and Love of God. There is only so much i can do to ensure that Nate stays healthy. I can lock him up in a sterile room with padded walls and drink ginseng chicken soup everyday with birdsnest as dessert. But if he's heart decides to stop right now, there is nothing i can do. I look back into the year and though this may not interest you; its purely for personal reflection, i count my blessings and there are many. I hope that this will inspire you to search your heart and that it will give you and idea of what's to come and how in 2008.

ON FAMILY: - It came into action full-force. It hit me like the north-east monsoon at it's best and the wind's still blowing. I learn patience. I appreciate my parents more and I never cease to wonder how they coped with 2 of us. I see the cause and effects of my relationship with my most inspiring and influencial parent, my father, and i see how much i am similar to him. Our interests, our communication skills and our insecurities and strengths. This makes me wonder how my actions will directly affect my son and hope that this alone can direct me to be a better parent. -I communicate better with father because i have learnt to speak to him about the way i feel now that i understand the way i feel. I forgive him for the things i feel are lacking or the things that were done to hurt in the past because i see the same weaknesses and the things that drive these weakenesses in MYSELF as well right now. -In the course of time I felt extremely trapped being a wife and mother and i rebelled but i count my blessings and i have a very patient and loving husband who accepts me for who i am. He supports everything that i do that is reasonable and has never let me fall to the point i can't get up. I understand and am still learning about the “till death do we part” bit and that having a kid is very different from having goldfish as pets. My husband and i have a very good thing going right now. -My grandfather passed away later in the year and it made death very real to me. I haven't had a death in the family since i was 5. Family matters and they rally together in times like these. -We took over from my grandfather after his death, an indonesian helper. Thank God for her initiative and honesty and i am learning to be a friend cum employer. I've never had a helper in my life or agreed with the idea of having one. But because of her, i have some normalcy in my life back and i enjoy Nate more. -We move to the new house in a couple of weeks. Never done that in my life and see God's timing in everything from the birth of Nate, to the helper, to the house move to the Beijing stint etc. -I've made efforts to go to my in-law's which is 5 minutes from the airport weekly with Nate because they love him and miss him and i like my Mother in law's cooking very very much. She has talent.

ON WORK -Work has been good and i'm enjoying working closely with Gillian our reporter. I Thank God i have such a great and smart and professional colleague to work with. We can count on each other and that's what matters. -I had a chance to work with great friends back at the Beijing bureau for 3 plus weeks and experience some real work which taught me so much about being a photojournalist. And i learnt that our singaporean-mandarin is not that bad after all. I J girls can survive! -I organised the 13th ASEAN summit shoot for AP and am blessed to have a boss that trusts me. -Nothing major happened and no one got hurt on shoots.

ON HEALTH -I've started working out regularly again and terence has been supportive enough to allow me the time to do this early in the mornings and even joins me on runs. -Meeting up with old girlfriends again while road biking helps us bond and keeps us fit. Fellowship in fresh air works. We are training hard and loving every minute of it. Praying for health and strong hearts. I've never been healthier and hope i can stay this way.

On a separate note, i'm glad i made contact with certain people who have been key elements in my history books. I can only pray that more stories can be collected and pages can be added with new chapters ahead. A lot will happen in 2008 and i'm looking forward to it. I thank you all for loving me and my family and forgiving us in times of our weaknesses. I pray for you all and thank God for you. I wish all of you a Happy New Year and May God Bless you with goodness and health. Praise God. Amen.

Blast from the past

It's scary how quick they grow. And you only really realise it when you dig up old pictures from your husband's phone.

The Good Old Days

Thanks to facebook, which i initially hated, I got in contact with an old friend Nurul, who was Singapore's fastest womam runner back in the mid 1990s. I found an old picture of us at the National Schools Colours Award Ceremony and it was a very vivid memory that i still have. I remember Berita Harian photographer Zainal Yahya, who incidentally is my colleague at SPH now (well not direct colleague but we are in the same field of work) calling to us for another hug. "SATU LAGI!" meaning "ONE MORE TIME". I miss Nurul and we just found out that we have sons born just 5months apart. Hey, guess what? They're gonna be in school together.

On another note, amidst the SEA Games fever in Korat, Thailand, I found this old newspaper cutting, among many others, of my father (third right) and his own sailing team jumping for joy in front of a lady who was reading a magazine on the beach in her bikini, after winning the SEA Games Gold medal and it was such a cool picture. Back in the day, it was very "modern" and "daring" for a photographer to think of such a way to illustrate the story. Jerry Seh. He's the Sports desk legend photographer. If you're lucky, you'll find him shooting the S-League Geylang games. You don't find people like him around very much nowadays! All the best to Team Singapore at the games.

out and back

Pictures from our Perth trip where we attended Su Ann's Wedding will be up soon.

(Su is my cousin)

The real deal

This has been a running joke - actually since early this year when famouse philippino photographer with the AFP came to Singapore. His name is Romeo Gacad, and has been nominated for the pulitzer prize many times.

He also happens to look a lot like Ho Chi Minh himself, and is affectionately known to us photogs as "Uncle Ho". He's really humble and we love him for being him.

Some really funny quotes/jokes made during the ASEAN summit:

" When i walked into the market in Vietnam, all these old people stopped and started starring at me." - romy

" I didn't understand why until i went to the museum and saw the statue of Ho Chi Minh. I even got a discount." - romy

" You should have gone for a massage. They would have paid you!" - Bobby Coloma, romy's boss

Quinny Story

I've always liked the non-conventional. Blame it on my weirder taste in things (this does not factor in to why i like Terence either). Weirder however, isn't necessarily cheaper or better.

I prefer 4-wheel drives. They're gas guzzlers and not very practical for everyday use sometimes _ why i drive my jimny_ they have box-like shapes and are not very aerodynamic which translates to it not being very economical fuel wise. But they can't go very fast and i take that as a plus point.

Sometimes, actually most times, we find ourselves trying to find a fundamental balance between want and need. And in the case of the Quinny Buzz perembulator, it was very clear to me that it was a "want". '

It had everything I imagined it would have. First of all it had the wonderful 3 wheel design which aids movement and is ideal for mother-joggers. It spins on its own axis and has interchangable seats from infant size to toddler size. I've also always wanted to have a pram which allowed your child to be facing you while seated in it.

Only problem: it costs only a little under SGD$1000

Crazy I couldn't afford it and decided to stop drooling and wait.

I was so angry over the price and how little money i make as a photojournalists vs all the bills i had to pay, i had to pray that God would settle my heart and help me appreciate the good things i already have and let go of all these materialistic wants. I surrendered.

Anyway,

One day Terence decided to stop by at Tanglin Mall to use the toilet after an assignment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he walked past the pin-up board which has advertisements of stuff people wanna sell second-hand.

Lo and behold there was an add up for the exact same model of Quinny prams up for sale for just SGD$250.

A couple from UK decided to sell the pram because their daughter was walking around most of the time. It's condition was good except that the tires need to be inflated once in a while.

I think that's a pretty good deal and to date, nate's been enjoying it very much. He has graduated from his infant seat and now looks like a little space man waiting for take off.

Sunny weekend

The weekend of the Barclays Singapore Open is finally over and it was very fun, and not to mention HOT HOT HOT!. One thing i've learnt from covering golf for the past 6 years or so is that in order to get good pictures, you've got to walk the greens. Buggies are helpful but you miss alot of good pictures when you zip from one point to another. It's the in betweens that give you the time to think and come up with possibilities to be a little more creative and make use of the environment. The course on Sentosa also happens to be one of the tougher courses for golfers and us photogs. It's very hilly. So all that weight and walking up and down the grass can be very good training for the calf muscles.

Here are some snaps of my buddies and I. This was what we were up too while waiting for the next flight to arrive at the tee box.

So the annual tanning session has come and gone. Time to fade away and wait till next year, I'm dark as hell, i've never been there but from what I hear it's pretty dark. (:

Sunburnt!

Did i ever mention that this year's Barclay's Singapore Open Golf Tournament has given me a new shade altogether? Yesterday's heat was amazing. It started blistering as we heard thunder rumbling over the CBD area from where we were, which was at the 7th tee box of Sarapong Golf Course over in Sentosa. The kind of heat that really peaks just before a storm. Check out my burn nose and cheeks. I've also got many funny tan marks on the rest of my body, like half of my calf muscles are red because as a photographer, you squart most of the time, exposing only half the outter calf, and oh, the arm gets burnt half way from the sleeve marks. Oh yes and the thighs are cut into half with tan lines as well! I'm going to hurt real bad. I guess i'm all set for Christmas. ... think rudolph the red nosed raindeer....

On a separate note:

I don't mind that I won't be doing that much running this week because of the lack of time due to the golf coverage. I ran a 10+km with Terence last Saturday and managed to squeeze in a 6.68kmer on Tuesday. I guess i'm making it up carrying all that camera gear and walking the very hilly course from 7.30am to about 3pm daily - sans caddie. (: I wish there was some way to calculate the distance i've walked and burnt from these 4 days of coverage. Oh well.

I love this Face

its like he's saying "whatever"

I love that Nate, my son, ( in case some of you don't know ) has a very huge sense of humour.

This is a face he learnt to pull off, by himself and does it only when he wants to make fun of you for example when you're trying to talk to him seriously or ask him something. It's cool now but i'm sure i'll be changing my mind when he's a teenager and tries to pull off something like that.

MotoGP and me

Valentino Rossi, right, and another MotoGP rider speed past the Malaysian National Flag on the Sepang Circuit during a free practice round.

250cc make their way round turn 2 of the Sepang Circuit MotoGP racers head towards turn 2 of Sepang Circuit

Casey Stoner, current world championValentino Rossi of Italy speeds past on his Yamaha.

About a week ago, i was assigned on a very very last minute basis to cover the MotoGP Grand Prix race in Sepang Circuit over in Kuala Lumpur.

I got the go-ahead from the organisers that my media accreditation was approved at such short notice at 10pm on the night before i was scheduled to leave.

That was the least of my worries, however.

I was more concerned about the dynamics of covering a race. Yes, granted that I actually have an interest in motor sports and do watch the MotoGP quite often and am able to tell you who the riders are but shooting it is a totally different ball game.

There were so many questions.

- where can i shoot from?

- which turn is the best to shoot from?

- at which lap should i start trudging back to the finish-line?

- will there be access?

- what about covering the pit area and paddock?

- what are the rules?

etc etc and etc.

Too many questions and too little time. It was vital that i got that info down as this was a very quick shooting situation. If you miss it, it's gone forever. Unlike the game of tennis or golf or soccer for that matter. These things happen slowly and in a fixed compound.

Roslan and me waiting at the media center Tengku Badris Bahar and I, old pals at the circuit sham of EPA knows what he's doing!

Thank God for good friends i have in the media, namely Vincent Thian, the AP Photographer based in KL ( who was away in Yangon and didn't make it back on time_hence me going over to shoot the GP) and Roslan Rahman from AFP, based in Singapore. Roslan has always been a great pal and buddy of mine. He was going over to cover the race as well, so we travelled together and he gave me tips on where to be at what point of the race.

The rest was up to me.

Shooting is never a problem.

that's me editing in the camera while a MotoGP rider speeds past me

If you know your techiniques enough and understand when to apply what photography rules and when to break them, all you need to do is react according to the situation, as it presents itself to you. But it does help in all situations to have good friends that you trust that are gracious enough to give you a head start.

Thanks Roslan and Vincent and Terence - who started me on this whole GP thing and supporting me by taking care of the Nate when he had the chicken pox while i was away.

best,

mayo

The Airbus A380

the airbus A380 is seen at Gate 31

The much awaited departure of the Airbus A380 Singapore Airlines Plane to Sydney finally happened early this morning. We, the media had to gather at the airport by 0530hrs so that we can shoot the activities in the gate holding room. Lucky for some like Gillian, my pal at AP, she got to fly and will be doing a story from the plane itself.

staff of Singapore Airlines stand under an aerobridge to send off the A380

Richard Quest from CNN's Business Traveller was doing his thing!

It actually wasn't that painful waking up in the wee hours of the morning to gather at another media circus. I was shocked however, when i found the hairs on my right arm standing as the staff from Singapore Airlines started cheering and clapping at the time of take off. Something has to be said about me being secretly patriotic. This has only happened twice in my life. National day at the old Kallang Stadium when everyone stands at attention and sings the national anthem and well, this A380 event at the Changi International Airport this morning.

Things i'm learning about myself. sheesh.

Check Bill Please

It's one of those things where you read happens to other people but never really thought it'd happen to you; until it does.

Whilst in Malaysia, i received a call from DBS Credit Cards department. A very polite lady started asking me if I had made any transactions over in the United States recently and I thought well , yeah, a couple of months ago. Suddenly fears that my card was left open in KL could have contributed somehow to this "mix-up". Not.

Apparently a successful transaction using my credit card number was made for USD$1 a week ago at Macy's South. And recently another transaction was tried a couple of days ago but to no avail. The security number given was wrong so i was safe.

I've never been more greatful to receive calls from credit card companies before.

Curious, i asked how the company knew to call me and they said that they had suspicions on this certain company that has been making transactions and therefore called to check.

Thank god for these people who cared to call cause I don't think i would have cared to check.

So make sure you check your bills thoroughly as we sometimes take it the system for granted.

It's not full proof.

Hi multiply

Because i'm not busy enough and need to add another site upkeeping to my list of things to do.

http://mayewong.multiply.com/

Spot the Nate

So i was told by Abi and Terence while i was away (again) on coverage of the MotoGP race in KL. We still don't know what it is but i have my suspicions that it might be the Chicken Pox. That makes me very worried cause i've never had it and November is going to be a very very important month for work. Plus i don't think i will be able to handle the pox as well as Nate is doing so right now. One look and you'd think he's fine and normal. I think if I had the pox, it'll be the kitchen gloves and all.

Let's see what the doctor has to say tomorrow when we take him for another check-up.

In the mean time, this is getting tiring.

It's one thing after another, month after month.

Selamat Hari Raya

catching wind of things

Every year, we are so lucky to be invited over to Ishak's home for Hari Raya celebrations. I look forward to the catching up with all other photographers from the past, present and future over some fantastic food, most of it cooked by Sally, Shak's wife. Nate had a good time and seemed very determined to catch the wind from a standing fan (childrens' logic). He was very shy with Ishak most times as well and never really had a chance to warm up.

still in hospital

nate's suffering from some bactiral infection and has some inflammation in his body. He's pretty ok right now, just lethargic most times but still has bursts of energy. He had been suffering from fever since monday and it didn't seem to be getting any better. see http://nate-to-date.blogspot.com/2007/10/sick-babee.html for updates on what we thought he might be suffering from as he didn't seem to have any other symptoms that came with the fever. But on Wed night, nate started crying and it wasn't an "attention-seeking" cry. It was actually very distressing and he showed no interest in anything. He was in the words of Dr. Tan, "listless". For someone as hyper-active as nate, being "listless" is kinda scary. So we decided to ward him and give him Anti-biotics through the needle as well as hydrate him. (i'm kinda secretly happy about the hydrating part because there is no way anyone can get Nate to drink any water).

We did everything in one shot. Blood test, medication etc.

Today we found out that he has got some sort of bacteria infection in his system and inflamation (we think in the throat). Which explains the shortness of breadth on wed night as well.

He'll have to stay in for another day, to get fully medicated.

He's made friends with the other kids here and has a permanent friend attached to him, which we call "Skinny".

He's sleeping next to me as i type this in the highlights from my computer screen and Terence has just arrived so i'm gonna log off and update again tomorrow.

In the mean time, enjoy nate in a dress, because i'm sure like me, you guys will prolly not be able to help yourselves and burst out laughing. He actually looks pretty.

photo montage

in light of what's happening in Burma i decided to invest in another read.

I realised that the cover picture was very captivating (in more ways than one) and thought that a photographer would have to be so lucky to get a shot like that. until i read the photo credits at the back of the book at 4am this morning ( i'm not normally awake at 4am ) and it said:

Jacket images: Front: image of Aung San Suu Kyi, copyright Magnum, cage, copyright Getty Images.

at first glance i thought... hey nice picture_ has to be magnum_ of course. But then i noticed the word cage, which i thought was some part of a name of a photographer or something.

they merged these two images together making her look like she was fenced up

sigh

after the realisation, i felt so cheated and am trying very hard not to let the idea of a photo-montage cheapen the contents of the book for me.

So far it looks good.

simple

life has been pretty hectic of late.

Been practically living out of my suitcase for a while now, but its nice to just sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and continue a game of scrabble with my hubby without having to worry about rushing from one point to another.

Rocher : experience that golden moment

my hubby and I were having a conversation about Ferrero Rocher chocolates and how they've been around for a long time. So much so that it's form its own little culture. That's it. the Ferrero Rocher chocolate culture. I never was a fan of that safe tasting chocolate ball. I don't hate it, i just don't feel anything for it. I do however, seem to have a handfull of comments about it. We've realised that this chocolate has been around. And terence thinks that it's a pretty successful marketing experiment cause it's something that people would think of instantly when they need a convenient gift. It's classy looking in times of desperation, with its over-done packaging, and they come in several sized boxes as well. And yes, affordable without being too cheap. Slightly better than the Van Houten ones too.

Maybe its this whole convenience that makes me feel a little un-excited by it. It's exactly that.

To me, it's become the "yi si" chocolate. I buy it out of obligation because i need to give you something at your house warming, or birth of your first child, or because its the only thing i can find at home from someone else who came by the last time. It's almost like a briney spears case study. The marketing and packaging is fantastic but the real quality of the product is really just bad.

WIKIPEDIA even has this listed : In Hong Kong and Israel, Ferrero Rocher is a popular gift during the holidays, especially during Chinese New Year. Chinese culture associates the gold of the packaging with good fortune and wealth.

rainbow connection

my favourite shot of the nate

when the husband is bored

he does things like that. 10 points for creativity and 100 points for the Kitch in this.

long break

see that short short second last run was when i got injured. Its depressing to see the graph but i'll work it back up

i haven't been able to run after i suffering from a torn meniscus in the left knee cap.

With orders from my sailing team mate ben, who went and got himself all qualified and excellent at what he does for a living to not run for at least 2 weeks, i stayed away from my running shoes. I respect him and know that he is one of the best sports doctors in singapore. He inserted a needle in the knee cap as well, along with some steriods and now its all better. However i haven't been able to run for a month now with all that travelling in China and the inability to run over there because we were so busy and there was too much pollution, i found myself struggling while taking an easy run with my dad. Given we went up a long long slope up a long long way, i only managed to take it for 25minutes max. Well, slow and steady wins the race. Plus i gotta watch the knees as well. Having said that, i go to Bangkok this Sunday for work so that really helps with the get fit regime.!

refreshing

i needed a hair cut.

but one that was a·sym·met·ric

i'm bored.

it's dangerous what you come up with when you're bored.

so this is the result

16-35mm drama

While on coverage of that release of that New York Times researcher Zhao yan who was arrested in china 3 years ago. I was told that there might be a slight inconvenience where we might have been detained or arrested. No problem I say: bring it on. That, in my books, would be a good thing. Upsetting the Chinese authorities of course. BUT Instead I get THIS: (see photos)

I'd prefer to get arrested anytime. Anyway, this happened when we were chasing Zhao Yan via car from the prison to the hotel in town, I was getting out of our cab, the next thing I knew, I heard a loud thud and when I looked down, I saw the camera on the ground, it was unrecognisable with the 16-35mm broken off the rim. I never took off the straps from my shoulders. But then again it could have slipped off. I really dunno what happened. It was too quick for me to even notice. Bo from APTN was with me and saw pretty much what happened. Even he was shocked. I guess that thing where you see stuff happen in slow motion like when you're falling etc. doesn't apply to this case. Anyway, it broke off in a weird way too, where all the plastics connecting the screws broke off in exactly the same place. I hope it was not weak to begin with. Whatever the case, I don’t think the lens is usable anymore. Camera body however, seems to be ok.

Sigh.

romantic sushi

so this ABIGAEL is so funny ---- i like very much

check out what she did here !!!

maybe this is fake too...

cause the real one would have 20 bodyguards around her! so this is what happened to me, and you shall see my groupie side of me appear. Woooohooo Guess who I met on the aerobridge in singapore airport enroute to beijing. Gong Li. I didn’t know I was holding the door for her while entering the bridge. We were like the last 2 people making our way from the waiting room to the aerobridge and then I asked... Ni shi gong li mah? She said shi de! And smiled. She was super duper down to earth.. I mean she was casual and jovial and I didn't get any fake vibes from her. Instead I felt warmth and easiness. I'm so humbled by her humbleness.... So I asked what she was doing in singapore and she told me she was here to work and in turn asked me if I was singaporean. She also asked why I was going to beijing. And I told her I was going to cover the China Tennis Open. I was afraid at first that I would scare her away if she knew I was press but I guess I wasn't going all paparazzi on her so there was no reason for her to freak out. We actually had a small conversation together till she realised she missed her entrance to the first class door. And then laughed and skipped her way around with her luggage. Of course we took a picture together. She was amused that we could get the picture taken ourselves.. "eh? Zhe yang ke yi ah?? I was so lucky as I hadn't realised that it was the very last frame available on my SD Card. What an awesome way to meet China I say. See you all after the 24th when I'm back.