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A prison riot, live rounds being fired. It was mayhem in the yard alright, but the media was not allowed to get too close to the “drama”. And there were restrictions: some areas were off limits to photography. It’s a high security area after all.

Earlier this month, the Singapore Prisons Emergency Action Response (Spear) Force had organised the Asian Prison Lockdown Challenge, which pitted the skills of prison officers from Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Brunei against each other. The scenario given was a prison riot. The Challenge was held at the open field where the old prison in Changi used to be.

Teams of 4 in full riot gear had to run 500m to put out a fire, quell a riot in the open yard, and then split into teams of 2, to shoot at various threats in a test of their speed and precision shooting skills. They had to rescue casualties too, all the time with the clock ticking away as the team with the best time would win.

While tactical skills were critical, I think stamina, strength, coordination and team work count for a great deal too. But don’t just take my word for it. Ask the guys from Spear too. After all, they came out tops.

Tags: Challange, Prison, Safety, SPEAR, Team

After spending a few hours with the staff involved with the bird ringing process at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve one day, I have a newfound respect for their work, and their gentle hands. It is an experience that I would recommend to anyone who is keen to see many different species of birds – although the mosquitoes are another story.

The bird ringing process is to gather information on the migratory birds and their behaviour so as to complement conservation efforts. After the birds have been trapped and recovered from the mist nets set up, trained staff will first identify the bird and weigh it with the proper techniques.

If the trapped bird has a ring on its leg, this means it had been tagged previously and updated information about it will be recorded. If a trapped bird does not have a tag, then the staff will do the tagging with a unique number from the reserve.

The tag is made of a unique rust-free material which will not hurt the bird in any way.  Tagging is quite simple, a pair of pliers is the only tool needed.  With a gentle squeeze of the pliers, the tag is locked on the feet of the bird. The birdman holds up his hands, and the bird is released back into the wild.

Tags: ASEAN Heritage Park, Bird, Nature Reserves

There were 17 glittering floats, and 7,000 performers at the two-day Chingay Parade. For many of the 60,000 people at the standing room only event on the first night, it was the riot of colours in the dazzling costumes worn by the performers which left the most lasting impression. This year marked the first time the annual Chingay Parade kicked off at the F1 Pit Building next to the Singapore Flyer.

Tags: Chinese New Year, Chingay Parade, singapore, Tourism

I had just finished filing a set of pictures for the news coverage of the Chingay procession when I heard a deafening drone coming from somewhere near a block of flats near the Admiralty MRT Station. Some residents who were near me stopped walking and looked around, confused. They had heard it too. It was late and I was hungry, very hungry.  But instead of continuing towards the MRT station, I turned towards the direction of the noise.  Just a quick look, just for a while, I tell myself.

Nearing, I picked up my pace.  A basketball court.  I walked into a thick cloud of smoke. Bonfire? No, silly. It’s Chinese New Year.  Fireworks, of course!  It was getting difficult to see. The sound had escalated into a boisterous barrage of drums, cymbals and pyrotechnics. Squinting, I could see silhouettes moving about in a fenced up area. Most were bare chested, a few sported triangular headpieces. A quick puff of fire went up and illuminated the scene.

Dragon dancers in formation, moving in tandem while the gathered crowd either photographed them – or watched with fingers in their ears or palms cupped over their nose.  Tricky twirls and loops so typical of dragon dances graced the scene.  Tonight, the dragon seems subdued though, cautious even. Its jaw slacking with each bob, it would appear the head was letting out a yelp after stepping on a burning cracker. Directing the dragon was a man with shades.  He was baiting the dragon with something that could only be described as a giant Chupa-Chup lolly. Occasionally, he dips into a bag and tosses a mixture of powder into the burning torch held overhead.  Another flash of flame shoots up. It’s pointless to applause. You can’t hear a thing.

Ok, let’s take some pictures. Too dark, too smoky. The lens wouldn’t focus. I follow a guy gripping a burning torch. He’s perspiring, body slicked in sweat, looking a little silly with a pyramid perched on his head.  Guy leans over a railing, picks up a belt of fireworks from an assistant, he torches the fuse and throws the roll of poppers with a quick flick of his hand. The guy’s a pro. It lands somewhere amongst the trooping dragon dancers. I recall popular illustrations on red packets and scenes from movies where everyone seems to be having fun blowing up a single string of fireworks. Much cheer and merry making. But this was something else. The guys piloting the paper-mache dragon weren’t smiling much and the guys tossing the poppers seem to have boxes and boxes to expend of fire crackers by the end of the night. It must be daunting, having to worry about choreography and keeping good form when your team mates are booby-trapping your every step with mini-explosives.

I try to pay attention to the performance, looking out for set-ups to photograph while my mind sorts out the range of pictures I want to work on.  It will not last for another seven minutes.  Come on, hurry hurry.  Already, a veneer of ash and dust has settled on my camera. I take a quick wipe at the lens with my sleeve and miss a shot of a performer drenching himself dramatically with bottled water to cool down. There is no grand finale. The last firecracker burns out, the dancers break formation and move away eagerly from the heat and smoke.  The spectators cheer, some ask for an encore. Water is splashed on the ground to put out pockets of fire. The basketball court is a fiery sea of red. Children scramble to kick at the ribbons of red paper. A boy with a balloon traces a fat heart shape with his foot before running off for a family photo. The smoke lifts and the lights come on. Another kid finds some unexploded crackers and brings them to his father. A man with a cigarette in shorts squats while sifting through the paper rubble.  I wonder what he’s hoping to find. Divine lottery numbers perhaps.

Tags: Chinese New Year, Firecrackers, Fireworks

It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year – and gaming history would be made in Singapore.  As a photojournalist, it is hard to stay from such a mega news event.  So I volunteered to shoot the opening of Resorts World Sentosa’s casino.

It was a day when the auspicious number “8″ was everywhere: 8 lions for the lion dance, 11.18am for the official opening, 12.18pm for the casino doors to be opened to the public.  The excitement among the crowd was palpable.  But inside, Genting Group Chairman Lim Kok Thay was Mr Cool as he played the first game in the house – a game of baccarat – which he lost to much laughter and ribbing from all present.  It was a loss he took good-naturedly – as the real gaming began shortly after.

By the way, gaming privacy (and security) is the rule here :  the media was not allowed in to take pictures of the punters at play once the casino was open to the public.

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

Tags: Casino, Genting, Resorts World Sentosa

Some photographers avoid occasions that attract throngs of fellow enthusiasts like the plague, on the grounds that such content has already been done to death.

But my sentiment is that, if it is visually colourful and can potentially yield many opportunities for interesting photos, why not?

If you’re a photography buff here, chances are, you would have at one time or another, made your way down to Sri Srinivas Perumal Temple at Serangoon Road during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam to capture images of devotees courageously bearing the kavadi in a procession, often with hooks or spears piercing their skin, tongue or cheeks.

Or at least you would have wanted to.

That said, my observation is that it is almost always the ones who have recently discovered photography who are the most keen, while the veterans are usually less enthusiastic about sacrificing their rest day to cover the annual festival. In other words, it seems the longer you’ve been shooting, the less you care for it.

Though I hardly qualify as a veteran, I’ve been dabbling in photography for quite a while now, yet curiously, I have never quite outgrown Thaipusam.

But admittedly, it isn’t like I’m raring to go either. On the contrary, every year that I had planned to go down, I’ve found myself battling inertia the night before, and inevitably having second thoughts.

“Maybe I should skip it – there’s always next year”, I’d think.

Yet somehow I’ll manage to miraculously drag myself out of the house each time, and once I’m there, all reluctance is forgotten. By then, the sights and sounds would have inexorably taken over, carried me away and put me in the mood to capture all that I can.

Last Saturday’s Thaipusam procession was no exception. I had intended only to stay a couple of hours, but ended up pulling an all-nighter. Some would even stay on all the way till noon when most devotees would have completed their journey of faith at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple on Tank Road!

It is that infectious.

For the uninitiated, Thaipusam is an occasion where Hindus show the sincerity of their faith to their Lord Murugan – an important Hindu diety. It is a time where devotees pray for divine help and make vows, and when their prayers have been answered, they express their thanks by fixing heavy spiked kavadis onto their bodies or carrying milk pots over a 4km distance, as most would do. This year’s procession saw a turn-out of more than 9,000 devotees – possibly the largest number in recent years.

From a photography standpoint, all that translates into snap-worthy moments a plenty. But all that can prove overwhelming for amateurs, who may find the splashes of colours a mess, and the fact that everywhere you look there is a photo to be captured, a great distraction. The important thing is to stay focused, like your camera lens.

For an event as thoroughly photographed as Thaipusam, there is also the likelihood of your ending up with a whole bunch of visual clichés that looks like every other photograph out of the festival.

Therein lies the challenge.

So that is my motivation: to be a little more experimental in my approach – though the results I have to say, are at best mixed. Last year I tried shooting with a transmitter and my flash dismounted, so that I can play with the direction of the light hitting my subjects. This year, I decided to try slow-sync to the tune of a 3 second exposure.

But I suppose the impact of a photograph, or a series of photographs, doesn’t just lie in its style or concept, but also in the candidness of the scene and expressions of the people captured.

After all, a photograph – and you can disagree with me – is only as good as the impression it leaves on its viewer.

Tags: Thaipusam

The selling point isn’t exactly new.

After all, every now and then, you’ll see men cross-dressing on TV, stage and in print for entertainment’s sake, or just purely as a gimmick.

But what is consistent is that such an act never fails to draw attention and laughs from all around. And Les Ballets Grandiva – Men in Tutus was no exception.

Direct from a sell-out tour of Europe and Asia, the all male comedy ballet production was in Singapore from 21-24 January, and playing to packed audiences at the Esplanade.

It featured twenty of the best international male ballet dancers twirling pirouettes on stage and executing their brilliant choreography, all done with tongue-in-cheek humour.   Just think of intentional foibles and dancing mishaps, with a hissy fit or two thrown in for dramatic effect.

But the twist is that not all the male dancers were in costumes for men.

Some – as the name of the show already suggests – were dressed in tutus and pointe shoes, complete with vibrantly thick make-up.

Which can of course make for an oddball sight.

Yet for me, nothing beats watching the step-by-step transformation of these men backstage into their loud stage personas. How they look at the end was such a departure from the way they looked when they first stepped into the dressing room, you wouldn’t have believed they’re the same person.

But it’s not all just glamour and fluff, as a conversation between the men in one dressing room would tell you.

Ballet, if you don’t already know, is hard work.

I can’t help but cringe every time I see a ballet dancer standing on the tip of his or her toes. It looks painful but they do it like it is the easiest thing in the world.

One of the dancers explained that his pointe shoes have shanks made out of fiberglass, so that it is easier on his feet, which prompted another to quip “Ya, those are cheating shoes, it will last you till you’re fifty.”

In an instant, the former shot back, “Oh no, there’s no way I’m doing this till I’m fifty!”

It comes with the job, but it’s not something you’ll think about nor will it hit you until it sits squarely on your shoulders. Then gradually, you’ll begin to feel it more and more, up to the point where you don’t think you can take it much longer without making some adjustments.

Now this may sound like I’m talking about heavy stuff like responsibilities at work.  But I am quite simply referring to this thing called weight. Or to be more precise, the combined weight of all the equipment my fellow photojournalists and I have to lug around each day as we go about our assignments.

It is nothing to make light of, that I can assure you.  I have heard from a number of veterans who have developed varying degrees of shoulder and back problems as a result of carrying too much weight over the years. The most serious case involved an operation on the spine which left the photographer out of action for months on end.

Thus, I’m always mindful to consider any precautionary measures advised, so as to minimise the damage unto myself, lest regret should hit when it’s already too late. In any case, the aches on your shoulders will appeal to you directly to rethink your options.

Sample the following photo for an idea of what typically goes into our bags.

Essentially, there is the camera body, 3 lenses – the wide-angle, mid-range and telephoto, and a flash.

If you’re working the late shift, it is advisable to also bring along a laptop in case you need to send photos back to the office on-the-spot to make it in time for offstone for the newspaper.

Of course, this is not forgetting miscellaneous items like extra batteries, card reader, power plug for the laptop, pen and notebook and perhaps a foldable umbrella – all of which can add up to quite a bit.

On top of the above, sometimes there is a need too for a monopod and a 300mm (or longer) lens, but fortunately they are not part of our regular get-up and are required only for certain assignments based on our own judgement. 

So you see, when I tell people my work is back-breaking, I mean it - literally.

Which brings us to our next consideration – the options out there to best carry all this weight.

 From my observation, the bags of choice are either shoulder bags, backpacks or chest vests that resemble what NS men will refer to in the army as the SBO. 

(L-R) The shoulder bag, backpack and chest vest

The first is by far the most popular among media photographers since it is the most convenient and comparatively fuss-free when it comes to the changing of lenses or retrieval of items which are needed in a hurry. This is important in this line of work as sometimes you need to react fast in order to capture a fleeting moment, something which may come right down to a split second.

That said however, in terms of bodily damage, I find shoulder bags are the worst because all the weight is essentially being supported only on one shoulder. On most days I carry a shoulder bag, but it is starting to get to me especially when it’s a day-long shoot. I can’t help but wonder if one day, one of my shoulders will end up being lower than the other. That is if I don’t end up in the operating theatre first!

The other disadvantage of a shoulder bag is that it tends to swing about quite a bit when you run – and there will be the occasions when you have to give chase – so that can be rather uncomfortable. And when you are in a scrum or a tight space, or when you have to squat for that shot, the bag can really get in the way.

Backpacks on the other hand, are just the opposite in what they have to offer. They provide some relief as the weight is distributed on both shoulders, but the downside is that they are clumsy for equipment retrievals and might cause you to miss your shot. To add to that, I personally do not like how continuous rubbing of the bag against the back of my T-shirts often result in damage to the fabric (of my T-shirts, that is)  in certain areas. Shoulder bags pose this problem too, but instead of the back, it’s damage at the side from which the bag is slung.  This is not so much a problem with the design of the bag actually - the culprit is the slightly rough material used for the contact areas between your bag and your body.

I have not tried the chest vest, the third option, but from another photojournalist who used to wear it, it is a good compromise between the shoulder bag and the backpack. You can reach for your items quite easily and at the same time, the weight is balanced on both shoulders. Also, it hangs quite securely around your waist and doesn’t move about much when you have to run – which is possibly the reason why the army adopted this design for its SBO.

But before you rejoice, take note that it too has its shortcomings. One of which is that several chest vest designs don’t come with a pouch at the back, or one that is big enough to fit a laptop in. So you might end up having to carry a separate bag just for the laptop.

As for me, I have arrived at the conclusion that there is no ideal camera bag out there that fits my every need perfectly. Not just yet, that is. 

So consider this as a really late (or very early) Christmas wish:  I would be thrilled if someone would come up with a design that allows for a shoulder bag to be easily converted into a backpack, and vice versa. And yes, it had best be made from a material that isn’t abrasive so friction won’t damage your clothes. And if it should look stylish too, that would be a bonus.. 

Well, it’s either that or a light-weight, compact 16 – 200mm f/2.8 lens. Photojournalists the world over will be eternally grateful to you, Santa.

Tags: camera bag

As we celebrate Christmas this year, I can’t help but pause to think of the families who lost their loved ones during the Boxing Day Tsunami five years ago.

I was in Phuket then to report on the tsunami. I still remember receiving a call from my editor and the next thing I knew, I was on the plane to Phuket two hours later with the reporter. We arrived two days after Boxing Day.

As we went around gathering bits and pieces of the news, a morning visit to Patong Beach gave us a glimpse of the devastation the tsunami had caused.

While this paled in comparison to the apocalyptic scale of the havoc wreaked by the same killer waves in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Phuket’s death toll was still in the thousands.

Over the next few days, we visited Khao Lak as the locals had told us the damage there was the most severe. The luxury resorts lining the Khao Lak coast were mostly in rubble then. I can only imagine the horror the tourists felt when faced with the giant waves: they were holidaying in what they thought was a paradisiacal retreat one minute, only to face death the next.

Frankly speaking, something in you change after witnessing the never-ending stream of bodies being brought into the local monastery which had become a makeshift morgue. It’s been half a decade but I still remember vividly the scenes I witnessed as if it was yesterday.

It’s not a pretty sight. Many photos I took then were never published. They were too gory, too disturbing, and in many ways, too disrespectful of the dead – some whose outstretched arms were frozen stiff in death, as if they were still desperately reaching out to life.

In fact, I never really returned to look at the photos I have taken until now. Here are some of the pictures that made it to print and some which didn’t. You may find some of the photos disturbing, so viewer discretion is advised.

So, even as we feast and party during this festive season, take a second to stop and pray for those who no longer can do so when Mother Nature unleashed her wrath five years ago.

Tags: Boxing Day, Indian Ocean, Phuket, tsunami

Kung's Lao Cafe

For a few days now, Kung’s Lao Cafe has been a little embassy of sorts for the Singapore media contingent. Located at the end of a quiet little residential street, the TODAY sports news team have been having their regular breakfast at Kung’s.

Singapore discus thrower James Wong (R) with the TODAY team at Kung's Cafe

They make a wonderful crepe. My usual order includes an omelette with grains of sticky rice wrapped around a piece of mango or banana filling and a fresh roll of baguette served with a sunny side egg in a little pan with pate on the side. A glass of iced Lao coffee completes my breakfast bliss.

My Laotian Breakfast

Tags: Laos, SEA Games, Vientiane