My interest in photography started after I left secondary school in 1994. At that point of time, it was just an interest and nothing more than that. In 1996, I worked as a port volunteer onboard MV Doulos; a missionary ship that sails to different places around the world with it's all volunteer crew and it's famous floating bookshop. MV Doulos is not just any
ship; it's the world's oldest active oceangoing liner. MV Doulos provides humanitarian aids, training and many other aids of which I am unable to list them all down.

The desire to be a professional photographer grew after I witnessed a slide show presented by a group of volunteers, as it left a permanent effect on my life

and the lives of many others. The power of the images were so strong that it made me realize how powerful a picture can be.

In August 1996, I was the in house photographer for Komag

USA (M) Ltd's grand opening. In December 1996, I was the official photographer for a local concert. In January 1997, I shot my first journalistic wedding assignment. From here, the list of assignments goes on...

I graduated from the University of Portsmouth, UK with BSc hons in Computing in 2001. I'm a very active and outdoorsy person. I enjoy inline skating, scuba diving, jungle trekking, traveling, and, lately, bodyboarding. Surfing will be next! I love animals, I enjoy cooking and clubing.

The people behind me

I owe my greatest gratitude to my uncle, Jim. I was saving up for my first SLR camera at that time, but it was a struggle for me as I'm not from a rich family. He knew what I was saving for, and he gave me th amount of money that I was lacking. He made that choice to give me the financial love gift that had forever changed my life. I bought my beloved Nikon FM10. FM10 is the lower grade version of the legendary FM2. The FM10 came with a MF Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, also a lower grade lens. But it was a great start to an incredible journey. I had no more money to buy a flash light at that time. So Billy Ho, a photographer friend from my church lend me one of this old run down manual flash. Once in a while when I needed some camera equipment, I would look for the good Uncle Billy (that's that I always call him). I would borrow
his Nikon F90x to shoot big events such as the 150th Anniversary of the Anglican Church in Borneo Celebration. I was the official photographer shooting for St. Faith's church for that celebration. Another mentor of mine is Mervyn Kueh, our church administrator, who is also a photographer. Once in a while, I would approach him for advice, guidance and constructive criticism on the images that I've taken.

My favourite type of photography

I enjoy shooting people. I think people are the most interesting photography subject. My aim is to capture the emotion, living expression and the atmospheric spirit of the
people that I photographs. Inspired by the images from MV Doulos, I am working towards creating images that are not just a 2 dimentional caption of pictures. I want to capture images that are lively; the sort of images that only requires a single glance to touch people's hearts; giving them that sense of actually being in the picture. I find people photography very challenging, especially in Malaysia where people are generally very conscious about being photographed. I love making portraits of people.

The equipment I use

My first camera is the Nikon FM10 with MF Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom. That was followed by the Nikon F801s, which I sold off in the year 2000 after I bought my Nikon F4e. I've recently added Nikon D100 to my camera bag. For my first ever journalistic wedding assignment, I bought a Metz 40MZ-2 flash in 1996. As I get more assignments to cover, I save up to buy more equipment. My current possesion of lenses are :

MF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, MF Nikkor Series E 100mm f/2.8, MF Nikkor 35- 70mm f/3.5-5.6, AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f.2.8-4D IF, AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D, AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D IF-ED, Sigma 15mm EX Diagonal Fisheye f/2.8 AF, AF Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6 IF ED.

"The greatest things in my life is having Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He has given me this talent of painting with light. Without Him, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Did you ever attend any photography school ?"

This is a very common question that people usually asked me. Well, I've been attending the school called ReLOAT ( Real Life and On Assignment Training ) for seven years now. It's the best photography school anyone can have. And I must say, the toughest. I learn different guidelines and tips from professionals such as Mervyn Kueh ( Royal Photographic Society ), Billy Ho, Darrell Tsen ( Associate Royal Photographic Society ), Dennis Lau ( Associate Royal Photographic Society ) and Alvin Leong ( Australian Institute of Professional Photography ) to name a few. Although sometimes I do wish I have the chance to attend a photography course. But at the end of the day, what really matters is the quality of the images that you produce, not whether you have attended any photography school.

ReLOAT is just something I came up with. FYI, there is no such school !