My stopover along the KL - Putrajaya Highway

I stopped and parked my car at the truck parking lot at the Rest & Recreational area along the KL - Putrajaya Highway for this capture.

The trains of traffics with the headlights beaming and the street lights looked amazing when I was on the top of the hill tolerating the undulating slopes with smooth roller coaster ride minutes before. I thought I would have captured it nicely but what can I say, the view point at the place I stopped at was not as good as what I saw before.

I bet many KLites have not even used this highway yet. It only opened in recent months.

It offers road users a shorter and more direct route to the federal administrative capital Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and the KL International Airport (KLIA), cuts short by 30 minutes to get to the airport from Kuala Lumpur. It is accessible from KL starting at Kg Pandan Interchange.

Of an old man in a sorry state

The old man of 80-plus in this picture is actually no other than my own flesh and blood. He’s my mom’s cousin. He’s been down with hemiplegic for the past 6 years, helpless and confined to a wheelchair. I knew him as a well-built and strong man when I was little but now he is in a sorry state.

I visited him during my last holidays in the hometown. While talking, he seems lost in his own thought. He spent much of his time pondering – staring point blank moments after anything he rests his eyes upon.

It made me sad. I could almost feel what he was feeling especially when I asked about whether his grown-up children in KL visited him or not. He scrambled for words amidst his grumble and I knowingly nod without a definite answer given.

Note:
Often time when I have image of an old man in hand, I would want to have it treated in Black & White. The image of this old man is no exception. It must be something to do with what entrenched in the back of my mind. Perhaps, I’d automatically associate old man with the past era when the technology of the day had yet to see the arrival of color printing.

Maybe the scars of experience crafted in the face make good exercise for my experimentation with tones. Or maybe black & white finish would give better mood due to his suffering.

Be as it may with the underlying principle, I think it’s cool to have this image treated in such a manner.

God of Prosperity and the winning photo

This is a picture of a man in God of Prosperity costume showing thumbs up for the photo hanging on the wall. “Ichiban” he said, means, “Very good!” in Chinese.

That photo is actually one of the selected photos exhibited at the Annexe Gallery in Central Market Avenue, Kuala Lumpur (Jan 18th - Feb 1st, 2009). The exhibition is organized by PhotoMalaysia.com with the theme “OUR VANISHING HERITAGE”.

I am proud to tell you that, the photo on the wall is a work of my own personal friend and neighbor, Dr. Zul, here. He deserves to be recognized for this great street photography shot. The photo complements the exhibition theme and it satisfies the panels’ stringent criterion for quality photo to be exhibited.

I went there this morning for the exhibition. I didn’t know they were having function in the area in conjunction with the coming Chinese New Year Celebrations. The Minister of Arts, Culture & Heritage, Dato' Seri Shafei Apdal was the guest of honor. They have lion dance, musics played using traditional musical instruments, a parade of men and women in traditional costumes with photographers from local media on the tail and the God of Prosperity as a mascot.

I just blend in with the photographers and even met my old friend Bazuki, shooting for Reuters.

When the entourage reached the gallery, I looked for the opportunity to have the God of Prosperity to pose for me with Dr. Zul’s picture. He sportingly did what I asked with both his thumbs pointed up.

The God of Prosperity is very often associated with Chinese New Year, as in the new coming year, the Chinese will pray that they can prosper and become richer.

Gong Xi Fa Chai to all my Chinese friends.

Have a nice weekend and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Finally... they tamed the lion

Seen here is the lion head of the costume for the lion dance lying on the pavement. In a moment, a trained chap will be behind it with help from his buddy ducked behind him to form the lion's body and the hind legs. The lion will then dance to the unassailable yet rhythmic pounding of a drum and cymbals with the agile moves and finesse that would mesmerize the spectators.

I was once standing next to the cymbals player watching the dance, only to have me ringing in the ears for the whole day.

This year, the Chinese celebrate the Year of the Ox in their lunar calendar. In Malaysia, people at all levels would “celebrate” the occasion as much as everyone would also “celebrate" Eid Al-Fitr for Muslims, Deepavali for Hindus and Christmas for Christians. Well, even if it isn’t essentially everyone’s festivity, to the very least everybody here in the country is enjoying the long public holidays.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!