Sightings - An Eye On Malaysia
A slice of daily Malaysian life in pictures

• Cracks
The fire-bombing of the Metro Tabernacle Church exposes the cracks in our delicate society...
• Into The Rainforest
Deep in the jungles, the thick trees canopy can make day appear as night and screened-off GPS and satellite phone signals...
• The Rainforest Challenge 2009
The International Offroad Challenge Of Malaysia (RFC Of Johor 2009) returns to Johor. The annual event attracted some 300 participants from Russia, USA, Sr Lanka, Thailand, Great Britain, India, The Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Denmark and Malaysia...
• LIMA 2009
The Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition opens today. A Maritime Department seaplane demonstrates its capabilities in a late afternoon rehearsal yesterday. Look out for more pics here over the next few days...
• Zombie Attack In Shah Alam
I was attacked by curvaceous zombies this morning. I didn't realise it was my long lost friend Majidah crawling out of the ground. Funny thing is, Malaysian zombies can operate under daylight...
• Nine Pictures From The Nine Emperor Gods Festival
Temple And Thighs. More than half the women visitors came dressed in short shorts, pasar-malam style. I wrote about the skimpy attire and short pants in 2003 and guess what? They have RAISED the bar. Many female worshippers have upped the hemline even further...
• The Thunderbirds
USAF's Thunderbirds took to the Subang sky for a spectacular air show this morning. Rain and cloudy sky did not deter the revered squadron nor the impromptu crowd. Excited motorists turned the roads around the air base into an instant, giant car park...
• Team F1Malaysia In Singapore
Tony Fernandes was at the paddocks of the Singapore F1 circuit to meet members of the international racing fraternity. He was seen recruiting talent and negotiating contracts, putting together the new team...
• Chefs & Choppers
Coincidentally, part of this LRT line broke down today. So, no. The chopper was not rescuing passengers stuck in the train. This and four other helicopters were ferrying...
• A Dog's Honour
Two dogs from a kedai potong kereta were caught in a pre-dawn fire. With fire engines screaming and explosions rocking the place, they must have been scared like everyone else there. Yet, they put on a brave front and stood steadfast on duty...
• The Ayam Perchik Man
With the sun behind the smoke, this hawker unwittingly presented a tricky but not to be missed picture opportunity...
• ASEAN Day: A Tale Of Three Cities
Jakarta, 8 August 2009: ASEAN's 42nd birthday bash began with a flag-hoisting and tree planting ceremony at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. A special AirAsia aircraft flew guests to three cities on the same day...
• Farewell Yasmin
This is one of my favourite pictures from the set of Muallaf (The Convert) I never published. I visited Yasmin and Keong on location in Ipoh on 6th July 2007. Cinematographer Keong is a long-time friend and Yasmin's long-time collaborator...
• Skeletons In The Island
The picturesque fishing village of Pulau Ketam is your typical Chinese village. There are rustic coffee shops, temples with exotic carvings and noisy mahjong sessions. Unlike other Chinese villages, stray dogs are conspicuously missing from this popular tourist destination. This is a picture-story of their dark little secret...
• Crescent Sun
Kuala Lumpur, 26th January 2009: The Sun turns into a Crescent as the Moon partially eclipsed it at 5:46 pm Malaysian time today. I photographed this awesome and rare sight from the Titiwangsa Lake Gardens. The solar eclipse took place from around 4:30 pm and ended at about 6:55 pm. It would not have been possible to view it with your naked eyes, anyway. Even with the Olympus E-3 cranking at 1/8000th of a second at f 22, it was still too bright...
• A Malaysian Christmas Tree
Kuala Lumpur, 18th December 2008: The World's Tallest Christmas Tree. The shadow of the conical Petronas Twin Tower casts itself on the wall of a nearby building. It appeared only for a fleeting moment when sun, photographer and buildings align...
• The Gold Man
Kuala Lumpur, 3rd December 2008: Mr Bojangles reincarnated into a golden mime, minus the worn out shoes? This silent busker is a shiny attraction on the otherwise drab pavement of Jalan Urut Kaki (formerly Jalan Bukit Bintang)...
• Dark Clouds Over Kinta Valley
Ipoh, Perak, 27th November 2008: Big Torrent. Minutes before the heavens opened up and deluged Ipoh city with torrential rain...
• Children Of Payatas
Payatas, The Philippines, 25th November 2008: Behind the innocent smiles is a story about abject poverty and the children trapped in the inescapable cycle. The landfill in Payatas is notoriously known the world over as Smokey Mountain. For over 35 years, the smoking dump site has grown to become a stark and heart-tugging reminder of the desperate conditions of humanity...
• A Day At The Races
Disaster struck A1GP Team Malaysia when radio interference from another team, who were calling in their driver, resulted in Fauzy unnecessarily pitting...
• Hazards Of Duke
Kuala Lumpur, 16th November 2008: As the DUKE is nearing completion, a pack of dogs are left in a lurch. These dogs grew up on the highway as construction progressed over the years. Many are kept by contractors to protect their construction equipment. The construction workers who fed them are mostly gone...
• Streets Of Manila
Manila, 31st October 2008: Manila is a study of contrasts. Where skyscrapers coexist with shanties. Where the third largest mall in Asia sits alongside large pockets of slums. Rich urban folks filled its many fine dining restaurants while street urchins roam the streets outside...
• Streets Of Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City, 6th October 2008: With 10 Million People and Ten Million Bikes, Saigon is one of the busiest and most vibrant cities in Asia. Two, three and four wheelers occupy every inch of the roads in this giant metropolis. To capture the rapid pulse of the streets, I rode a motorcycle, hopped on a cyclo, took a bus and walked its endless pavements...
• Waiting For Raya
Saigon, 29th September 2008: At a little mosque in Saigon, a little boy waits for Eid al-Fitr as the adults engage in prayers. The Muslim community in Ho Chi Minh City is especially ethnically diverse. Selamat Hari Raya from Vietnam...
• Malaysia's Day
Kelana Jaya, 15th September 2008: It was the night Malaysia comes of age. Malaysians from all walks of life, of different race and creed gathered in unity for a common cause. It was Malaysia's day...
• The Duke
Kuala Lumpur, 8th September 2008: Traversing the high-rise towers of Mont Kiara, the low cost flats of Sentul and the rustic village houses in Air Panas, the long-awaited D.U.K.E. highway is finally near completion...
• Don't Tell My Mother I'm At The Merdeka Parade
Kuala Lumpur, 31st August 2008: The true stars of the show are the kids who were baked with haze and sun for several hours. Inspite of that, they executed a flawless display worthy of Kim Jung Il's admiration...
• 51st Merdeka
Kuala Lumpur, 31st August 2008: Fireworks after the midnight countdown celebrations at Dataran Merdeka...
• Merdeka Millennium Endurance
Sepang, 30th August 2008: The MME Night Race at Sepang presented a rare and challenging photo opportunity. Fast fading twilight, tungsten spotlights from the pit and fill-in flash add up to a tricky mix that required some quick manual exposure adjustments...
• The New Myvi
Kuala Lumpur, 22nd August 2008: Perodua unveiled the New Myvi to the media this afternoon. The new Myvi has been given a new facelift with subtle enhancement on the exterior and interior. First launched in May 2005, there are now over a quarter of a million Myvis on Malaysian roads. The new Myvi is still competitively priced from...