By the lake

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | flickr photos

About the photos:

In rural Cambodia, I wait for my ride--a makeshift 'bamboo train'--
as it is set up by tattooed men. To ward off evil spirits, I am told.

"We will have a real train here next year," a villager tells me. "Then there will be more tourists," he says, excitedly.

Times are changing. For now, life around this man-made lake is quiet, pleasures are small and moments go by languidly under the hot mid-day sun.

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I am a 26-year-old Malaysian who chases politicians for a living.

As a journalist, my job is to observe and to ask, to understand and to capture. I carry this 'philosophy' with me on my travels and through the photographs that I take for no reason other than for posterity.

I am curious about life, people and cultures. This, I believe, is what colours my photographs. They may not be technically sound (I shot the Cambodia set with a semi broken compact Fuji, which had to be duct-taped) but my photographs have a lot of heart, and they tell stories.