Tag: Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G

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Travel Blog

A Slow Start On The First Day As We Arrived At Barcelona

Our first tapas in Spain

Cynthia and I can hardly be qualified as seasoned or power travellers.  Looking back on the first day of our trip, we were taking things very easy, exploring Barcelona in leisure as we went.  Everything in Europe was a new experience.  From the handling of euro currency to the transport system in Barcelona.  And since we are studying Spanish, what better tourist destination for us to visit than Spain?

On the first day of our trip, we toured the city under the scorching sun on top of a tourist bus so highly recommended by my friends at work.  I am not sure how the Europeans can take the heat.  In Spanish, there is a phrase called tomar del sol, which literally translates to ‘take the sun’ or sunbathing in English.  Below are the options you may wish to read more about our day 1 journey.

  • A photo collection for day 1 of our trip to Spain (38 photos with captions)
  • A journal written in details on what we did and more (approx 2,000 words)
  • A highlight of the photos below (8 photos – and for Facebook readers, please view the original post)

I hope you enjoy the photos and the journal.  The next batch of materials should be out next Sunday.  Stay tuned!

To read the rest of the travel blog entries, please follow this tag.

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Photography Travel Blog

My Early Photography Work on Fraser’s Hill

Our (day 1) hotel room at The Smokehouse

Of the few highlands in Malaysia, Fraser’s Hill holds a special place in our hearts.  It is tranquil, it is serene.  November 2008 seems so distant.  It was cloudy, rained most of the time.  The same month when 2008 Formula 1 reached its finale.  And this afternoon, I was glued to my TV watching the 1 hour qualifying rounds held in Melbourne.  Season opening for the 2009 Formula 1.

Back in last November, when F1 was still fresh in our mind, I was racing my 2 litre Honda car – within safety limit of course – through the winding wet road of Fraser’s Hill.  Heightened concentration on the road, for the more than 1 hour drive.  Why?  The final 8 kilometers road connection between the top of the hill and its nearest town is a one-way street.  Odd hours up, even hours down, and we were running late.  Lots of braking, acceleration, and overtaking.  One 4WD overtook me.  It must have made it to the gate in time.  We fell short for just a couple of minutes.  That’s life.  We did our best.  One too many slow moving vehicles that didn’t give way.  And that was one hour’s wait.  We drove somewhere else to kill time.

Back in last November, I was still trying to understand how dSLR works.  The results are less than impressive.  Pretty bad, I think.  Cynthia called for a re-shoot.  I agree.  Nevertheless I put together a little album for memory’s sake.  The Smokehouse is a lovely hotel.  We always go back to the same hotel.  A special thanks to Henry, Bala, Hanif, and Nural for giving us such a memorable stay at The Smokehouse.  Hope to see y’all again the next time we visit Fraser’s Hill.

Related Link: Extra photos in high resolution format (87 items)

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Memorable Events Photography

My Sister’s Wedding in Singapore – Thank You For Your Warm Wishes

We wrapped up the night with a group photo

It is amazing how pressure can propel us to do the seemingly impossible.  I woke up this morning barely 8 hours after I shot the last photo of the evening and my parents were already pacing around my living room hinting or rather strongly hinting that they wished to take all the photos I have shot for my sister’s wedding as they are.  As they are?!  It is hard to explain to them why they can do that for point-and-shoot photos and not for the 500 pictures I took with my dSLR camera.  I find it hard to believe that too.  It has got to be my skill, or the lack of it.

And because it breaks my heart to see my parents fly back to Hong Kong disappointed, not only have I done the necessary photo shortlisting and touch up in record time, but also have them published online with a less than 24 hours turnaround time.  I am happy with the results.  Some of the shots I really like.  I suppose Benny and Lora may have passed this blog entry to you for viewing.  Maybe you were there, maybe you couldn’t make it.  As a proud brother of Lora and a good old friend of Benny, I thank you for your warm wishes to the wedding couple.  I am pretty sure in time to come Benny and Lora will share the professionally done up photos of the event with you.  Meanwhile, here are some of the candid shots I have taken to complement the event, arranged chronologically in three albums.

PS. Stay tuned for a little write-up on how the day went.  Thank you for viewing the pictures and as always, feedback is welcome.

Categories
Diary Photography

Auditioning Female Models for Upcoming Brüttal (Lingerie) Fashion Show in Kuala Lumpur

One of the African Models

OK, enough of serious blog entries these days and I need something sexy, something light to spice up my life site.  Believe me, it was a hard choice between:

  1. Staying in Singapore and accepting an invitation for a (free!) photo shooting session at the Singapore Zoo as well as to cover the finale of the River Hongbao event over the weekend
  2. Driving up to Malaysia and help out my friend Adeline to audition the female models down to their underwear with my … camera.

Cynthia and I couldn’t cancel the hotel booking at the last minute so we stuck with the original plan even though the circumstances have changed.  I am actually glad that we went because:

  1. Our friend needed emotional support that evening and we were there for her.  Talked with her till 4 in the morning (and Cynthia insisted on waking up early the next day not to miss the breakfast).
  2. I did have a role to play because Adeline couldn’t have photographed these candidates as she was busy showing them what to do.  It is good to refer to the photographs after the audition.

Below are the pictures taken during the audition.

… Nah!  They are PG rated.  Wait till we go for the actual Fashion Show with the actual Brüttal products.  Super chick n sexy lingerie that Brüttal carries.

So how was the experience?  Broadly summarized as follows.

  • Stressful.  It is hard to frame and capture the moments.  It is even harder if the models are inexperience.
  • Nervous.  I was the only guy in the VIP room.  I was worried that I might be eaten up by the girls.
  • Exciting.  Actually only one moment of excitement.  It was when all the models stripped in front of me down to their underwear, at the same time.

Now, why Africans?  I don’t know why the club “China White” is a popular place for the Africans and why Adeline goes for such a theme.  Maybe Africa is in these days?  Think about the next World Cup hosting country, the current F1 champ, and the new American President …

I have no clue how Adeline is going to train these brand new models for her Brüttal Fashion Show in March.  I am keen to cover the event for Brüttal and perhaps I may need a telephoto lens when that time comes (any one wish to lend me a 50mm f/1.4G?!).

Categories
Photography

(Perfectly) White Balanced Portrait Photos of Cynthia at River Hongbao

Cynthia loves this picture the most, not sure why ...

Though I have received one good suggestion from a good friend of mine that I shall host my photo albums elsewhere until I am good enough to have them hosted here in my website, I thought it is good to show y’all my journey thus far.  Besides, I treasure constructive feedback from the seasoned photographers on areas that I can immediately improve upon.

Almost immediately.  As I do have to wait for the White Balance Reference Card to arrive from US.

One of the (many) tips my (mentor) Mathew has shared with me is that the white balancing is off in my photos.  What it really means (I think) is that the white color is not quite white from the photos I publish.  Fair enough.  Getting the properly balanced white color in digital photography can be a challenge under different lighting conditions.

Especially at the River Hongbao where there were lots of yellow and red and strange color cast onto the lovely face of my model.

You know, it took me a while to convince Cynthia to be my model at the Floating Platform.  I was there just days before this shooting session doing a media coverage for the opening ceremony.  I know all the angles and backdrop.  And I desperately needed a model to fulfill my dream.  Below are the photos taken to demonstrate the white balancing effect.  For high quality photos, visit my photography page.

This is extreme white balancing in action.  All but one photo showcased above or in my photography sub-site are individually white balanced.  See if you can tell which one is the odd one out.  Most of them are shot as-it-is with standard touch-up.  A rare few I have used a film effect to accentuate a certain artistic viewpoint.

Here is how I did it.  Because it was pretty crowded, I have to be creative in finding a right spot to take photo.  Having a wide angle lens help because the distance between my camera on tripod and my model can be pretty close.  Noticing the direction of the human traffic helps too.  Need not to say, it is better to align with the flow and not perpendicular from it.  The last thing I want is to have someone knocks onto my tripod or get in between my camera and my model accidentally.

Composition with tripod is hard.  Some say that shots with tripod is pretty boring.  It is of course not as flexible as hand held composition.  But hey, if I want to expose the photo for up to 1/2 second, I don’t really have much choice, do I?  I would take one photo with Cynthia posing in front of the camera and another one with her holding a White Balance Reference Card close to her face.  That latter photo I would use to take the reading for white balancing.  Extreme white balancing in action, why?  Because I did it for every photo – one for real and one for the card.  I keep the first one and throw away the second one.

I reckon I can still do a much better job with better flash lock for off-centered composition and perhaps a faster shutter speed (1/8 sec or faster?) compensated with higher ISO sensitivity.  Oh well, till the next time I guess.

PS. This is not a sponsored post on WhiBal.

Related Links: High Quality Photo Album of This Entry, WhiBal Card (external link)

Categories
Diary

Delivering the Wedding Gifts the Traditional Chinese Way (過大禮 / 过大礼) … In the Modern Day

Benny, My Dad, and the Wedding Gifts

Here is the thing, I am lousy when it comes to Chinese tradition.  Maybe I shall read more Chinese literature, maybe I shall date a … or maybe I shall just talk to my parents more.

We can talk about the six Chinese wedding etiquette here.  But if you are more of a visual person, here is the link to my personal family photo album.  Yes, in this tidy home of my parents in Hong Kong we have a dog named Tak Tak.  He is smart, he is adorable, and I will share a photo album of just my dog later.  How late?  I don’t know.  I still have my photos taken in Fraser Hill unprocessed, awaiting to be published.

One day I woke up at the apartment on the 5th floor – my parents stay on the 7th floor and it is a long story that you probably can skip – and Benny (my then-brother-in-law-to-be-now-brother-in-law) was loading the 5th floor apartment with gifts.  I looked at the gifts in my wildest curiosity wondering what on the earth he was doing.  Well, according to one of the Chinese wedding etiquette, the groom’s family delivers the wedding gifts (過大禮 / 过大礼) to the bride’s family days (or weeks?!) before the actual wedding date.  In the old days, it was meant to be an elaborate event.  When the bride’s family receives the wedding gift mostly with items in pairs – plus a letter or a book itemizing the gifts (?! … lots of documentations in the old days) – another set of gifts will be returned as part of the tradition.  If you wonder why coconuts, chickens, and even a pair of shoes can be considered as wedding gifts alongside with the gold and jewelery, phonetically, these items mean only good things to the wedding couple.

In the modern day, this tradition is simplified.  As seen in the photos I have shared, I recall Benny did bring wine, fruit, cakes, abalones, and … lots of cash!  In Singapore dollar!  And my parents also returned a portion of the cash received to symbolize the tradition.  When I saw that, I was like … don’t, don’t … let me have it!

At times I wonder, what dilutes the local tradition?  I tend to look at the era of colonization with puzzlement.  One day I may write a blog entry about it.  Perhaps after this ambitious photo trip my friend Ken and I have been talking about for ages – local culture and tradition at a crossroad.

Photo Album: Family Photos in Hong Kong

Categories
For the Geeks Photography

Facing Off Sheylara At Symantec Gaming Tournament – Hands-on with Norton AV 2009 Gaming Edition

Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition

Previously, I teamed up with Sheylara on that blogger challenge of … erm … national significance.  This time, I had to team against her at the Symantec Gaming Tournament.  My first time playing a Counter-Strike lookalike network game.  Sheylara had planted so many bullets on my back that it was no longer funny.  And she was physically sitting one row behind me with her virtual gun point right at my real back.  So how did the tournament go?  Hang on for a moment.  Let’s talk about this new Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition first.  And I have more (surreal) photos to share later in this entry.  The one with the classic Sheylara post is probably my favorite.

Of Norton, AVG, McAfee, and … Norton

Coincidentally, just days before I received the invitation to this blogger event, I was curiously staring at this yellow box of “Gaming Edition” at one computer store one fine afternoon.  As an avid gamer, I am excited to see Norton from Symantec listens to the gamers’ needs.

The concept of computer virus always bugs me, though I am a computer scientist and engineer by training.  I wish I could visit the Norton lab one day and see how it works.  Norton has a business because of the virus makers.  Do they recruit virus makers to kill off the virus?  How do they get into these people’s heads?

My love affair with Norton as such.  Companies use Norton products so as a home user, I too bought Norton products to protect my computers.  That was quite a while ago.  Back then, Norton products were resource intensive, countless updates that required countless machine restarts.  So I ditched Norton and went for free products like AVG.  Didn’t work out so I went for McAfee.  McAfee seemed to work for me but it didn’t.  When a virus did strike (how often right?), it failed to quarantine.  And I have to keep signing on every few days or so to have my account verified.  Enough is enough, so I went back to Norton.

Last year, I was shocked by Norton 2008’s superb performance – both in terms of product installation and the on-going protection.  I was told that 2009 edition is even faster.  Wow!  And since I need to get my hands dirty for this blog entry, I uninstalled my Norton Internet Security 2008 that still has 2 months worth of subscription and give this Gaming Edition a try.

Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition

Norton AV Gaming Edition Skin

The box says that this Gaming Edition will install in less than a minute.  Are you for real?!  Surprisingly it does.  If you come from the dinosaur age like I do some people do, that is just hard to believe.  Even the update did not take long (note: if you notice the CPU usage meter, I was running a full system scan and Norton is transparent enough to let me know how much resource it was using).

Gamer Mode

So, what so special about the gaming edition?

When Norton AV Gaming Edition detects a game launched in full screen mode (or in my case because I run World of Warcraft in Windows mode, I can click onto the system tray and switch on gaming mode), certain protections are turned off, including the suspension of alerts and notifications (see picture on the left).  Underneath the hood, there are options for you to decide if you wish to turn off (1) AntiVirus, (2) Advance Protection, (3) Intrusion Prevention, and (4) Automatic LiveUpdate when the gaming mode is switched on.  Neat!  And if you own an online gaming account like I do, I was told that this product will safeguard you against intrusion too.

Symantec Gaming Tournament

That night was the first time I played what appeared like a 3-on-3 Counter-Strike network game.  All those years of World of Warcraft training seems to have help.  It is quite a fun game to play.  There is a terrorist team to pick and a counter-terrorist team too.  I find it is much easier to play the terrorist.  Go in, plant the bomb, and get out.

The professional gamers were in the house.  Gaming as a profession?!  I thought only gold farmers in MMORPG makes money.  Amazing.

In Closing

You know you need to protect your computers against virus.  The question is which product to use.  There are alternatives out there and it doesn’t take much research to realize that Norton is the way to go in terms of reliability, ease of installation and use, and performance.  The only consideration is pricing.  For the Gaming Edition, Norton from Symantec has taken one step further.  It requires less than 6MB of memory (8 times less compares to competitors), opens only 2 processes, and add less than 3 seconds to boot time.  If you are an avid gamer who is looking for a virus protection tool, you shouldn’t settle for less.

There are much to cover for the Norton 2009 products.  Perhaps another post when I get a hold onto the Internet Security 2009.  Stay tuned.

A big thank you to the Norton folks and Text100 folks in making this event fun. I am happy to have learned so much more and in depth about the Norton products.  Yes, our team has won the tournament and thanks for the prize!

Categories
Memorable Events Photography

River Hongbao 2009 Opening Ceremony – A Media Coverage

A sample of photos taken during the River Hongbao 2009 Opening Ceremony

I am honored to be invited as part of the media crew to cover the River Hongbao Opening Ceremony.  Having no prior experience to cover event of such scale and significance, I followed closely to EastCoastLife, the president of our Association of Bloggers (Singapore), listening to her advice on who is who, what to anticipate, and the general tips to cover events and etc.

In this blog entry, I am going to share two photo albums with you. 

  1. Click here (or onto the image above) to view my personal favorite collection created using Nikon Capture NX2
  2. Scroll down to view the event collection created using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.2

On the Event

From now till Feb 1, there are many reasons to visit the Floating Platform just off Marina Square.  First, you get to walk around the platform built originally as a temporary location for the National Day Parade.  The last time I visited the same location was during the National Day Parade Preview back in 2007.  One fine piece of work built by the Singapore Armed Force, MINDEF, and DSTA.

Second, there are lots of photography opportunities.  Beautiful light with lots of color.  At the center of the Floating Platform is a performance stage.  Check out the show schedule here.  Lots of talents.  EastCoastLife and I enjoyed the cultural performance thoroughly.

Third, admission is free.  The venue is well organized and secured.  Tripods are allowed so bring your family and friends and take some memorable shots!  If you drop a link of your photo album here, I will gladly take a look.  Let’s learn from each other.

A Media Crew’s Journal

It was the first time I stepped into a Press Conference.  We were side by side with the traditional media.  And I am happy that my camera is of an industrial standard as compares to what the pros are using.  We are all Nikonians, we are friends immediately without the need to exchange words.

Peggy Chen, our friendly media point of contact, walked us through the program in Mandarin.  I tried very hard to understand what she said (I am a Cantonese) because she did give out useful information on what to expect, where to take your best photo shots.  I think I understood about 70% of what she said.  When she repeated the information a second time in English, I was in tears of joy.

The professional photographers move very fast.  We were dashing ahead, turning around to take some killer shots, and dashed out again – as our VVIP (very-very important people) walked amongst the crowd.  Over 800 shots were made on that evening and I am amazed on how Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Wong Kan Seng managed to smile in almost every photo I took throughout the entire event.

I was told that firecrackers were banned in Singapore and now recently lifted.  When EastCoastLife asked the security guards if we could get up close to the firecrackers and they were shocked, politely said no.  After seeing how explosive those firecrackers were, I personally am glad that I was nowhere close.

As you can see in the photos here, the performance was beautiful, professionally done.  Apparently, EastCoastLife has seen the preview and was tipping me on what shots to take.  Neat!  My personal favorite of the entire collection – besides the picture of a very pretty Chinese girl on stage – is the 6 men stacking up in the form of a totem. 

Sharing of Photography Experience

I have many photography mentors to help me with this learning journey.  So, I wish to thank Ken for the wonderful tip on: bring more than one lens for the event and change on the spot.  Because of this tip, I brought along my telephoto zoom lens as well.  I am so glad that I did.  I would have missed quite a number of shots that turn out to contain some of my favorites.

I also wish to thank Mathew to convince me that there are industrial strength battery chargers out there and with the right batteries, my camera can perform as though it is on steroid.  And just the day before, I invested S$200 for a charger and countless batteries (12 high capacity ones and 8 free not too high capacity batteries that come with the charger).  That makes my already heavy camera even heavier.  But that is no big deal, just need to do more weightlifting.  With all the quality batteries, my camera was shooting at 8 frames per second with the flash gun to match.

Two awesome tips!

Besides the two lenses – wide angle and telephoto – I brought my tripod and shutter release cable as well.  That night was also the first evening I tried the MUP (mirror up) function to minimize the mechanical vibration caused by the movement of the mirror inside the camera.  MUP only makes sense if you have a shutter release cable.

I have nearly underestimated the number of photos I would shoot especially with high speed shooting mode.  My 8GB Extreme IV memory card was barely enough (for over 800 shots taken).  I have completely depleted the 8 AA rechargeable batteries on the grip.  And I reckon my flash gun would need new batteries really soon.  Hence, lessons learned are:

  • Always anticipate where the VVIP will be heading.  And keep dashing forward (without knocking anyone down!).
  • Observe where the professional photographers stand (great tip from EastCoastLife).
  • If you can’t afford an extra camera body (like me), bring extra lenses for the event.
  • And if you are using one of the entry level dSLR cameras, do yourself a favor and get the 18-200mm lens (for my D700, I use the 24-70mm and 70-200mm, both at f/2.8).  It costs S$1,000 but you can almost shoot anything from any distance especially with the flash gun mounted.  Not large enough aperture is seldom an issue with flash.
  • Bring extra memory cards and batteries.  Even if you may not need to use them, they offer a good peace of mind.
  • Bring along an assistance to help you with your gears.  Better still, bring a pretty one so that he or she can be your subject if need to too.

Afterthoughts

As a blogger who participate in the New Media movement, I can certainly see the benefit of being part of a legal entity that complies to the Singapore Societies Act.  Much like how bloggers – myself included – get into company events through the PR companies, an association for the bloggers get us in touch with the events of national significance. 

Being bounded by the Societies Act does have its restriction, especially in the areas that touch onto Singapore politics.  But the upside is that not only the government, but also other established associations acknowledge our existence.  More doors will be open for us to “promote, protect, and educate” our members.  And inevitably, our key stakeholder list will expand beyond the Blogosphere – for the better I reckon.

At times I wonder how many active societies are there in Singapore.  I think in time to come, there will be more and more associations for the different groups of bloggers to cater for different special needs.  Is there a one size fits all?  Probably not, in my personal humble opinion.

Related Link: Personal Photo Collection – River Hongboa Opening Ceremony (A Highlight)

Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews Photography

Love Matters, But Does Jack Neo?

Photo taken right before the show started ... Love Matters

Apparently it does, Jack Neo is still one of the most celebrated film directors in Singapore.

So we are invited for the Gala Premium of “Love Matters”.  It is good that our team from the Association of Bloggers (Singapore) that is still at its infancy stage have the opportunity to meet up in a causal non-work related setting.  As I looked across the theatre, taking mental pictures of our team members, I felt as though we have worked together much longer than just a few months – from media kit to logistics, from membership to sponsorship to partnership and more.  We’ve just put up a FAQ section in our temporary website.  10 of us, working voluntarily, with a day job to do in a challenging economic environment whereby, all of us should focus on what earns us a living instead.

A comedy like “Love Matters” is good, to lighten up the mood.  I remember 2008 started with bloodshed conflicts (remember Pakistan?) one after another.  2009 too started with one (read about Israel lately?) topped with a global financial meltdown that not only affects the investors, but now the aftermath is felt by the common people on the ground.  Like me and perhaps, you.

I don’t assign stars to my reviews.  Take “Love Matters” as an example.  You can’t really compare it side by side with an International film like, say, “Love Actually” (my friend Ed and I were just talking about “Love Actually” at a café while waiting for the Red Carpet event to take place).  To be able to see something closer to our local culture on a big screen, local talent Jack Neo’s films are as close as it gets.  Three love stories intertwined into a single plot, there is this young boy having a crush with his schoolmate who is attached, there is this flamboyant young man who doesn’t know what love is beyond physical intimacy, and there is an old married couple whose well of passion has dried up long time ago.  As Jack Neo wrote in his blog, the following translated paragraph summarized what he envisages the film to be.

Those who are not in love yearn for love; those who are loved don’t know how to love; and those who are in love for too long no longer feel the love.

There are pockets of quality jokes that even for Cynthia who doesn’t know a single word of Chinese, she laughed hard.  Beyond bits and pieces of comedy (my favorite one is the gigolo scene) is a bit of horror (“Hard Candy” anyone?) and a bit of tragedy with tons of tears.  It is relevant to our current environment on what sex in the fifties is like (think Viagra in Chinese potion) and what teen sex is like (sex videos getting uploaded into the Internet sounds familiar?).  Perhaps the topic of sex has earned the disappointing NC-16 rating, at least to Jack Neo.  I would think that the younger crowd may have some to learn from the story.

Yes, I wish “Love Matters” has the cinematography quality of “Dance of the Dragon”.  The backdrops are a bit too ordinary to me.  And yes, I wish the story is tighter and less irregular in terms of scripting quality.  At some parts of the story, Cynthia and I would turn and look to each other and have the “huh?!” look.  Having said that, I am happy to support the local industry and “Love Matters” is Jack Neo’s 13th production that will certainly give you a good laugh and a tiny bit of something to ponder about no matter how old you are.

Photos shared here are those that I have taken during the Red Carpet event.  Yes, I just have to throw in pictures of Cynthia taken at the rooftop of Vivocity because I have always wanted to take some pictures of her there.  This set of photos is also the first time Nikon’s Color Efex Pro 3.0 for Capture NX 2 is being featured in my website, as a good alternative to Adobe Photoshop products.  Stay tuned for further write-ups on what software is for you if you are a Nikon digital photographer.

Categories
Announcement

Association of Bloggers (Singapore) – This Is Your Secretary Speaking

Association of Bloggers (Singapore) - First Group Photo

Here is one secret of mine that no one knows except my mother.  When I was young, I dreamed of being a bus driver.  I would pace around my home in Hong Kong for hours imagining that I was shuttling my passengers around.  Little did I know that instead, I would become a secretary one day.

Maybe I could look cute in skirt.  That’s why our president EastCoastLife has appointed me as the association’s secretary.  When the prominent local blogger EastCoastLife – whom we have been dropping comments at each other’s sites for years – invited me to meet with other Singapore bloggers in person, I was curiously excited.  A series of events since the days of the Singapore F1 that lead to our association formally registered in Singapore – first of its kind.

Hooray!

Blogging is my passion.  And I am excited to be part of this association.  As a first generation immigrant of a country that I love (since 98), I am honored to take part in building something tangible here.  This is my sole motivation.  And as for the key stakeholders – in my personal view – they are (1) Singapore, (2) the public, and (3) the members.  My personal vision of success in mid term is to contribute in building a strong and sustainable blogging community in Singapore as the frontier of the New Media.  Some of you know that I have been a Management Consultant for more than a decade before moving into the industry and now helping to drive global initiatives.  I aim to bring along my experience of working with the leaders of the organizations – both profit and non-profit – into this new association.

Back to this secretary role, I hope it is just about taking minutes, co-signing cheques, answering phone calls, buying takeaway, babysitting bosses’ toddlers, taking pictures, and screaming at everybody but the bosses.  I mean, that is the job description of a secretary right?

Above are some of the pictures taken during one of our meetings (note: written consent required by the association before used).  Below are the links to the websites of our founding members.  They are really fun people to be with, so much talents from a diverse background.  I can’t say too much on the upcoming events now and we shall hear it from our media team later (hmmm … where have I put my media team hat).  Stay tuned!  This is a beginning of many great things to come ~ to quote EastCoastLife.

PS. Association of Bloggers (Singapore) is covered by Today’s TODAY newspaper, the morning edition.

Association of Bloggers (Singapore) – Committee Members