People Photography in Singapore...

With the pending arrival of some fellow photographers passing through Singapore, I began to think a little about "what" is really here to shoot. Now when I say "shoot" its obviously a loaded comment; Im not into touristy shots - actually I can go to a tourist location that I would probably never have an opportunity to return to, and if I don't see what I would consider a worthwhile shot, Im more than likely just to leave the camera in the bag.

Ok, so over my time here I have taken one or two city scape shots but I think thats just more the nature of having lived here so long. The other side of "what" to shoot is often "what" to do, and that is something that can also be limiting. Even for visitors, I really have a problem recommending places like Sentosa or the new Integrated Resorts World. A lot of time and effort to go there and nothing of any consequence to experience.

The Singapore River; well its not really a river rather than a long-ish dead end canal, which is actually getting longer as its currently being extended into an area known as Bishan. The boat visible above is a frequent sight of the Singapore River cruises that, without the Japanese patronage, would likely not survive. A 30 minute ride up and back that maybe beats walking if all you want is a quick look and feel for the city.

The symbol of Singapore - the Merlion. This is located in... Merlion Park, which is in the CBD and is a common tourist location. I still cant understand how I ever achieved this shot without hoards of people along the steps...

In the same vicinity as the Merlion, and something you could never plan for, I came across this local team in the middle of filming a Tamil movie production. Although nothing spectacular it made for an interesting distraction given I was only there to grab a Starbucks.

Actually, when it comes to things to do in Singapore its about two things - eating and shopping. And, Orchard Road would have to be the centre of the shopping component. Singaporeans love their branded goods. Above was at the opening of "another" Louis Vuitton  shop, this time in the Ion Shopping Mall. Actually, LV bags amuse me no end... people paying in excess of S$1,000 for what just a "plastic bag".

Sort of the antithesis of these Anya Hindmarch bags emblazoned with the slogan "Im not a plastic bag".

One of the newer shopping malls on Orchard Road - Ion. Im sure Im not going to get offers to use my shot for promotional work - who wants to recognise those untidy buskers. To me the building was merely secondary and my only reason to ever enter it is to access the subway station below it. Actually, I've lived here long enough to remember when the site of this shopping mall was an open expanse of parkland. Filippinos - mostly domestic helpers - would congregate here on mass on Sundays - their one day off a week.

So back to photography... the street is much more interesting; and a lot less intimidating than a western city. These guys above were part of some paid advertising event  on Orchard Road - I forget what it was for now but I do remember their costumes were bright red.

As I'll allude to more and more as I write this, much of what's worth shooting is just random. Stuff just happens - anywhere and without warning. A Singapore Capoeira club providing an impromptu demo along Orchard - fun and interesting.

And no self respecting street shooter would seen dead without that shot of people juxtaposed against larger than life advertising murals - Singapore, once again obliges.

And before I leave the Orchard area, how can I forget the buskers. There's a range - I guess like any city - but the bad are really bad, and then others like this couple are really good. All in all they make for an interesting mix.

Accommodation for most Singaporeans is the apartment. Private apartments referred to as "condominiums" and public housing [read Government built sold and managed] referred to as "HDBs" - arising from the Government body that administers them, the Housing Development Board. 80% of Singaporeans live in HDBs which are built in clusters around amenities to form townships. These townships are often referred to as Heartland.

The style and structure of HDBs ranges from old and dilapidated to modern and impressive. These above are a couple of styles from the township area called Toa Payoh. On the lead up to National Day - Singapore's independence from Malaysia on August 9th 1966 - HDBs all over Singapore hang the National flag from their apartments.

So what happens in the heartlands? Its about people leading their lives - its quiet and primarily about food and family. Most HDBs have exercise and play areas - one for kids and one for adults to undertake "some" exercise.

People sit around and watch the day go by, often oblivious to events happening in front of them. However, the majority Chinese contingent are not usually the most obliging whenever they see a camera.

It doesn't matter where you go in Singapore, you'll always find people just whiling the time away...

Although not something I go out of my way for but local supermarkets offer an interesting window into peoples' lives. Im not consistent but I do often carry a camera with me whenever I go out.

The Heartland townships can offer a treasure of rewarding photo opportunities on live. Probably not the best hunting grounds for those merely passing through as it takes time to understand where you really are, what you're actually looking at, and what you can and cannot get away with.

The shot below is one of my favourites from Singapore. Shot in the newer heartland area of Punggol, this was a night time public celebration of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. This was 400 speed film pushed to 3200 with the only light being that from the candles.

Street photographers always seem to have an attraction to the subway. Unfortunately, the Singapore subway, known as MRT, is a pretty boring place for photography in general. However, hang around long enough and you'll eventually find some interesting characters.

Being majority Chinese, Singapore has a mass of temples across the nation. An easily accessible one is "Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho" Temple off Rochor Road and adjacent to Little India. Signs indicate no photography but are referencing inside. At different times of the year depending of the fesival, this temple can be over follwing with people.

Chinese New Year is one of those times. Thousands of people come both to attend and pray as well as watch the events. There are often performances and theatrics...

An interesting semi-touristy area is Arab street. A small street that runs off North Bridge Road it caters to locals and tourists looking for nik-naks of Middle Eastern origin. I personally, have a nice almost metre tall Shisha I acquired from there.

Adjacent to Arab Street is Sultan mosque. An impressive structure that is worth spending some time around and makes for some interesting and great shots. And, the locals are even friendly...

One street over from Arab Street is Haji Street. Often a hangout for young kids who sit around and gossip over a Shisha of flavoured tobacco and some nibbles.

One of my favourite areas of Singapore to shoot is Little India. I have returned time and time again and it always offers something new. In Little India, a lot happens on the street. Its a mix of tourists and the local southern Indian community who usual seem to go about their lives oblivious to the others.

Along the side of the footpath are stalls selling cheap clothing, beads and trinkets. Further along is the 24hr sell everything Mustafa complex. A basic bare-bones store with no frills or much customer service but if they sell its going to be the best price you'll find in Singapore.

Indians are the largest purchasing ethnic group for gold globally and Little India in Singapore is no exception. The main street is lined with jewelry stores with the latest intricate designs just waiting to be desired by your Indian princess...

And I'm sure that no one took my last reference of "Indian Princess" seriously. Well not everyone that buys gold bracelets and necklaces is a princess but you never know what you can meet being out and about in Little India...

Especially on weekend, its a lively place. People working, trading, shopping and young Indian kids just hangin' out.

The weekend also attracts lots of marketing from phone companies trying to offer the foreign worker Indians, and locals, the best deal in pre-paid call back to the motherland plans. Speakers continually blasting out offers in Tamil with such distorted sound you have to wonder if even they understand it; to novel approaches of rollerbladers wearing billboards and handing out flyers.

Little India also hosts a Muslim community along with a very unassuming and rudimentary mosque.

Whenever festivities occur in Singapore you frequently find large temporary marquees being erected. Armies of Indian workers can be seen across the frameworks feverishly assemble these structures in a matter of hours.

However, the part that draws me back, again and again is the Hindu Temple. Located on Serangoon Road, the heart of Little India, it open at 4 pm and is open to the public. There are always vendors selling their wares around its entrance that you almost need to step over.

The main entrance at the temple is impressive with a large wooden door covered in ornate bells that devotees ring as they enter. Often I will sit around on the steps near the door just looking for opportunities to present themselves - and many abound.

Depending on days and the events the crowds in the temples can vary. Devotees seeking blessings are always present, continually filing through. Some leave as quickly as they arrived, where others appear to sit, ponder and meditate for hours.

Other times, families or friends just use the grounds to sit around and chat. However, its always strange to witness the faithful being almost oblivious to the constant tourist crowd.

Below was a lucky chance for me. I just happened to drop down to shoot in Little India this day out of something to do. Turned out it was the Indian festival of "Holy", which is usually identified by the throwing of colourful powders on all who pass be. Singapore ensurers this practice is somewhat tamed down. However, it didn't stop the relevant temple ceremonies, which provided some interesting shots.

I've already mentioned that the public and tourists mingle with the devotees in this temple almost uninterrupted. These shots below are an example of how unperturbed people are by your presence.

And when not performing tasks, temple priests are often willing to pose for shots as well. No matter how often I return there is always something new to photograph here. This is probably the best location in Singapore for those that love people photography...

Baan Huay Sala

Firstly, what is a "Baan Huay Sala"? Baan Huay Sala is a very small village in the far north of rural Thailand. The first map below provide the exact location relative to the country up on the Myanmar border. The second map provides the route to drive from the northern city of Chiang Rai.

Most people have never heard of the place, let alone been there. If you search Google for "Baan Huay Sala" you only get about 2 pages of hits and about 75% of those are attached to me someone on the web, with another 15% not making any sense to the original search anyways...

Within Thailand itself, Baan Huay Sala is known for the more sinister role it plays in the drug trafficking trade. A 2007 article by The Nation is appended at the bottom of this post that references Baan Huay Sala twice - bold & underlined - in its role as well as descibing the greater picture associated with drug trafficking from Myanmar into Thailand.

Having covered that aspect; now the actual purpose of this story. Back in 2005 I was based in Bangkok and half way through the year we ended up in the common corporate situation of PC upgrades. The result of which left a large number of 3-year old notebooks with zero book-value.

In deciding what to do with them, someone had a a great idea of auctioning them off to staff and using the money raised to donate to a charity. After about a month of bidding, all PC had been auctioned off and, although I forget the exact amount, a couple of thousand dollars had been raised.

Now... what charity to donate to??? It turned out, after much deliberation, that one of the local Thai staff had briefly attended a school in Baan Huay Sala as a child. This was a small poorly funded school that struggled to deliver basic education to broad ethnic mix of children. So this is how the Baan Huay Sala school became our charity for donations.

Some time passed as the school was contacted, decisions were made about what it would be spent on, and all the administrative hoops were jumped through. When the time arrived to visit the school to donate the funds, anyone for the office was welcomed to come alone, however, travel had to be self funded. This aspect severely reduced the interest. However, for me, it was an opportunity not to be missed.

Baan Huay Sala school is an international school but not in the usual sense most of us understand this type of school designation. There are no Thai students; of the 333 kids there were a mix of various indiginous Hills Tribe people, kids from Laos, and from minority groups of both Myanmar and southern China.

The school ran on a shoe-string budget with most kids sharing texts of between 2 ~ 4 kids per book; and they have 8 Baht a day for each child to feed them - US20c.

The school buildings were basic, as to be expected, and classrooms were often a little crowded but all in all the students appeared happy, playful and adequately nourished. I just love to meet kids like this - being giving an opportunity for a better life, well natured, friendly and still enjoying their childhood.

And no matter where you are in the world, there is always that "naughty boy" somewhere in the class

The play yard seemed to be dominated by volley ball courts with no shortage of would be players - both boys and girls in mixed teams - with the periphery seemly offering to be the local hang-out area.

A number of the younger kids continued to follow our group all day (by the way, our "group" was only about 5 people) - more out of curiosity than anything else I think. There was one particular young girl that stood out in my mind by the end of the day. She was a cutie, always at the front of the group, smiling and very playful. The shot below was one of my favourite of her isolated from the usual group she stuck with.

The day ended with a school congregation in the common hall cum gym. The head master addressed the students in Thai and told them that we were here to donate money to build new classrooms for their school.

As much as I love to see these kids, I don't like the idea that they are asked to show appreciation to us as the donators. For me personally, I would like to have them understand my appreciation for just having been giving the opportunity to meet them and spent a brief moment in their world.

Never miss an opportunity in life...

Source : The Nation

A COMBINATION of plenty of cash and a lax attitude among border law-enforcers could well facilitate the flow of 800 million methamphetamine tablets across Thailand's border from Burma this year [2007].

Drug traffickers predominantly use just 15 routes.

They vary the use of these routes according to security conditions at the time and along the way have established safe houses, bulk-storage facilities and illicit laboratories to further refine the drugs. The drugs come from Burmese border regions to Thailand's northern provinces, such as Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. The Third Army Region gave The Nation an opportunity to investigate these paths.

The 15 routes are critical for the smugglers, millions of speed pills being carried along them.

From the north, nationwide networks deliver them to end users. And the authorities are simply not doing enough to curb the increasing trade. Most checkpoints along the 15 routes have not been conscientious enough when searching passing vehicles, and that enables drug traffickers to elude detection much of the time.

Worse still, when Thai officials do take tough action and engage in shootouts with the drug gangs, during which the gangs may lose some of their number, the rings can easily recruit new members to act as "mules" to lug their produce. Few legitimate professions can match the dollars offered by the illicit-drugs business. Each smuggler carrying the drugs and those protecting them receive a few baht for every methamphetamine tablet successfully smuggled into Thailand. Those managing the depots are paid Bt1 a pill.

The carriers are usually Chinese Haw, Wa, Thai Yai or Hmong, but their well-armed protectors are mostly Laha Na. The smuggling gangs normally set off from Toh, Tha, Pang Sang or Yon in Burma, which lie about five kilometres from the border.

Their end destinations are Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phayao and Mae Hong Son. Following a 36-hour investigative survey, The Nation is in a position to summarise how drugs are smuggled along the 15 routes. The first route's starting point is Toh, and its destination is Wiang Haeng district, via Piang Luang.

To cover the 350km route, the gangs travel by car for 200km inside Burma, then take up their journey on foot along rugged and mountainous paths that wind into Thailand. Despite the arduous journey, this route is regarded as worth the effort, because it offers the best chance of evading Thai authorities.

The second route starts from Tha, with the smugglers possibly stopping over at Pang Sang to observe Thai movements in the border region.

From there the smugglers make their way to Nam Piang Din village, where methamphetamines carried from Burma are further refined into tablets.

These are then transferred to Pang Mapha subdistrict and then to Pai district in Mae Hong Son, before departing for their eventual destination, Chiang Mai. There are several military and police checkpoints along the route, but they do absolutely nothing to stem the smooth flow of drugs.

One military checkpoint was observed recording car registrations but not searching vehicles for payloads of illicit drugs. Despite this, The Nation's camera gear was thoroughly searched then seized, despite the fact that smugglers have never been known to conceal drugs in expensive camera gear.

The camera gear was eventually returned, but it was explained that that particular checkpoint was close to a Thai Yai ethnic army base over the Burmese border, so that no camera gear was allowed.

Another checkpoint in Pai district was manned by just one police officer.

He simply asked to see identity cards and spoke to both motorists and passengers, confirming they were Thais.

The remaining checkpoints along the route were poorly manned.

The third delivery corridor is from Toh to Wiang Haeng district, via Pak Sam. Once smugglers reach Pak Sam, if set checkpoints are unmanned, they travel by car.

In the checkpoints are operational, carriers simply either wait until the coast is clear or continue on foot.

When The Nation was in the vicinity the checkpoints along the route were unmanned. The fourth route begins at Toh, ends at Wiang Haeng district and takes the smugglers through either Baan Nong Khew or Baan Arunothai.

There are some checkpoints along this way, but people are rarely searched for illegal substances.

The fifth route also begins in Toh, and.drugs are then taken through Baan Muang Na, then Baan Nong Uog and on to Baan Huay Luk.

Via this route the smugglers end their journey in Chiang Dao district.

However, because the Chiang Dao checkpoint is very strict, smugglers normally split their shipment at Baan Huay Luk, dividing it among several teams to increase the chances of at least some of the drugs reaching their intended destination.

Once successfully through Chiang Dao, the teams efficiently work their way to Chiang Mai city, using every available means of transportation.

They travel by bus, motorcycle and bicycle. Some disguise themselves as tourists. Smugglers using this particular channel are believed responsible for deliveries to Buaktuey and Mae Sa Mai districts in Chiang Mai.

The sixth route is again from Toh to Wiang Haeng district, but via Baan Nong Karang and Baan Arunothai.

And once again, lenient checkpoints offer smugglers a good chance of a hassle-free journey.

The seventh path begins at the Burmese villages of Na Kong Mu and Nam Ru Kun, from where smugglers track to Baan Tham Ngob, then to Chaiya Prakan and Baan Huay Luk, before finally reaching Chiang Dao.

Despite strict enforcement and checks at the Chiang Dao checkpoint, smugglers can generally make their way through the town because officers do not work round-the-clock.

The eighth route, from Na KongMu and Nam Ru Kun villages in Burma, to Phayao, via Baan Yang, Chaiya Prakan and Chiang Rai's Mae Suai district, is often used because smugglers prefer to avoid any possibility of encountering the officers manning the Chiang Dao checkpoint.

The ninth route begins in Toh, continues through Nam Ru Kun and then Baan Luang and Mae Soon Noi.

From Baan Mae Soon Noi, the smugglers have a choice of two routes.

If they are headed for Chiang Rai, they make for Fang, Mae Ai and then Baan Thaton. However, if they intend to make for Chiang Dao, they go via Chaiya Prakan. Although Baan Luang is widely regarded as being home to one of the largest methamphetamine depots in the North, there are few checkpoints in the area. The 10th route starts from Yon and takes smugglers to Toh and Nam Ru Kun villages in Burma.

When the smugglers step onto Thai soil at Baan Lan, they either go to Chiang Rai via Mae Ai or head towards Chiang Dao via Fang and Chaiya Prakan.

The 11th route follows a similar path within Burma then goes to Baan San Ju and Mae Ai. At Mai Ai the smugglers assess which destination, Chiang Dao or Chiang Rai, is more convenient.

Convenience is determined by checkpoint status along the way.

The gangs might choose to go directly to Chiang Rai if the way is considered clear, otherwise they move through Fang and Chaiya Prakan, to reach Chiang Dao. The 12th route starts in Yon, tracks to Baan Huay Sala and Sukruthai villages and then continues to Mae Ai. Via this channel, the smugglers are again offered a choice: they can move from Mae Ai to Chiang Rai, or they can go to Chiang Dao via Fang and then Chaiya Prakan.

Baan Huay Sala is allegedly home to a large holding depot, where drugs are stored in lots of at least 100,000.

Information received by The Nation put the largest single shipment to pass through this village at five million pills.

It is said the notorious drug lord Lao Ta controls the area's operations.

The 13th route is from Yon to Baan Hua Muang Ngam and Mae Fa Luang. Traffickers using this route then make for Mae Chan and then Chiang Rai.

Along this channel, speed pills are normally stockpiled at Sukruthai, Santisuk and Patuem villages. Each community, at any one time, is believed to be hiding at least 10 million methamphetamine tablets. Despite tip-offs about drug movements through the area, the smuggling gangs in the area have not yet been apprehended. But then sources said the gangs enjoyed political protection. The 14th path also begins at Yon. The speed then reaches Thailand at Baan San Ma Ked. From there the pills are carried via Baan Therd Thai and often stored for a while in Baan Hmong. The smugglers then continue to Mae Fa Luang and Mae Chan before reaching their Chiang Rai destination.

The military source said that Wuei Sia Kang, known as Prasit in Thailand, was this area's drug lord.

The final route is along the Mekong River from either Burma or Laos via the Golden Triangle to Chiang Khong district in Chiang Rai.

The illegal substances being smuggled are ready-made methamphetamine compositions, which are then refined into small tablets in either the Golden Triangle or Laos. From Chiang Khong the pills are transferred by road to the city of Chiang Rai via Wiang Chai district. It is quite clear the Thai authorities could, if they wished, dispatch forces to beef-up the anti-drugs effort along each of these routes.

There are, after all, only 15 routes along which trafficking needs to be stymied to reduce the current flood of methamphetamines from Burma.

If the checkpoints along these routes were all as strict as the one at Chiang Dao, the drug industry might not be as large as it is today.

Manning every available checkpoint, ordering all officers to be strict, and establishing more checkpoints, are measures that could help curb the problem.

If the authorities fail to take the necessary action, then 87 methamphetamine-producing factories in Burma, 23 of them producing ready-made compositions, the others refining them into tablet form, will this year deliver no less than 800 million speed pills to Thailand.