Four years ago, with an excited, enthusiastic mother by my side, I registered Logue as a company. It was a fuss-free $20 efficient process meant to symbolise my personal transition from student to working professional, but more importantly it was a mental opening ceremony of sorts to remind the dreamer in me that roads are built by doers, not lofty ideals and empty talk. Looking back at these years of self discovery, I am humbled by the good fortune, precious opportunities and endless support bestowed upon me by the people in my life. 

THANK YOU to my awesome, brilliant, charming parents for being larger than life. Mum who has, her entire life, shown by example how to care, organize, be conscientious and focussed at what you do. Dad, a braveheart and all-time big dreamer, who always finds a reason to laugh. For teaching us how to be survivors and make the best of whatever life presents you with. Shauna, for being the best sister I could ever ask for to go through thick and thin together. Pi, for her endless creative input, words both kind and harsh, wanderlust and love. My families at Objectifs, Little Red Ants and Lien Foundation for your friendship, camaraderie and endless passion for what you do. You drive me to greater heights and are the lush pastures where my dreams can take form and blossom. To my clients who’ve grown into friends over the years,  thank you for looking out for me. 

I would be nothing without the friends who give me stuff made of more than words that have tided me through darker days –– Cousins Jon and Alexander for being my part-time co-workers, Uncle CY for his unfaltering I.T assistance, Kang Li for NYC 2009 and everything else, Mike Tze for giving me my first assignment ever and Kay Chin for the opportunities. Linus & Karen, Val, Junling, Peimin, Feli, Yanzhao, Daniel, Ahao, Gerald, Jinyee, Xinyi, Abi & Bryan, Deanna, Ryan, Py, Dionna and Lilin, for always making it better. 

There is a beauty in discovering the world and my self in the process. I started out as an idealistic dreamer wanting to do something good, and along the way grew to embrace the myriad ways of applying my skills and passions into projects that I hope will do good and make things better. I love the invisible force that pulls me out of bed every morning to work and translate my thoughts into something tangible, the joys of getting the hand of the commercial bit and a satisfaction of working with all sorts of personalities on various projects.

The world as I know through discovering places and people is inspiring and magical. The wonders of media and my influences have enabled me to capture all that I’ve experienced and express it in my way. Whatever you do, I wish for Logue to inspire you to greater heights and discover the wonders of dreams and rewards of action. 

Two weeks ago, I had the good fortune of attending the BRAND’S Music Changes Lives with Wang Leehom 2011 concert and press conference. I’ve always been an admirer of Leehom’s dedication to his music so this was a very interesting experience to interview him in an intimate setting. Unlike your run-of-the-mill Mandopopstar, this Taiwanese singer-songwriter takes his creative production very seriously. Since 1995, he has been fusing a range of Chinese elements like ethnic minority classics, classical orchestra and Beijing opera with popular genres like hip-hop and R&B to much success.

As part of his dedication to nurturing new talent and giving back to the community, the BRAND’S ambassador graced the cosy music showcase in Singapore for the second year running. Together with four young musicians Andy Chong, Michelle Soh, Spruce Teo and Giam Yue Ling, who were voted tops among some 68 other contestants, Leehom performed three songs in front of an excited audience in the National University of Singapore’s University Cultural Centre. 

“The best way they learn is to have an endless supply of education,” said Leehom on his advice to young musicians. “You have to know what you want. If you don’t have a target, it will be very hard to focus. I always tell people to embrace rejection because that is something that every artist has to face, time after time. The most important thing is to pick yourself up and move on.”

Spruce Teo, Michelle Soh, Andy Chong & Giam Yue Ling

I was pleasantly surprised by the emotion displayed by the young musicians. While Andy Chong got things heated up on the electric guitar and Spruce Teo wowed a supportive audience with his saxaphone, it was the technique and intensity of the performances by pianist Michelle Soh (Schubert’s Impromtu Op 90 No 2) and violinist Giam Yue Ling (Beethoven Virus)  that blew me away. 

I find it very heartening that there are corporates like BRAND’S which believe in the potential of music to change lives and inspire people to craft their own story in a supportive community. I’ve told my photography students before that I believe the medium is the message. You find a medium that speaks to you (music/photography/illustration/design), learn to comprehend it with sheer determination, love it with passion and build a relationship with it over time. As one grows up, there will be moments when you realize the medium is no longer just the message, but delivers a message only the artist can shape. 

Ladies and gentlemen………………. LOGUE is ALIVE! V3 of the Logue site, that is. Looking forward to an exciting year ahead, charting journeys through the magic of media, telling stories which matter and rollin’ out projects to inspire people to live, do good and make it better. 

Since I embarked on this solo journey as a fresh-faced graduate in 2008, I have always craved for some kind of physical matter that could represent the experiences I have been through working on my own. This is my space in the virtual world (Can I say I LOVE IT!) Someday in the near future it will be a space with a tight team of wonderful crazy creatives and my office dog Iggy, who share a vision of using Logue to communicate ideas that could change lives for the better and create experiences to invigorate. There is a power behind the moving picture, the still image, the audio waves, the written word, design and animation. Like true love, destiny might bring some people my way. I’m looking and working, working and looking… if you’re somewhere out there and you feel what I’m feeling about your work, drop me an email to see if we can create some magic together. 

I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to my family and friends for their love, belief, encouragement and relentless support in whatever I do (especially when the cheques come in, right mom?), my peers in photography and media, especially my LRA buddies, my family at Objectifs for providing the support network that is the bedrock of my dreams, my clients (especially those who became friends) for their faith in what I do and people I’ve worked with in one way or another for all the lessons you’ve imparted over the last three years of my adventure.

And last but not least to Daddy for being the dreamer you are and teaching me how to be brave. I know not of my destination, but I know the journey is what matters. 

I spent the weekend (Nov 17 – 20) at the F1 Pit Building along with 13,000 others at the Affordable Art Fair 2011. Together with photographers Chris Yap, Deanna Ng, Chow Chee Yong, Bryan Van Der Beek and Sit Weng San, our works were represented by the lovely people at Objectifs who I adore with all my heart! It was very interesting to observe the dialogue between fine art and photography, especially when you’re trying to analyze in your head the monetary value pegged to a piece of work. 

It was certainly an eye-opener for me. Having taken part in the intimate Affordable Photo Fairs organized by Objectifs in 2008, 2009 and 2010 where I got the wonderful opportunity to hawk my ware and create a booth in whatever manner I wanted, it was a very good learning experience in curating the kind of work put on sale, managing your expectations as an artist and speaking about your work like a salesman. I suppose I find the joy in sharing the stories behind my images on a very personal level. Granted I will probably not meet most of the people I spoke to in that setting, but that moment of interaction was enough to validate the love I had for my work and reinforce my desire to work harder and improve more. 

Thank you to the Objectifs team for their hard work in promoting local photography, my lovely friends who came down and the supportive sweet souls who bought my work. I was thrilled to achieve an encouraging number of prints sold… and am definitely looking forward to creating more work to share at next year’s fair! For anyone else still keen in the prints as gifts to inspire others or yourself, feel free to drop me a note and I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. 

“In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.” — Charles Lindbergh

Photographed in October 2011. Thank you Porini Camps for the experience and your good work. 

DEAR THURIYA is part of Saved by Buddha: Sulamuni’s Seven, an ongoing long-term documentary project.

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NESTLED in a quiet residential area in Mandalay, the Sulamuni Brick Monastery is home to seven young novice monks from the Palaung hill tribe, one of Myanmar’s 135 ethnic minority groups.

Under the care of abbot Ashin U Wiseinda, also of Palaung descent, the boys, who come from a village in the tea-producing province of Thibaw in the northern Shan state, will spend the remaining years of their childhood in a monastic school sheltered from the harsh realities of life in Myanmar.

“I want to help my tribe improve by teaching the children Buddhism and Myanmar language so they can work in the city,” says Ashin U Wiseinda. “Hopefully it will lead to better lives for them.”

For many hill tribe families, annual school fees, study materials and uniforms at a typical government primary school, which add up to at least 60,000 kyat (US $60), are heavy financial commitments to bear. Monastic schools, on the other hand, provide a moral compass with its religious and cultural emphasis and more importantly, free education that will pave the way towards a brighter future for their children.

Dating back to the 11th century, the Buddhist monastic school system in Myanmar was a binding social tool that provided education for children from all walks of Burmese society. It also helped the country achieve a literacy rate that surpassed other Far Eastern countries in the early 1900s. Even the Father of Burmese Independence, General Aung San, received his primary education at a monastic school in Natmuak, Yangon.

However, as the pages of Myanmar’s turbulent history filled up over the years with scars from a messy era of colonialism and the disastrous establishment of socialist rule, the role of monastic schools changed in importance too.

As the British established their presence over 62 years of rule, missionary schools gradually replaced monasteries as educational hubs in the cities, despite still being the centre of learning in rural areas. It was eventually in 1962 that the junta abolished the monastic education system in a nation-wide effort to consolidate power and implement the ways of socialism.

While the rest of Asia jumped on the bandwagon of progress over the next few decades, Myanmar, once the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia and the world’s largest exporter of rice, sank into a black hole of poverty and civil unrest. It was only in the early 1990s that the government decide to revive monastic education as a way of coping with the growing number of orphans and children whose families were caught in the country’s deepening economic crisis.

TODAY, an estimated 190,000 orphans and children from impoverished backgrounds attend the 1,300 monastic schools in Myanmar. The number is growing, as monks and volunteer teachers work hard to spread the message of hope that education will bring.

Take Ashin Ardaksa, 42, who became a novice to escape a troubled childhood, for example. He opened his village’s first monastic education centre three years ago to help others like himself. From a humble 46 students, the centre now caters to 240 needy children from a cluster of villages in Bagan.

“Even though our economic and political situations are not good, people still have a healthy spiritual well-being and seek knowledge,” he says. “If we start from our home, I believe our actions can slowly influence the whole country to progress.” Around 89 per cent of Myanmar’s 50-million citizens are followers of Theravada Buddhism. According to the Education Ministry, monastic schools are required to use the same grading system, curriculum and examinations as state schools. In addition, students develop an ethical and moral foundation through the teachings of Buddha.

Many of the larger monastic schools in cities like Yangon and Mandalay accept orphans from remote areas who have been sent by monks from their villages. Relying heavily on donations, they operate as boarding schools and provide the children meals and lodging. Although it is not compulsory for the children to become novices, it is encouraged so the child can collect his own share of daily food alms.

AS the monastic education system only provides for children up to 16 years of age, the road ahead for Myanmar’s underprivileged youth to continue learning is fraught with challenges. Other than the lack of a support network, many of them are also pressurised to return home and start work in the fields.

Daw Katthrakayi, 51, who runs the Withakha nunnery in the outskirts of Yangon, says that sometimes, the push for children to study is a lost cause, as most rural families do not understand the potential of the changes education can bring. “For them, life is nothing more than good harvests and healthy children,” she says. “They don’t realise that with education, a child can be the master of his own life and have a chance to experience the world outside.”

He arrived on Singapore’s sunny shores in April that year and changed the lives of our family forever.