Greetings

This blog is dedicated to Malaysians and those who have memories about Malaysia, especially during the early days of nationhood or prior to independence. As you read comments in this page, you will be able to browse through pictures of old Malaysia, especially taken by senior photographers who had served several establishments from 1940-s to 1970s.

You may send comments or photographs to share with other fellow viewers. This blog will publish around 500 to 700 pictures from time to time together with captions and reviews relating to the photographs.

Some of us Malaysians may have never seen the pictures before due to sensivity or some other reasons, but few actually understood the pains endured by the people who captured those historic moments.

Some big media group had even bylined and copyrighted the pictures as theirs but in actual fact were taken by other people. Hence, this blog will publish the names of people who had actually snapped the photographs, as a tribute to them.

Humble Mr Wong Swee Lin

Now at the age of 83, he has a lot to tell to young Malaysians. He saw and documented the nation at near birth and infancy. He saw and documented the nation struggling and rising. He sacrificed his youth documenting moments of history. He left his family vigil waiting for him to return from dangerous assignments. He suffered ailments due to drinking water from swamps and streams. He sacrificed his life to tell history behind the lens of his countless cameras.

He had walked quite a distance in this life journey. And he would like to share these fruitful moments with you.

Contribution of a life time ...

His photographs had been and will be published more than a thousand times. Every time we celebrate the Independence Day, the media will publish all these pictures again and again. Business enterprises, large-format picture printers, photo treatment companies will repeatedly claim credits as well as reaping cash of the pictures they use but the original artist remains uncredited.

For a senior person like Wong Swee Lin, he doesn't mind this. Because all the sweat, tears and blood that he had shed during his service were partly for the love of his work, and greatly for the love of his nation. It was him and his fellow comrades, whether still alive or had passed awy, who documented the birth of 1Malaysia. And they did all the work not merely for money for the pay was too low, but the risk ... so huge.

Time is running out

From Wong Swee Lin work

But the going is really slow. Suggest to the PM for Mr Wong Swee Lin be awarded a datukship.

From Wong Swee Lin work

From Wong Swee Lin work

Help make a patriot savaours his life history and contributions by awarding him with a datukship. He deserves more than that. He risked his life to document Malaysian history.