The True Spirit of Merdeka

Every August 31 is Malaysia's birthday. And the media would definitely publish and air all those classic photographs of the past. But do they acknowledge the people who had worked painstakingly to capture those moments? It is sad that all the big guns in the Malaysian Press do not acknowledge the contributions of senior photographers who had documented all those old pictures of Malaya. What they only do was to post the source as theirs when in actual fact were captured by former Information Department photographers.

Long ago during the early days after Malaysia's Independence, the Information Department staffs were the most handy of all people in disseminating information about the country to rural folks. They used to put up shows on big screens in the remotest area of Malaysia informing the people about the country's development Green Book and Red Book Plans, conveying important messages pertaining to the Communists threat, or merely airing old films for free entertainment.

There were also incidents when their comrades from other department, for instance, the Filem Negara unit, were killed in accidents or murdered by bandits, in line of duty. And most of the photographs we are viewing now take no credit of these people who had sacrificed their very own life to get the job done.

I hate to see these big guns running the show without even a small credit to the Unsung Heroes. Perhap true to the phrase, 'Old photographers do not diminish, they're only out of frame.'

People like the Large Format print companies, many of them, are 'hungry' of any hint of old photographs of the Royalty or prominent leaders, and get them treated and printed for exhibitions but pay no respect to the people who caught those moments on film. They even reproduce the prints on canvas for show at their gallery or for other people to purchase at hansome prices. They are actually the cannibals. I'd like to smack their pretty faces, but the law forbid.

So come Merdeka Day, these cannibals are the real victors, bagging home big profits, out of the true spirit of the people who had dedicated their whole life documenting the historic moments of the past. And these cannibals are the same people who are contributing the many pictures at exhibitions around the country, the Merdeka Stadium, National Art Gallery, in publications and etc.

Happy Independence Day

     Happy Merdeka Day to 95-year-old, Wong Swee Lin.

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.

Senior photographers don't fade away ....

They are just out of frame. But the memories of their work will remain in the minds and the hearts of many generations.

We tend to forget about the contributions of senior photographers, especially from the Information Department.

During the old days they had to fulfill work where other people dared not to go. Some of the pictures taken by them were distributed to the respective mainstream and commercial media organisations such as the Malay Mail, Utusan Melayu and the New Straits Times. Most often the pictures were credited to the Information Department without mentioning of the names of the original photographers.

Wong Swee Lin's works can still be retrieved from the Information Department library. All of his works are marked and coded with SL (Swee Lin).