YONGL, Cyberjaya (2025)

28/08/2025

Happiness has an expiration date. Nothing in this fast-moving world stays permanent no matter how desperately we want it to and these two photos from my grandparent house back alley in Alor Setar prove it perfectly.

The top shot is from almost 10 years ago behind my grandparents' house when the bougainvillea was still flourishing. The bougainvillea was in full glory then, taking up half the space with its stubborn beauty. ❤️‍🔥

My grandma would sweep the fallen petals every morning, fighting her daily battle against nature's mess. 😂My cousins were running around the back alley and house during Chinese New Year, their laughter mixing with the sound of firecrackers and lion dance echoing from neighboring houses. The clear blue sky stretched endlessly above us.

I captured this with my manual Samyang f2.8 fisheye lens because I wanted that creative and dramatic emotion showing the people, flowers and landscape all together in one frame. That distorted perspective felt right for capturing the pure joy and abundance of the moment.

Back then, my cousins lived without responsibility weighing them down. Pure naivety, pure fun.. Now they're deep in the working world, paying bills, starting families, carrying adult burdens their younger selves couldn't have imagined.

The bottom photo was taken a few years before COVID. The bougainvillea had been cut down for being overgrown. The back alley looks dull now, functional rather than magical. Only the cats remain, still wandering around at sunset... still waiting for food! 😋

Maybe lah in this age of AI and instant image generation, photographs like these still hold unique value. They carry real stories that algorithms can't replicate and only the person behind the camera knows..

This is my back alley story. Do you have photographs that remind you of how much things has changed?

26/08/2025

What happened to the kids in the photos who used to run free? 🏃🏻‍♂️💨

These photos are from my daily paddy field session in Alor Setar back when I was studying in university many years ago.. They are completely unplanned, just pure candid moments that happened while I was basically roaming around the field on my grandpa's Suzuki RC70 motorbike.

My uni photography lecturer Che Ahmad Azhar used to tell us about his weekend ritual of wandering KL streets, waiting for the right 'subject' to walk into his frame. I took that same approach but swapped KL city streets for paddy fields lah.

Every semester break back in Alor Setar, I'd find my daily routine: locate a shady spot under some roadside tree beside the tali air, park myself there and just wait very patiently… like a hunter hahaha 🎯

The technique was simple: frame the scene first and wait for something interesting to move through it then quickly shoot it. My Sony A6000 with the 55-210mm telezoom lens was perfect for this.. fast autofocusing and shutter speed meant I could catch these fleeting moments before they are gone completely

Looking at these photos now hits differently (probably because I'm getting older hahaha) Time really does fly by without asking permission

Back then, freedom meant doing whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. Now freedom feels more like having your responsibilities handled so well that you can actually chill or relax. Funny how definitions shift as we age.

Nothing stays fixed in this world, not even our understanding of basic concepts like freedom or happiness lol

I wonder if these kids have already grown up or what they are doing now? Are they sitting in office cubicles somewhere in KL, staring at Excel spreadsheets while remembering the feeling of just hanging out in the paddy field?? 🤔

What will they think if they stumble across these candid photos of themselves would they even recognize that carefree version of who they used to be?

Do they still come back to walk these same paddy field paths during Raya holidays? 😀

Or are they like some of us, drawn to the city's promise of better opportunities, better salaries, better lives… only to find ourselves missing the very simplicity we left behind?

21/08/2025

If I could show you the spot where I learned that loneliness isn't always lonely.. it would be standing next to this tree in Kampung Gerigis, Alor Setar (I'm not in this photo though because I'm flying the drone from far away 😂)

There's this solitary tree standing in the middle of Kampung Gerigis paddy field that's witnessed more of my 'hustle' than most people in my life hahah. The paddy fields surrounding it became my accidental photography training field even though I didn't realize it at the time.

Every school holiday during high school meant packing up for my grandparents' place in Alor Setar, trading Penang city noise for the quiet rhythm of small town life… and I always bring along my camera with me.

Back then the camera on my hand was just an extension of curiosity, not a tool for 'generating income'. This was before the rises of social media.. before every photo needed to justify its existence through likes and engagement..numbers & data 🥲

My grandpa would kick-start his old Suzuki RC80 motorbike for the daily trip to Rumah Pam nearby the Taman. When I was small I'd always hop on behind him and he used to ferry me there while enjoying the scenery along the way

When I finally learned to ride my grandmother's old bicycle that she used to ride in alor setar and my grandpa’s motorbike, my world expanded exponentially.

Suddenly I could explore beyond the “Rumah Pam”, beyond the "Rumah Pam," I stumbled upon this paddy field in Kampung Gerigis. I made it a point to go there every sunrise and sunset regularly, always visit there and wait patiently for moments that felt worth capturing.

Looking back, those days had a sacred quality I didn't appreciate until now...

Those seemingly aimless daily visits were accumulating into skill development though I didn't recognize it as education at the time. My 'photography eye' was developing, composition instincts sharpening, patience for observation expanding naturally

The paddy fields were my informal photography and life school

Nowadays I still sneak back to Alor Setar during work-from-home day. Yeah, currently based in Penang but secretly working from ‘kampung’ whenever possible because some connections shouldn't be completely severed. 😂😂😂

That lone tree is still standing there,

I've learned that the past no matter good or bad shouldn't be burned away like old paddy stubble. Better to let it decompose slowly.. enriching whatever you're trying to grow next 🌾

Now my work place serves as a different kind of “training ground”, just like the paddy field as I learn persistence, finding value in starting over when things fail, building tolerance for different perspectives, feedback and criticism.

The lone tree in Kampung Gerigis taught me that some things endure while everything around them transforms. Maybe that's the real lesson: finding what in yourself stays rooted while allowing everything else to cycle through its necessary seasons of growing, maturing, collapse and renewal.

17/08/2025

Grew up in Penang and somehow missed this GIANT that's been waiting in the forest all along 😂

Found something that reminded me why I started carrying a camera in the first place, Tokun Hill of Bukit Mertajam has this massive ancient tree that I had no idea existed..

we're talking about a living monument that makes you question what else you've been missing while stuck behind screens and meetings lolol.

Getting there took about 30 minutes from the base (of Tokun Hill), but honestly if you're going for the first time, it's better to go with someone who knows the trail lah or at least ask around the locals.

There's a signboard sure but you need to take this smaller path that splits off from the main route. I went there with a friend and his housemate, we got a bit lost until this elderly uncle appeared like some forest guardian and pointed us in the right direction.

This tree is so ridiculously huge that my wide-angle lens couldn't even capture it properly. 😂 Had to stitch together three ultra-wide shots just to get this perspective and even then it doesn't do justice to standing beneath it.

I keep thinking about how I've born and grow up in Penang and never knew this existed...

There's something profound about discovering that heritage isn't just in the colonial buildings and heritage zones we're always photographing for tourists.

Some of our most powerful monuments are hidden in forests requiring effort to reach, demanding nothing from us except PRESENCE and RESPECT.

Standing there & camera in hand after months of barely shooting, felt like a reminder of why I picked up photography in the first place.

Not for the portfolio or the business but for moments like this, when you encounter something so monumental that you can't help but try to capture it, knowing full well the image will never ever match the experience in real life.. 🥲

15/08/2025

"Just keep shooting" those simple words from my university photography lecturer Che Ahmad Azhar in 2014 hit different now after 10 years.. 📸

Last week after work I rode my motorcycle to R&R Bagan Ajam seaside to catch the sunset, camera in my hand after months of barely touching it.

The human mind forgets so easily and now I finally understand why he gave that advice lol

My lecturer used to travel to KL from Putrajaya every weekend just to shoot street photography (which does not bring in any direct income)

Reflecting on it now, I realize he knew what most of us discover too late - once we enter the working world, finding time to photograph or do what we love (hobby) becomes a real struggle... Life fills up with responsibilities and suddenly there's no space left for the things that used to bring us pure joy.

I used to think I'd be different. I'd keep shooting no matter what. But man, persistence and consistency is harder than I imagined in this fast changing world.

Ngl initially I even judged friends who slowly gave up photography when we started working. Turns out I was just way too naive 😅

A few years ago when my freelance business took off during COVID & post MCO era, my daily shooting became weekly, then monthly, then just "sometimes."

I also got caught up in the work-from-home digital manipulation & editing boom before AI changed everything. Built a small team from scratch, started buying stock photos, started delegating the actual shooting to others. Slowly stopped using my own hands for the thing I used to love most. ❤️‍🔥

My focus shifted to delegation, marketing, finding more clients, making more profit. The love for the craft became secondary to the business of the craft.

10 years ago back in university, I remembered that I only had basic gear and had to shoot sunsets as assignment. Here I am starting over, trying to reactivate my muscle memory and practice what I used to be good at- not for profit but for my own love for the craft, using both my hands. 🙌🏻

I'm aware these are choices and we have to make them consciously. Photography has always been my therapy since high school, maybe that's a gift I was given.

I won't abandon it again.

13/08/2025

I almost gave up photography for good last year. These photographs carry a different version of myself who existed ten years ago when I was still figuring out who I wanted to become..

Alor Setar was my mom’s hometown. I used to bring my camera there to shoot during my semester breaks.

Back then I had all the time in the world to wander the paddy field on a motorbike with no plan except following my instinct.

I'd shoot and wander aimlessly in the field when the sun rises and sun sets, even in the hot afternoon not because anyone asked me to and not to serve any strategic purpose.

Recently, I found myself back in the same paddy field, older and supposedly 'wiser' but something felt different because this current chapter of my life demands everything be measured and even optimized..

Photography became another tool to make money rather than joy itself. Every shot started carrying the weight of potential profit, portfolio value, professional advancement or can it win contest??

I lost track of when exactly passion became performance. When the thing that used to make me feel most alive and happy started feeling like work. I remember I used to say "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life," but that's not how it really works as Work means putting other people's needs first but not our own passion.

Looking back at these old photos from Alor Setar, I realise that they're not trying to prove anything or sell anything. They exist because some part of me saw beauty and couldn't help but simply capture it

Coming back to this feels like archaeological work brushing dust off something I thought was lost. That maybe creativity can exist alongside commerce without being consumed by it idk.

In this AI era I'm slowly coming back to something I never should have left behind, strategically and hopefully.