Finding Food

People caught without food were spared from looking at the lavish and sumptuous meals posted continuously by some unaffected west coast Instagrammers.

In my years of covering the monsoonal floods, I have come to admire how resilient the kampung folk are. They are used to the annual calamity and they adapt as best as they can.

In the countryside, those who are skilled at cast net fishing can find food in the flood waters outside their kampung house. This man told me I should have come a day earlier to see him catch a tilapia as long as his outstretched arms. I doubt it was the usual angler’s exaggeration. He said it can feed a hungry family.

Others wait for supplies or are fed where they are temporary housed at relief centers. Salute to the aid workers, uniformed personnel, volunteers and everybody in the chain for providing help to the affected. I brought my own Penang White Curry Mee instant ramen; the hipster fad or flavour of 2014.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 400, f4, 1/1000 sec.

#floods #banjir #fishing #aftermath #landscape #temerloh #pahang #malaysia #sonyalpha #a7r #zess #tbt

Watching Wet Soda Dry

An Indian grocery shop man drying goods that are salvageable. Most of the other goods inside the shop are permanently damaged.

Gotta love Temerloh people. Everywhere I go, from flooded villages to the suburbs to town, I am greeted with a warm smile. Not to make less of their sufferings but I think they are such resilient people. Exuding sunshine under the dark clouds.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 200, f4, 1/400 sec.

#floods #banjir #landscape #nature #smile #temerloh #pahang #malaysia #sonyalpha #a7r #zeiss

Picking Up The Pieces

Picking Up The Pieces.

One of the many unsung victims of the floods are the small independent businesses. Not many shops are insured or can insure against such natural disasters. The damages for each shop can exceed millions of ringgit.

At this electrical shop, this young man is trying to salvage whatever that is left. He is wiping and brushing mud off a LED bulb, hoping to sell it cheap. He can’t test it now as this part of town is still without electricity.

Expecting the usual annual floods, the shopkeepers and workers moved everything to the upper shelves. The fast rising water that swarmed the shop was unusually strong. The shelves, racks and goods collapsed.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/80 sec.

#floods #banjir #landscape #damage #temerloh #pahang #malaysia #blackandwhite #sonyalpha #a7r #zeiss

Rural Crossing

Sweet Couple On The Road To Lake Bera.

The road from Temerloh to Tasik Bera in Jerantut has become a lake itself. What I found really inspiring and humbling here is the spirit of the people.

Despite the debilitating hardships, everyone remained friendly, courteous and ever ready to smile when they see a stranger with a camera.

Every resident I spoke to, voluntarily shared their harrowing story or take on the devastating floods.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 800, f4, 1/400 sec.

#documentaryphotography #floods #banjir #landscape #temerloh #pahang #rural #countryside #smalltown #malaysia #sonyalpha #a7r #tbt

City Crossing

Night Zebra.

Photographed this scene in front of H & M at Avenue K. Somehow, it reminded me of some images I saw in a book at Kinokuniya earlier. The Big Apple of the 60s or 70s; expansive neon lights and brisk walking.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 1600, f4, 1/60 sec.

#streetphotography #urbanscape #blackandwhite