Tag: johor bahru

Rise And Shine

Not to spook some people who use the idiom regularly, it of biblical origin. This may surprise some sensitive Muslim friends who use it innocently and regularly. “Rise” means to get up and “shine” in its normal context meaning to “wake up. act lively and do well” at least, without digging deeper. I used to think it is a soldier’s command. Rise and shine your boots. The internet kills the romantic notions.

The earliest use of ‘rise and shine’ in print allude to a biblical reference, in Isaiah 60:1. King James Version, 1611, gives that as: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
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~ the Phrase Finder http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/303000.html

Just Another Causeway Sunrise.

Too lazy to drive out to Desaru coast for the sunrise view in the morning. Even in JB city, I had to leave my hotel at 5:30 am to scout for an ideal location east of the causeway.

By line of sight, here’s looking across the Johor Straits through to Admiralty Road on Singapore island, to Sebana Cove on the eastern gulf and onwards to the South China Sea.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f8, 1/400 sec.

#sunrise #landscape #morning #dawn #clouds #causeway #straits #johor #jb #singapore #olympus

Raise The Black Monopod

I was taken aback by the sheer number of monopods fighting with joss sticks for space at this temple procession. The new crowdscape of raised cameras is an inevitable sign of the times, I suppose. For the uninitiated, a monopod is a one-legged telescopic camera stand, as opposed to the three-legged tripod.

Many of the dSLR video shooters were using monopods to get a higher P.O.V. or simply to get above the crowd. The trend will become even more prevalent as more new cameras come with remote control and monitoring via smart phones.

The street parade was part of the annual Taoist Chingay festival at the old Chinese Temple in Jalan Trus, JB. Title inspired by “Raise the Red Lantern” by Zhang Yimou.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 320, f6.7, 1/1000 sec.

#chingay #jb #johor #taoism #procession #streetphotography #jossticks #monopods

Multi Faith And JB

Three years ago I caught the sending off or launch procession for the Chingay Festival from the temple in town to the prayer site off town. The JB Taoist procession passed near the very old Catholic church.

I positioned myself and waited for the juxtaposition of icons from the two different faiths. The annual event took place this morning. There was another religious harmony factor involved which I found out when I visited the church a few days later.

The church was built on land donated by the late Sultan Abu Bakar and was then known as the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. There is also a marble statue of Mother Mary gifted by Sultan Sir Ibrahim Abu Bakar and it is still standing at the church’s front courtyard.

#chingay #jb #johor #taoism #procession #streetphotography #jossticks #church