The conflict in Iraq continues to play itself out without an end in sight. I dont know who is right or wrong anymore. All I know is that we can do with lots of peace and no terrorism in this world.

Severe Acute Respitory Syndrome (SARS) paranoia is spreading deeper into our heartlands in Singapore. Schools have been ordered closed until 6 April and Hong Kong is under the risk of getting shut down completely.

My travelling has been curtailed.

Returning from China just when SARS began hitting the headlines, I was treated like a pariah in the office for a few days. I'd come down with a little cough due to the big swings in weather and temperatures. Nobody wanted to come near me with a 10 foot pole for days. I had it checked out at the doctor's and its since cleared up, but those paranoid eyes still look at me carefully.

Now I dread the moments a cough or sniffle builds up within anyone. Anyone down with a flu or fever is automatically assumed to be infected.

I'd spent Saturday afternoon at the Arts Museum listening to celebrated photographer and friend Sha Ying give a talk ok Black and White photography.

It was enlightening. He speaks of how he studied the works and philosophies of the Masters, copying them initially and eventually developing his own style and saying what he wants to say with the camera. He tells of a story of a blind child who was given a camera to shoot. The boy shoots by listening to what's around him and his works receive critical acclaim. This story, true or not, brought home the message to me. That photography, nay, meaningful photography, is done with the heart's eyes.

I look back at myself and draw parallels. Yes, I started by copying alot of stuff I saw in magazines. I matured a little later when I started copying more critical works. These days I'm still studying works of living fellow contemparories who've began 'speaking' and seeing differently and I'm trying my darnest to develop my own voice, my own statements on how I view life.

Ran into friends Tay Kay Chin and Darren Soh at the talk. And I must say, quite a few ladies were present there as well.

After the talk, we headed downstairs to have a look at the winning entries for this years SAFRA PC Photographer of the Year competition. Very nice work from a technical and composition point of view, with few 'rules' broken and very pretty stuff. But sadly nothing touches me beyond the surface. There is a lack of......soul to the images. But being the non-conformist moron that I am, the works gave me precious pointers on improving some technical aspects of my own craft. If complication, depth and confusion are to be my main sails of artistic direction, I had better darned well get back in touch occassionally with its source ......order and structure......lest I lose directions and start asking myself 'where the hell is all this coming from?'

From the Arts Museum it was a mad rush over to the History Museum where our monthly Offstone gathering was held. It was confusion as we sorted out which lecture theatre could be used. 13 of us settled down eventually and I presented my 2 shows.....China Perspective and The Cold Chinese Sea.....stuff that I'd shot a week earlier there. I gotta remember to post higher resolution images the next time as the projector had a tough time resolving the images on the screen.

Tuck Hong came up next and presented his B&W enlargements. I'd never printed myself so it was fascinating as he spoke of how he manipulated the enlargements in the darkroom the old fashioned way. Most of his enlargements were of a cemetary and graves. Spooky and morbid but hey it sparked an idea.

With so many fashion and wedding photographers these days fighting for a slice of the action, nobody's really heard of funeral photgraphy. This should be a lucrative area of specialization.....photographing funerals and bereavements. I might just consider an alternative career in this field when I get retrenched or retire.

Lance rounded off the meeting by 6pm showing some of the color seperation works he'd been doing on his book Sisters. He spoke of publishig more books down the line.

Friend Lance Lee also fried some of my works and I thank him for it. Its great when there're genuine friends who're out there giving me critical comments. Lazy fart that I am, I hate to be rushed along at a clip but that's what the Internet does to everyone these days. The learning curve is steep and fast. Yeah I still take the mundane and 'standard' approach once in a while....but hey, I'm also doing more stuff that are different. The security blanket is slipping slowly but surely out of my grasp.....

I'm meeting Lazyfiddler tomorrow to buy a couple of books. One is Requim which documents the works of photographers killed in the Vietnam War. The other is 100 Years of National Geographic. I hope $65 will swing the deal.

I cant wait to complete the Cambodian Boxing story. I think I'll rename it 'The Fists that Feed'. I'll be back in Phnom Phen end April to finish that story. Told my guide to look around for a couple of professional boxers who might be willing to work with me for a few days both at home, at the gym and during the weekend tournament.

Since I'm there, I'll stop the procrastination and also begin work on Cambodian land mine victims. Hope to hitch up with friend Adam Gregor there for a few days whose covering the same story but from a different angle.

Vicki Ho will likely be exhibiting together with me in July. She will be presenting a photo story on the handicapped.

The committee's meeting with the Museum director and also some folks from the Substation this coming 8th April to discuss the exhibition planning and coordination.

Til the next installation, bye!