photo by: Catherhea Teoh

DENESH Ratnam has been part of the Thaipusam celebration at the Waterfall Road in Penang since he was a young boy. His father used to take him to the Lord Murugan temple atop the hill during Thaipusam. Denesh remembers the yearly pilgrimage as an event that he and his siblings would look out for.
“Thaipusam is a big deal in my family. Although I honestly am not sure about the reasons for the celebration, I think of it as an event that brings my family closer as it’s one of the few times in the year that my family goes to the temple together,” said Denesh, 27.
The religious event is a holy festival for Lord Murugan and it is observed by the Tamil-speaking community all over the world. The word “Thaipusam” comes from the name of the month “Thai” (in the Tamil calendar) and the name of a star “Poosam”, which is  believed to be at its highest point during the festival,.
This Sunday’s Thaipusam holds a special significance for Satesh Shern and he wants to make it a memorable event for him and his family. That’s because Satesh is planning to further his studies in Melbourne, Australia and will not be able to celebrate the religious occasion with his family for the next three years.
The 22-year-old account executive who is a devout Hindu said that he never skips a single prayer at the temple during Thaipusam as it gives him a sense of calm. However, Satesh expressed his disappointment over how some youths choose to “celebrate” the auspicious event, without really taking into account its religious significance.
“These days, some youth think of it as more of a social function than a sacred festival. They don’t participate for the prayers. They are just looking forward (to attend) an event where there will be thousands of people,” he said.
As a child, Priyanka Supramaniam and her sister, Rathika Sheila, used to go to the Hindu temple for Thaipusam prayers. Now at 22 and 20 respectively, they are going to sit out the up-coming celebrations. Priyanka feels the event is just another public holiday for her.
“Growing up, I never understood the meaning of the festival. I feel that my faith was forced on to me rather than nurtured out of willingness,” she said.
Rathika said it’s saddening to know they are no longer part of the festival.
“I needed to understand how the rituals work and what it all meant but sadly no one could explain it to me,” she said.
With that said, Priyanka hopes that families would take the time to be more involved with their young ones; especially when it comes to matters of faith.
“Without the bond of a close family relationship, you are bound to do things on your own, and you lose a sense of family oneness.”
In the spirit of Thaipusam, it has become tradition for clerk Ravi Mannan Alagamalai to grow a beard for the religious festival. This year, the father is going to ask Lord Murugan to protect his family and bless his son with good luck. Sooriarasan Ravi Mannan, 17, is SPM-bound and he hopes the blessing of Lord Murugan will give him the peace of mind he needs to achieve good grades.
“Last year we couldn’t celebrate Thaipusam because my uncle passed away. So we’re definitely looking forward to this one,” said Sooriarasan.
Ravi Mannan added that it’s important for parents to explain the significance of religious festival rituals to their children.
“Parents must tell their children about Thaipusam and teach them the traditions. The festival does not only encourage unity amongst all devotees, butstrengthens the family bond.”
The Star’s Deputy Executive Editor Dorairaj Nadason is preparing himself to carry a kavadi in Penang for Thaipusam this Sunday. Follow his journey on Twitter at @ndraj and #MyThaipusam.

By CHRISTINE CHEAH
alltherage@thestar.com.my

IF you think learning to dance through YouTube won’t get you anywhere, think again because Penangite Teh Pitt Den, 24, did just that and won the Gatsby Dance Competition Malaysia Finals last Saturday.

Teh was one of ten finalists competing at the fifth edition of the annual event, held this year at the Sunway Pyramid ice-skating rink in Selangor.

The self-taught Teh took only a week to choreograph and practice his winning routine, which earned him an all-expenses paid trip to represent Malaysia at the Asian grand finals of the competition in Tokyo, Japan this March.

“I came in feeling confident, and I did expect to win. This year I came better prepared compared to last year, when I didn’t fully utilize what I had,” said Teh, who was the competition’s second runner-up last year.

At the grand finals, Teh will have to prepare even harder as he’ll be competing against champions from Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan.

The competition was tough enough at the Malaysia finals. Runners-up Funk P seemed to have the crowd on their side after their hilarious routine got the biggest cheers of the day; but Teh’s elegant B-boying ultimately proved to be a bigger hit with the judges. All-girl trio Vanity Crew from Kuching, Sarawak were the second runners-up.

Japanese celebrity dance guru FishBoy was one of the judges at the event, and he commented: “Funk P was also good and they were able to get the people cheering for them, but Pitt Den won for being able to express himself well while executing his act.

“We look not only for good dance moves but also the contestants’ facial expression, body language and the sense of sound.”

FishBoy himself then showed the contestants how its done, putting on a jaw-dropping performance for the audience, as did the other judges BooJae Fadzil from Floor Fever and Fellest Yan from Royal Phantom Dance Studios.

Online video submissions and auditions for the competition started back in September last year. Auditions were held in several venues across the country.

Though most of the contestants were B-boys and street dancers, the Gatsby Dance Competition is actually open to all genres of dancing. According to the event organisers, there was even a contemporary dancer who made it to the Japan finals.

But whatever the genre, the winner of the grand finals will receive an amazing opportunity – the chance to participate in any two legs of the Asian Dance Interchange Tour.

n For more information on the Gatsby Dance Competition, log on to
facebook.com/gdc.malaysia.

By CHRISTINE CHEAH
alltherage@thestar.com.my

WHEN it comes to Christmas or birthdays, most of us would rather just splurge some cash on presents. Kricia Bong, 24, however, has been hand-making notebooks for her friends ever since she was in secondary school.

It takes quite a lot of effort, but Bong finds great pleasure in seeing the thrill on people’s faces when she gives them their personalised notebooks – so much so that she decided to start selling them.

Today, Bong, who hails from Kuching, Sarawak, is the owner of Notbook-Notbuk, a collection of handcrafted journals, planners, sketch books and greeting cards.

Bong’s unique creations are sold online (www.notbooknotbuk.com) and at selected concept stores in the Klang Valley, Sabah and Sarawak.

Having graduated with a degree in graphic design, Bong did once have a typical nine-to-five job, and she could have easily stuck to that secure, cushy career but instead, she chose to follow her passion for parchments.

But things haven’t sailed all that smoothly since Bong embarked on this paper trail.

“When I first started out, I received a lot of criticism and discouragement. Friends of mine told me to just get a real job. My parents were not really supportive. They preferred stability. I ignored them all, including my relatives – and time has proved them wrong!” she said.

One incident that particularly stuck in her mind was a restocking trip at a shopping mall that carried her products. Bong’s parents were visiting at the time, so she brought her dad along to the mall, and the proud father exclaimed: “You’re doing quite well!”

Originality, said Bong, is the most fundamental value that “crafters” like her should possess. It is the essence of the handicraft business, and it’s not something that comes along easily. Bong draws up designs during holidays, and even sources fabrics from her travels so she can create “limited edition” notebooks.

Even then, Bong has fallen victim to copycats. She once received a call from her sister asking if she had another series of Notbook-Notbuk products. It turns out someone else was using the same layout of labels she had on her products!

“People take these things for granted,” she said. “They see other crafters with simple stuff and they think they can just do the same thing. I can’t control what other people do; but all I can say is be original, and don’t copy.”

n Check out the hand-crafted notebooks at notbooknotbuk.com.

It’s almost impossible to believe right now, but the four members of London-based indie rockers The Vaccines were awkward kids growing up. As you would imagine, music was their only form of emotional escape.|

Speaking to R.AGE before their first ever show in Malaysia, guitarist Freddie Cowan and drummer Pete Robertson said it was those experiences that moulded their music to become what it is today.

“The inspiration is definitely personal development and experiences. I guess we kinda grow hands doing what we do in life as we experience it. We’re not moaning about anything. We’re just making observations,” said Cowan.
Cowan and lead vocalist/guitarist Justin Young formed The Vaccines in 2009 with a third member who left the band soon after. By early 2010, Cowan and Young had added Robertson and bassist Árni Hjörvar to complete the band’s current line-up.

If they really were awkward as kids, then it didn’t show at all as they arrived at The Bee cafe and restaurant in Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian leg of their current tour. The 300-strong crowd that packed the venue screamed at the top of their lungs as the band was spotted making their way backstage.
The night kicked off with their guest band The Rubens – hailing all the way from Down Under – performing a spectacular 45-minute set which, by the looks of it, gained them quite a few new fans in Malaysia.

But not long after the opening act, the crowd started getting restless, chanting impatiently for The Vaccines. When they finally arrived after a 20-minute delay, it was totally worth the wait.

The Vaccine’s acid melodies and circuit-bent beats filtered through the mild sputtering and upbeat noise of tracks like Teenage Icon, Wreckin’ Bar Ra Ra and If You Wanna.

With the fantastic showman Young leading the way, the band had the audience dancing along throughout the show. They certainly proved they were worth their Best Live Act nomination at the 2013 Brit Awards, a category which included bands like The Rolling Stones, Muse, Coldplay and Mumford and Sons.

Thankfully for us Malaysians, Cowan said the boys have had a great time in the country (they love the chilli crabs!) and are hoping to come back to the region in the future.

“It’s incredible here, and the people are so nice. We played in Singapore last year. I think the hope is we come back to South East Asia and perform for our fans”, added Cowan.

Robertson did, however, hint that the band members could be pursuing some solo projects in the future.

“If we keep doing this, I’ll be a very happy man,” said Robertson. “But I’d like to pursue other areas, like creating. I’d love to produce records and I think I’ll probably need to go to school for that. But one day, I’d like to do other albums and Freddie can do something else for a bit, like, I don’t know, learn to draw?”

Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, the spitter. Just kidding.

By KEVIN TAN
alltherage@thestar.com.my

IT took them a while to get here, but Canadian punk rock band Sum 41 finally made it to Malaysian shores last weekend in a concert in Kuala Lumpur.

The concert was definitely worth the wait for many of the hardcore Sum 41 fans who came, as the band brought the house down with their stellar performances.

The show was organised by Rockaway, the same people behind the annual rock festival, Rockaway Fest. Last year, the festival saw the likes of international bands like Story Of The Year, The Used and All Time Low playing to a large crowd of music enthusiasts.

KL Live Centre was the perfect venue for Sum 41’s show as the minimal space in the auditorium makes for a more intimate setting between the fans and the band. This is one of the things that you don’t get to experience at a concert held in bigger venues (like a stadium).

Things started heating up even before Sum 41 appeared on stage as the crowd had already begun jumping around and singing along to songs by show opener Bunkface. The local band did a great job warming up the crowd, as did One Buck Short, the second opening act.

After the two bands were done, it was a pretty long wait (even longer than the expected wait) before Sum 41 kicked off their set. The lights suddenly went out and everyone started screaming their lungs out. Slowly, familiar strains of AC/DC’s TNT could be heard playing over the speakers, and the audience perked up.

It was a brilliant way to start things off as the song got everyone in the crowd yelling, “Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!”

Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t actually Sum 41 that played the track. The band was still nowhere to be seen on stage after the music stopped.

By then, the fans were pretty restless and some were even booing. It was taking the band way too long to come out, and creating a false hype made things worse.

Bassist Cone McCaslin indulged in thrilling certain audience members by bringing them up on stage.

Thankfully, shortly after that, the boys of Sum 41 ran up on stage and immediately went into their first song. Somehow, people seemed to have forgotten about the long wait, and quickly immersed themselves into the music and show.

Frontman Deryck Whibley, who sported a pink hairdo, was quite humorous throughout the night. Actually, his hairdo made look even more like a clown!

He also spat on stage (a common, though not very decent, “practise” at rock concerts)  and I don’t think anyone does it the way Deryck does. He would randomly smack the side of his head and spit the other way, simultaneously! It was amusing and impressive at first, but after a while, you kind of wonder just how much spitting – and smacking – he would do the entire time.

Sum 41 did a strong set in the beginning, playing hits like The Hell Song, Over My Head, and We’re All To Blame. This followed by newer numbers like the hit single Walking Disaster, which is taken from its latest album, Screaming Bloody Murder.

Sometime in the middle of the set, Sum 41 picked out four people from the audience to join them on stage. A while later, two more lucky people were added to the group. It wasn’t much of a big deal, though, because these “chosen ones” were simply asked to stand at the side of the stage while being guarded by security guards, as if they were trapped in a cage. They really didn’t look like they were having as much fun as compared to everyone else thrashing around in the crowd.

The band transited from one song to another very well. There were also times when they just let the music play so that they can interact with fans, introduce themselves one by one, and just generally kid around. But after a while, the momentum started getting a little slower as the band dragged things on way too much.

Nevertheless, Sum 41 picked up pace once again by playing requests from the crowd, showcasing some Van Halen guitar solo action, heavy metal riffs from Iron Maiden, and also a shot of Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Brown Tom, the lead guitarist, also took over the microphone at one point and sang a cover of a song by the Rolling Stones.

All this, however, came off as being either impressive or disappointing for the audience. After all, why would one buy a concert ticket to watch a band play cover songs, even if it’s just three to four tracks?

After playing their first set, the band left the stage, and the crowd immediately asked for more. Sum 41 came back soon after, and played a few more songs. Among them were Fat Lip, which was one of the most anticipated songs that night. The crowd gave their all while Sum 41 played Fat Lip, knowing that the concert would soon come to an end.

Hopefully, when (or if) Sum 41 ever returns for another concert in Malaysia, the boys would make it a truly Sum 41 concert, minus the covers. Their die-hard fans would certainly appreciate that.

Well that’s because it sounds like a fanciful idea – you get to go camping every day, work with exotic animals, be one with nature, etc – but you know reality will set in eventually and most kids would drop the dream.

Paul Henry, 27, wasn’t one of them.

The animal and environmental conservationist has only ever had one ambition (apart from a short period when he thought about being a doctor), and that was to help protect endangered animal species.

Paul Henry and friends.

“It’s all about doing what you like,” said Paul of how he managed to stick to his wild ambition. “It doesn’t matter how crazy your dream is. It’s your willingness to pursue it that really matters.”

Paul, who is from Kuantan, Pahang, spoke to R.AGE just a day before flying off for his next project, researching an animal species in the jungles of Borneo that was thought to be extinct. Unfortunately, Paul was not allowed by the company sponsoring the project to divulge any more information.

“It might take anywhere between two and 10 years, but I don’t think it’s a big commitment. I have the chance to study a species that has never been studied before!” he said.

During that time, Paul will not be earning a steady salary, and he will be staying with a local tribe. His living expenses will come from the budget given to him by the sponsors, which he will also have to use to pay the local guides and for all the costs of his research.

It might sound pretty awful to some, but Paul’s eyes light up every time he recounts his experiences in the field.

He tells us about the time he filmed a herd of elephants swimming across Lake Kenyir in Terengganu, the time he was chased by an elephant, the time he discovered a new waterfall and named it after himself (Waterfall Paulie), and the time he found tiger tracks in the forest.

And it was another close encounter with an animal, this time at the Sea Turtle Research Unit in Redang, Terengganu, that first got Paul interested in conservation.

“Have you held a baby turtle before?” he asked. “Once you’ve held one in your hands, you’ll know why we do turtle conservation. That was the moment I decided to get involved.”

For all the young people who have thought about going into the same field, Paul advises that they get in touch with NGOs like the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MyCat), where there are now plenty of opportunities to volunteer.

“Try volunteering first to see if conservation work is for you,” he said.

What’s the toughest part about being in the field?

“Toughest part … I don’t know!” he said, shrugging. “There’s no tough part for me. I enjoy being in the field. It’s nice to wake up to the sound of the gibbons and hornbills.” — Ian Yee

“I thought that it was a pretty unique story… It’s an out-and-out love story and i think it’s done in as honest a way as you can possibly do it,” said Tatum, 32, of the movie in interviews.

Channing Tatum stars alongside Rachel McAdams in The Vow.

The actor had some reservations about taking on the role in the beginning, though, because he didn’t know who would be playing his love interest. “I knew we had to have someone who was just innately lovable, for it to work. That you’d just love to love her,” he said.

And who could be more loveable than Rachel McAdams?

The movie is inspired by the real life story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. The Carpenters were involved in a car crash in November 1993; both were badly injured, but only Krickitt suffered a memory loss. She had no recollection of what happened in her life more than a year back, which also included her marriage to Kim. Krickitt never regained her memory.

The Vow is loosely based on the Carpenters’ recovery, on how they stuck it through the years by starting fresh.

Tatum spoke to the couple while the movie was being shot. “Michael Sucsy (the director) really went and wrote his own movie. The circumstances really happened, but everything else was made up. So I didn’t really feel the need to go and ask a bunch of questions. I kind of wanted to be able to create a different character and not try to be him,” the actor explained.

The Vow is just the first out of six films that Tatum stars in this year. Others include Haywire, 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Ten Year Reunion and the much-anticipated sequel to the action flick, G.I. Joe.

With all that happening you’d think he’d have no time for leisure, and you’d be right. Apart from acting, he is also getting into developing and producing films. But he said that he does love spending time with his family – he married actress Jenna Dewan, his co-star in the movie Step Up, in 2009 – and if he did have time for himself, he’d like to sit down and sculpt, draw, or play music.

Formerly a model, Tatum never really had any formal training in acting. However, so far he has managed to do quite well, even though he says that he is just only starting to truly understand how to bring more of himself into his work.

“It’s like working without a net. You fall down hard when you don’t do something right,” he noted. — Compiled by Saw Jhu Vern

R.AGE fans! Want to win some awesome The Vow goodies? Check us out on Twitter (@thestar_rage) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/thestarRAGE) today at 3pm for details! The Vow opens in cinemas nationwide on March 15.

Win these exclusive The Vow cube notepads!

Trying to forget that “boyfriend” of mine has made me feel more appreciative of the reality of things, but it also made me feel lonelier.

I want to fix this once and for all. This is my last year in school and I don’t want it to be a bad experience in my life. I want to grow up knowing that my childhood and teenage years were the happiest part of my life but it’s not really like that any more.

It is not that I am completely invisible among my friends in class but they just won’t warm up to me. It has come to a point where no one wants to sit with me when the teacher starts telling us to do group discussions.

I am sitting for my SPM this year and I need friends who can help me with my studies but no matter how hard I try to strike a conversation with someone it just becomes awkward. I also tried “letting go” but nothing happened. Now I feel so foreign to my own school and my own close friends. Whenever they are in a bad mood or in trouble I would be there for them but when I try to express how I feel they would just change the conversation back to themselves.

I am sick of everyone in my school and I have this deep feeling of hatred towards my class and my friends. The only reason I am attending school right now is because I wanted to study and get far away from this country. Sounds exaggerated but that is honestly how I feel and I don’t like it.

I hate myself for hating my friends, I feel so weak and hopeless. I have no one to turn to now and it is really making me feel alienated from the world. I don’t know if you are willing to share your advice again. If you do it would really make me feel a lot less lost than I am right now. — Darkened Girl

Meet new people

I remember your letter and how you said that an imaginary boyfriend comforts you. As with any break-up in real life, a break-up with an imaginary boyfriend whom you’ve grown so attached to can be just as hard. Some loneliness is to be expected. But it is for the better that you are currently feeling a little more grounded in the physical world. A robust imagination is a good thing, but not if you become a slave to it and it prevents you from living fully.

Friends can sometimes be disappointing, and it is up to us if we want to put up with that or not. Your friends aren’t bad people, but they aren’t going out of their way to make you feel warm and included either. Why is that? Have you tried to find out? Is it you or is it them?

Having an honest and sincere conversation with them will help you understand the reasons for their behavior and perhaps clue you in on something you might have missed.

The good thing about high school is that it’s transient, and once you leave, you don’t have to look back. But your dissatisfaction with your loneliness needs to be dealt with because it’s one of those things that won’t stop bothering you until it is.

Perhaps try casting your social net a little wider beyond your classmates so you can meet new people and start afresh. Seek out groups of people that you have something in common with, who share your enthusiasm and your warmth. Don’t give up on humanity just yet! What’s worth it isn’t always easy to find. — Su Ann

Focus on the future

Hi Darkened Girl, it’s great hearing from you again. Secondary school can be a cruel place. Friendships change, and cliques make it hard to form relationships. The reality of this should make you shift your expectations, that your last year will be a happy one. So, look at it as a year of strength where you drew    inspiration and perseverance, deep from within.

Think of this year as the one where you learn about stamina, and pushing on despite the difficulties you face. Take it day by day. A year may seem long, but break it up into days and weeks, focus on your growth through the odds, and you’ll get by. Once you reach university, you’ll be in a bigger arena, and you can be sure that you’ll find a circle of friends that you can get along with.

With minimal or no study help from your friends, you’ll have to be disciplined and focused to go through it on your own. Ask lots of questions during or after class to teachers or anyone willing to help. Try offering to help your classmates – perhaps an exchange of notes will help soften their hearts. If they know you can help them, hopefully they will return the favour. They might not be instant friends as a result, but focus on the task.

If they don’t want to hang out with you, just approach them with the purpose of exchanging notes or tips to study. Consider external tuition groups – perhaps you can gain friends here with the added benefit of getting study help through a tutor. Use this time to be close to your parents.

They might not be your first choice for a friendship, but give it a shot. They could turn out to be more understanding than your classmates.

This is a very tough situation to be in. But you’ll get through it. Look positively at this phase in your life. In the real world, there will be a time when you’ll have to face things alone. It’s about survival skills. Where you are now in your life is a training ground to learn those skills. — Rusyan

We’re about to bid farewell to another year. It has been a pretty decent 2011 games-wise, which is not bad considering how little I expected it to deliver on most counts.

Viva la crowdsourcing!

In terms of innovation, this year’s “Startup Fever” has certainly taken the scene by storm. The boardgame cleverly applies gamer-based crowdsourcing as its key tenet, by allowing people to chip in with their own donations, in order to fund the game.

The higher the donations, the more customised and unique your boardgame copy became. And, the game did not get produced until a minimum quantity was ordered by Netizens. This formula looks like one of the year’s new boardgame fads, as I’ve seen it repeated in a number of newer boardgames.

This is a solid concept that is likely to see more traction in the coming year.
The larger game companies continue to beat the electronic and digital mortar-and-pestle, in coming up with the more technologically-inclined “innovations” (sic). Hasbro’s Monopoly Live boasts a 10-inch electronic tower that “rolls” virtual dice, keeps track of player turns and money, as well as rentals.

Pretty nifty, but I guess I still like my old-school Monopoly – paper bank notes, real dice, et al. Still, do check these ones out if you need an RM200 stocking filler.

Cheating spectacular

The collectible and trading card game (TCG) game market saw their flagbearers continue their fine run, with both Magic: the Gathering (MTG) and World of Warcraft (WoW) TCG clocking in awesome products of the year.
MTG’s Gothic and classic horror-themed Innistrad expansion was a clear hit, while WoW’s new Worldbreaker block expansions, Twilight Of The Dragons and Throne Of Tides were resounding sellouts.

Special sets that make it easier for players to “play” (that is, products that are playable straight out of the box) continue to be crowd favorites, too.

But what truly has my vote as the most impressive game of the year has to be Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game. An eagerly-awaited adaptation of the classic 1980s miniatures fantasy football – not the online kind, but real-deal Orcs-and-Elves kind of fantasy – done up by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG), the stand-alone card-based boardgame is deceptively simple, yet awesome especially since it’s easy to run a real-deal football league off it.

The rules might alienate miniature purists, but the FFG version does what it’s supposed to do: give casual gamers a chance to have frequent kick-a-bouts between Dwarves, Orcs, Wood Elves, Chaos, Skaven and Humans.

Blood Bowl Team Manager

“Match-ups” are swift and resolved almost instantaneously, player downtime virtually non-existent and the action pretty fast. The aesthetics on this FFG is typical of the game company’s products – beautiful, stunning and simply gorgeous.

My only question to FFG is: When are we getting the other races? Last year’s video game adaptation had 20 races, so …

The Force is strong

Speaking of FFG, they scored a coup of sorts by scoring the right to make Star Wars games, namely Star Wars: The Card Game, which is a Living Card Game (LCG). FFG’s website describes the game as cooperative, with players controlling characters from the original trilogy including Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa, as they battle Imperial forces.

LCGs are similar to TCGs, except that instead of expansions with randomly-packaged cards, the card expansions come in fixed assortments, making it less “expensive.” Though I’m personally wary of LCGs, seeing how they are ending up as not much different from TCGs, let’s see what FFG does with one of the more revered fan franchises. Let’s see if the Force is strong with this one?

FFG actually has another Star Wars game lined up next year called X-Wing, a pre-painted miniatures game that should excite both casual miniatures fans and sci-fi gamers.

World domination

As for other stuff that I’m looking forward to in 2012, surprisingly it’ll have to be one boardgame that I played less of, having preferred its “meatier” cousins such as Axis and Allies. Yup, I’m talking about Risk!

Having seen many variants and quite a few makeovers over the decades, get ready for a brand new Risk, called Risk Legacy.

Risk Legacy - board and components fully set up

The concept behind the game is simple – players get to remove and eliminate existing components, and then come up with their own enhancements and builds to Risk Legacy, making it a “living” boardgame of sorts.

It’s a pretty radical concept that’s generating lots of buzz online, so I can’t personally try this one out myself.

See you all next year – have a great year-end break, and a Merry Christmas in the meantime!

q CHEE YIH YANG needs to overcome his recent his team’s recent slump in form, in the Damansara Blood Bowl League. E-mail the esoteric gaming nut at yihyang@gmail.com if you have comments, questions, hot gaming news and tips, and trading lists and deck ideas, for both Magic and World of Warcraft. Check out his blog at http://rage.com.my/category/cards-and-boards, and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/arcturus_mengsk.

The introduction of digital cameras more than a decade ago has revolutionised the way we take photographs. Cost of photography is significantly reduced as users are no longer required to buy rolls after rolls of films and developing them at a photo shop.

Instant preview, intelligent guide mode and other built-in camera features are encouraging users to take more pictures and worry less about the technical aspect of photography.

Gone are the days when photographers had to go through millions of things in their heads before pressing the shutter button.

Thanks to the wonders of technology and cheaper price tag, everyone has a camera these days – be it top-of-the-line digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, mid-range compact cameras or even a phone camera.

Photography is fast becoming, or perhaps already is, part of our lifestyle.

Shoot anywhere, everywhere

With a camera in hand at all times, you can practice and improve your photography skill anytime, anywhere and on almost any subject. Everything is worth capturing – be it your plate of fried chicken or that beautiful iconic structure in a foreign land.

These (idle moments) are the best times for you to play with and understand your camera – which you ideally shouldn’t do at paid assignments such as weddings or events when every second counts.

You can learn about the settings, buttons, functions, menu placements and features available on your camera and take your time to compose, make mistakes and take your own sweet time to snap the picture you want.

By practicing photography on a daily basis, you are also improving consistently. Your ability to determine the right settings (for a photograph) will also get better, which is crucial during a paid assignment.

Most importantly, you will never again encounter that situation during which you wish you had your camera to capture a certain precious moment.

It’s just a tool

There is a saying that goes, “the best camera is the one in your hand” and I could not agree anymore. The camera is merely a tool, nothing more and nothing less, and it is entirely up to the person behind the camera to work his or her magic.

A good camera body or professional grade lenses and equipments do not transform you into a professional photographer overnight.

It is the photographer’s vision, understanding of light and other skills that makes him stand out from the rest – not forgetting the experience he has gained from years of practising and perfecting his their craft.

The last time I checked, Apple’s iPhone 4 was still the most used photo-capturing device in popular photo sharing site, Flickr The pictures, taken with the smartphone, are as beautiful as those taken using professional grade DSLRs like Canon EOS 5D Mark II or Nikon D90.

It is really important to understand what the camera you already own can do and deliver instead of always yearning over newer model or higher grade lenses. New gear may seem to improve your photos’ quality, but they will not take you far or even to the next level.

Express yourself

Photography is a form of expression. Stories, emotions, feelings and ideas can be expressed through pictures. It is certainly not an easy task, especially for new and inexperienced photographers but through practice, it is possible. It is more important that a photographer learns to shoot for himself and not for others.

There will always be people who will criticise your pictures. Stand firm on your ground and do not be disheartened easily. If you know what you are doing, there is no reason to be afraid of negative comments. Instead, use them to learn and improve your photography skills.

As a photographer, it is important to learn to see the beauty in lesser things.
Mundane objects lying around the house or street like an empty cup, broken toys, flowers, or broken glasses are worth photographing if you are able to see the beauty beyond the obvious.

It is entirely up to the photographer’s imagination and creativity to turn something uninteresting into a beautiful photo or piece of art.

Beauty is only skin deep and as a photographer, it is important to bring out the best of our subjects with the resources we have.

Use your resources

More often than not, I have heard of photographers complaining about not having that F2.8 telephoto lens (for close-up shots) or the sky wasn’t blue enough (for perfect lighting) or the model was not drop dead gorgeous.

Instead of spending time whining, it is better to improve your skills and to make use of whatever resources you have to deliver the best result.

The sky will not always be blue on the day of your paid wedding job (in fact, it might even rain heavily) and you may not have a telephoto lens. But you can always fiddle with your camera to capture any available light and always get closer to your subject to take the shot.

As you improve your photography skills, you will also improve yourself as an individual. A good photographer is always prepared for the next moment, will think ahead, expect the unexpected, be organised, be punctual for assignments, learn to take constructive criticism and know what he or she is doing.

There is more to photography than just taking pictures. It is a huge world and you’re on a never ending journey.

With a camera in hand and the right mindset and skill, you will never know where your camera will and can take you. You’ll be surprised.

Jason Lioh is an avid photographer and (formerly) a popular blogger. He blogs at http://jasonmumbles.com; you can also find him on Twitter (@jasonmumbles). He hasn’t been taking photographs consistently but will be doing so real soon – after his exams, that is. The pictures in this month’s Snap Shots were all taken by Jason, Jason Goh (@smashpop) and Robin Wong.