UTAR Journo Student Awarded 3rd Prize at International Photo Award

Almost Journalist wish to express our heartiest congratulations to Oh Chin Eng, a final year journalism student from UTAR who clinched the third prize in the Portrait Individual Category at the KL International Photoawards 2011.

Below is his winning photo essay entry: 

Photo © Oh Chin Eng

HOME

What do you see in this photo? An old Sikh man with a long beard standing in his house? In a glimpse, that’s all we see. But if we pause and look deeper, there's more we can see. I first met this old man back in 2008 when he was sitting alone on a bench in his neighborhood. I had a portrait of him at that time. After 2 years, I went back to the same place to visit him. He wasn’t there anymore. I was worried but thank God he’s still healthy and staying in his house.

As I stepped into his house, I was mesmerized and fascinated with it. As a Sikh in Malaysia, there’s not much we hear about them in the news as they are the minority and considered as the ‘others’. There’s also less documentation about them. But Sikh people have a very rich culture to share. Just look at his home.

And staying in a plural country, he’s adapting cultures from other ethnicities such as wearing the ‘sarong’. The Sikhs are very closely-knit among their family members and their own community. This Sikh man is just one of the living heritage we have. Behind every old face, there are thousands of stories lying beneath to tell. These are the valuable oral stories that can never be found in the textbooks. A photograph is just another way to document them. And this is what I always do, documenting people through photography, especially older people. There’s beauty I find in them. Although people get old, but they are still the pillar and strength for the family. They should never ever be neglected. Home is where everything started. Home is the place where the story and journey of a person began. Home is where love is. Home is always the best place on Earth. And this is his home.

Oh Chin Eng

Oh's photo essay originally published on the KL INTERNATIONAL PHOTOAWARDS 2011 official website.