Main KL09 5th ASEAN Paragames Page
KL’09 5th ASEAN Para Games…. the games are finally over, 11 events, 11 venues, 9 full-days of shooting, 5 days of competition, 1,100 athletes and officials and 2,000 medals later.
For those who are unfamiliar with the ASEAN Para Games, here is a little bit of history :
The 1st ASEAN Para Games, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 25, 2001 to October 30, 2001, was the initial major sports event of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF). The APSF was conceived in the special meeting of the National Paralympic Committees of the ASEAN countries during the 10th Malaysian Paralympiad and the ASEAN Cities Invitational. The ASEAN Para Games, the “parallel” sports event for the disabled after every Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), was patterned after the Paralympics and the FESPIC Games. The 2nd ASEAN Para Games was held in Hanoi, Vietnam from December 19, 2003 to December 27, 2003. The 3rd ASEAN Para Games was held in Manila, Philippines from December 14, 2005 to December 20, 2005. The 4th ASEAN Para Games was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from January 20, 2008 to January 26, 2008. Malaysia will be organizing the 5th ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur from August 15, to August 19, 2009.
This assignment gotta be my most memorable and satisfying assignment so far; 2 weeks ago, I had little idea how to shoot most of the sports that I had shot and really had only seen photos of the para games.
Today, I can say that comfortably that I had personally shot all the sports events involved except maybe chess and sailing.
During the period of shooting the 5th ASEAN Para Games , I have experienced the strength of the human spirit; of how people can achieve the seemingly impossible especially for those of us who are used to looking from our own able-bodied perspective.
- I have seen the blind play chess and yes, they all play better than I do.
- Those without 2 arms and a leg swim like a dolphin where ares some of us with all 4 limbs, can’t even swim.
- A man with no hands at all play table tennis or one who legs end at where our knees start, whose top of the head is an inch or two above the table tennis table net do a top-spin and then dive for the ball 3 feet away.
- A two-fingered sailor tying sailor knots that most of us with ten can’t manage at all.
- A team of 5 players, each with a leg missing, each able to do a spike with so much force that we can only dream about.
After seeing all that and a lot more, life is no longer the same for me and my guess is for everyone in my team this time.
As the official photography team for the games this time, it is up to me and my team to capture as much of these amazing feats of human strength and willpower and to immortalize them.
Main KL09 5th ASEAN Paragames Page
On the 15th, the day of the Opening Ceremony, smiles have now been replaced with seriousness on the faces of all athletes, gentle guidance have grown to competition instructions for the coaches and officials are now on site at every location.
The Asean Para Games is considered the biggest multi-sports and multi-disability sporting event for the disabled in the Asean Regions. The Asean Para Games has been organized every two years, since the formation of the Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF) in 2001. KL’09, 5th Asean Para Games will be held in Kuala Lumpur from 15 to 19 August 2009. 10 APSF member nations plus Timor Leste will be participating in this games with approximately 1200 athletes and officials involved.