Steven Leong’s Blog

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.

On their “Stage”, these athletes no longer know or feel that they are somehow disadvantaged, they have trained, they have practiced and they have prepared themselves to face the competition with pride and confidence. (continue reading…)

Main KL09 5th ASEAN Paragames Page

12, 13, 14 Aug 2009: these were the final 3 days before the big-crunch, the opening of the games and then the day when all the competitions begin officially at all venues. The teams have begun arriving, the banners are going up everywhere, t-shirts are being distributed, occasional screams and shouts through the various venues reminds everyone else that of the stress and final push to the finishing line (for the organizers) have begun.

Main KL09 5th ASEAN Paragames Page

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

Main KL09 5th ASEAN Paragames Page

It was a simple and as usual, hot and wet afternoon in Kuala Lumpur. A couple of days ago, I had approached the Malaysian Paralympic Council to see if I can take a couple of shots for my portfolio at any paralympic type event. To my surprise, MPM have agreed to meet me immediately.

On that afternoon, armed with my usual meeting attire (yes, long-sleeved shirt, slacks, nice shoe, etc). The address was cryptic, some DBKL (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur OR Kuala Lumpur City Hall for those who do not understand Malay) sports complex.

I was half-expecting a decent looking or even good looking modern office building (like most government departments) for the events department for the Malaysian Paralympic Council but instead I was greeted with an ageing, paint-peeling huge DBKL sports complex at Desa Selatan (I think).

The events department office for the MPM was nothing grand, a simple drab-looking wooden door with a small KL09 poster on the door led into the office.

Behind the door, the department stored various equipment, from banners to buntings to the occasional wheel-chair, table and chair. The office itself is up the stairs with simple (yes, not new) low cubicles with old tables and chairs in them, everyone seemed quite surprised to see me.

After all, it is not a usual sight to see a well-dressed Chinese professional photographer walking into such the place.

Yes, they needed help… and probably lots of it.

They had no funds to get proper photography for all their activities and the biggest event to date is about to come, KL’09 5th ASEAN Para Games with 11 sporting events across 11 venues and 11 participating countries; 1,200 athletes and NO photographer.

I guess I met them at just the right time and when I told them I would cover the entire event for them for free; all they could say was “thank you”.

Alas, one thing led to another… and now, the crunch time approaches.

I really hope my team of 10 photographers will not disappoint them, this is no small event; it is bad to disappoint anyone BUT it is a sin to disappoint the needy.

Main KL09 5th ASEAN Paragames Page