Pictures as they are

I woke at 4am this morning with a start. The brain could not get to sleep because there is so much going on. Lying in the balcony doing simple yoga stretches and sun poses had the ability to clear my mind. I suddenly remembered some of the reasons why a good picture means so much, why a smile isn’t cliche, why truth will always be represented in moments that matter.

Don’t we all have pictures on the wall?
Haven’t there been times when things were not so good, and you look at those pictures, and suddenly remember all the things you love about the person?

When I left the newsroom, I wanted my work to have a direct impact on the everyday, on those who are living.
Enough funeral visits to interview families bereaved.
No more going to burnt up homes to ask how owners would cope.
Even the Darul Ihsan Orphanage abuse story sometimes leaves me to wonder how the expose changed the lives of the boys.

One of the last major stories I covered was the Tangkak family accident in Muah. A family of four died, leaving only a two-month old baby girl, Jolene, miraculously alive.

Reporters begged for interviews with their loved ones and friends. But.. what was the use in this? To inform, at whose expense, how much, is it an effective scare measure for drivers to be on the alert, is there much more use than a juicy story?
This has got to be about those who are living.

Journalism has got to touch people, not remain as airy comment hung up in the air by a thinker who sits behind the computer.

What do good family photos do?
For a 70-year-old looking back to his twenties, it aids his memory of the good times he enjoyed.
For a 20-year-old teenager looking back when he was ten, he realised how much his parents loved him, how much they treasured him in their lives.
For a couple celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary who opens their wedding album, the wife realises she has on a few more wrinkles, the husband sees his new beer belly. But on a deeper level, they know they have shared a decade together, as partners, best friends and companion. They know it was worthwhile. They know that whatever difficulties that may present itself, they will overcome, for they have come this far, deeper into each other’s lives and heart.
That is what a good photo, smiling, framed, on the wall as time stands still, can do.