Sri Mariamman Temple Facelift

The Sri Mariamman Temple on South Bridge Road is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore. The original wood and attap temple was built around 1827 by an Indian pioneer. The temple under went reconstruction between the period of 1862-1863. It was later replaced with the current brick structure and completed in 1943 by Indian convicted labourers. In the early days, the temple also served as Registry of Marriages for Hindus.

Well, you may wonder there are so many Hindu Temples in Singapore and why am I so fascinated in this particular Temple? Firstly, it is the oldest Hindu Temple in Singapore. It was built more than hundred years ago, way before my grand-parents and parents were born! Secondly, it was the temple where my best friend, Shaun and his wife Emily, held their wedding ceremony. If I remembered correctly, Shaun’s parents also held their wedding ceremony in the same temple. Thirdly, the temple is a famous landmark that sits in the heart of Chinatown! Can you image, the surrounding streets were all Chinese residents and in the middle of nowhere there is a Hindu Temple? Perhaps this is uniquely Singapore! Lastly, I walked pass this temple at least once week to Temple Street for my vegetarian food.

Recently, the Temple went through months of facelift, starting from late last year. When I walked past the Temple two weeks ago the main door was still closed for renovation. I finally get to enter the temple on Thursday to take some pictures. The new paint works on the statues and ceilings are brilliant! If you stare long enough at the painting, especially through the magnification of the camera’s zoom lens, the murals on the ceiling almost seem to come alive! It is like the Michelangelo’s creation in Singapore!

Here are some photos I took last Thursday. My pictures may not be the best justification for the beautiful paintings. If you have some spare times, you should visit the Temple personally to enjoy the beautiful paintings!

Photographers' Night Out

On Thursday evening, when most people were sound asleep, I joined a group of photographers to take pictures through the night. When my colleague, Eugene Leong, approached me with the idea to join this group outing, I thought he must be crazy. I would rather spend the night sleeping then roving around town with my camera taking pictures!

After Eugene furnished me with the itinerary, I decided to forgo my sleep to join the outing. As it was Good Friday the following day, I could still catch some sleep in the morning if I'm tired. We met at the Merlion around 11pm to take pictures of Singapore's skyline then went to Geylang for supper around 2am. After supper, we proceed to Jurong Fishery and finally to East Coast to take sunrise pictures.

When I was out taking pictures, I'm surprised to find there were still many people around the Esplanade area well passed midnight. As we were heading towards Geylang for supper, the various Lorongs were buzzing with life and the Jurong Fishery was full of activities in the wee hours of the morning!

In the past, I have heard about the Jurong Fishery but I have never been there. I'm glad that I join this group to experience what it was like at the fishery. It started raining when we were leaving the fishery. Rain could spoil a beautiful sunrise but it has not dampened the group spirit. The friendliness of the members easily made up for the less spectacular sunrise!

The outing ended around 8am, Eugene and I went to Casuarina Road for some Roti Pratas before heading home. Yes, I was dead tired when I reached home. After a hot shower, I went straight to bed until 1pm!

GfK Sngapore No.1 Award Ceremony

Our company's GfK No.1 Award ceremony is here again! The award is created to recognise the top selling brand for the calendar year in each key category covered by GfK audit reporting. Many companies are competing for this award because of the level of prestige and credibility it carries! Winners are entitled to use the official GfK No.1 Award Certified logo in their winning product marketing for a year.

On your next visit to a retail store, try looking out for the GfK No.1 Award logo on electronic products such as home appliances or digital imaging products. You can also find our GfK No.1 Award logo on Newspaper advertisements, for instance, Canon's DSLR advert.

Well if you would like to find out more about the GfK No.1 Award ceremony, there will be an article in the upcoming issue of Digital Life (DL) supplies with The Straits Times. Here are some photos I took during the GfK Singapore No.1 Award Ceremony.