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Stephen & Hanim - Interview on Malaysia Hari Ini (MHI) with TV host Fenda.

(31 March 2009)

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THE STAR (8 MARCH 2010)

To read them online at THE STAR ONLINE website, please click the following links
The STAR Online on Monday March 8, 2010 by Allan Koay

Denizens of the deep
By ALLAN KOAY
allan@thestar.com.my
2010/03/8

Retrived from: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/3/8/lifeliving/5789346&sec=lifeliving (for your reading convenience)

Underwater creatures have a story to tell, too.

NO one, not even the Malaysia In 24 Hours Beautiful Destination organisers nor the participants themselves, had anticipated that their collection of underwater photographs would end up in a month-long exhibition at the National Art Gallery. It came as a pleasant surprise for everyone.

Early last year, Malaysia In 24 Hours series founder Stephen Ronee Lau had invited divers and underwater photographers to submit their work for the latest instalment of the series, Underwater Sceneries Of Malaysia.

Each photographer had to submit 20 photographs, resulting in over 800 submissions from 42 participants, out of which the best were selected. Then Lau and his team looked for a place to launch the digital album of their collection, a DVD containing a slideshow of the selected photographs.

“We approached the shopping malls, but they wanted us to spend on the set-up, and we didn’t have the budget to do so,” explained Lau. “Then we contacted the National Art Gallery, showed them what we had done, and the director of research and exhibition, Zanita Anuar, loved it so much and thought it was high time they promoted something of this nature.”

The Underwater Sceneries Of Malaysia is not a competition and is open to anyone who dives and has taken underwater photographs. The 42 photographs exhibited at the National Art Gallery showcase underwater landscapes and marine life, and those who took them range from professional photographers to amateurs and hobbyists. Lau said it didn’t matter whether the photographers took pictures for a living or not, as long as their submissions were of good quality.

“One criterion was that the photographs had to be exceptionally clear,” said Lau. “And then, they had to show something that would amaze people. I also selected photos that were profound and told a better story. For example, people are fond of shooting photos of anemone and clown fish, but some photographs of anemone and clown fish stand out more than others.”

The divers were invited through social networking sites such as Facebook and through e-mail. Lau and his team contacted friends who are divers and word was spread from there.

“Marketing through the Internet was very good, a lot of people knew about it, but response was slow,” said Lau. When it was announced that the photographs would be exhibited at the National Art Gallery, more people wanted to submit their work, but (by then) it was too late.

The Malaysia In 24 Hours inaugural project was launched in 2006, with the photography challenge held at Aquaria KLCC and also in Penang. It resulted in a coffee-table book, A Day Of Photographic Memory.

This time around, more than 300 of the photographs submitted for Underwater Sceneries Of Malaysia will be released on a DVD that comes with a booklet. The DVD will present a slideshow of the photographs, and will retail for RM24.90. It will be available at the National Art Gallery and at diving centres. There are plans to make them available at major bookstores, tourist information centres, souvenir shops, hotels and other places.

Twenty percent of the proceeds from the sale of this digital album will be channelled into the SRL Nature Education and Awareness Fund, which Lau will be setting up soon.

“The fund is open to any NGO that runs a programme to take children out to expose them to nature,” he said. “For example, if they want to bring children on an educational trip to the mangrove swamps, if they need to buy caps for the children, or bottled drinks, or even provide transportation, they can apply to the fund, subject to our committee’s approval.”

Meanwhile, 20% of the proceeds from the digital album sales at the National Art Gallery will go into the gallery’s Endowment Fund.

And while copyright of the photographs remain with the photographers, a part of any future sales of the photographs by Lau’s company will go to the photographers themselves.

“We want them to be recognised, and we want their work, which we are now displaying, to have some value,” said Lau. “And now, every diver who submitted his photograph can say that his work was featured at the National Art Gallery for a whole month.”

Lau said no photographer was rejected during the selection, and there were even submissions from divers in Australia and Singapore who had dived in Malaysia.

“For future projects, perhaps we could get 30 to 40 photographers to go to remote areas with me and we could produce another digital album,” said Lau.

But for now, the second Underwater Sceneries digital album project has been announced and all divers are invited to participate.

The Underwater Sceneries Of Malaysia photography exhibition, in partnership with the Information, Communications and Culture Minis­try and the Natural Resources and Environ­­­­­­­­ment Ministry, is on at the National Art Gallery from now till April 6, 10am to 6pm daily. Admission is free. Visit www.mastercontest.com for more information on the Malay­sia In 24 Hours – Beautiful Desti­na­­tion series and to participate in the second Underwater Sceneries Of Malaysia.

ORIENTAL DAILY (31 MARCH 2010)

BERITA HARIAN (19 MARCH 2010)

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BERITA HARIAN ONLINE on Friday March 19, 2010 by Nurul Farina Nazlan

Keunikan Landskap Dan Hidupan Marin
Oleh Nurul Farina Nazlan
nfarina@bharian.com.my
2010/03/19

Retrived from: http://www.bharian.com.my/articles/Keunikanlandskapdanhidupanmarin/Article/

(for your reading convenience)

Pameran di Balai Seni Lukis Negara menghimpunkan karya 42 penyelam, jurugambar dasar laut

KEINDAHAN dan keunikan landskap serta hidupan marin di celah karangan di dasar laut negara ini, sangat mengagumkan sehingga sukar digambarkan dengan kata-kata, tetapi ia ditafsirkan pada Pameran Fotografi Album Digital Malaysia In 24Hrs (MI24H) Beautiful Destination - Underwater Sceneries Of Malaysia di Galeri 3B, Balai Seni Lukis Negara Malaysia (BSLN), Kuala Lumpur, sehingga 6 April ini.

Pameran fotografi yang yang dipaparkan adalah sebahagian daripada karektor imej dalam Projek Album Digital Malaysia In 24Hrs (MI24H) Beautiful Destination itu, menghimpunkan karya gabungan 42 penyelam dan jurugambar bawah laut, sekali gus berjaya menampilkan foto yang unik dan mengagumkan.

Pengasas projek itu, Stephen Ronee Lau, berkata pameran fotografi ekslusif itu menjadi siri pertama projek mereka dalam usaha untuk menampilkan persembahan istimewa yang mempamerkan keindahan 42 imej terbaik khusus.

“Projek ini bertujuan membantu mempromosikan Malaysia sebagai destinasi terindah di dunia terutama untuk aktiviti di dasar laut seperti selam skuba, sekali gus dapat berkongsi dengan masyarakat tentang keunikan dasar laut lewat imej yang dipamerkan.

“Selain itu, ia turut memberi pendedahan kepada orang ramai berkenaan keindahan hidupan bawah laut dan menimbulkan kesedaran akan kepentingan memelihara serta memulihara khazanah yang sangat berharga ini melalui program pendidikan,” katanya ketika ditemui Galeri di pameran berkenaan, baru-baru ini.

Lau berkata, program pendidikan berkenaan alam sekitar mampu memberi banyak pendedahan dan impak yang berkesan kepada masyarakat terutama generasi muda, sekali gus dapat membantu pembangunan program kesedaran hidupan dasar laut.

“Selepas siri pertama ini, pihak kami akan meneruskan pelbagai siri lain yang masih berkisar keindahan semula jadi di negara ini yang mempunyai sumber alam semula jadi yang unik dan sering menjadi tarikan kepada pelancong asing,” katanya.

Imej yang dipaparkan dalam pameran itu akan dicetak sebanyak 100 salinan untuk dijual kepada khalayak dengan harga RM350, manakala harga bagi setiap imej yang diberikan bingkai adalah RM480 dengan 20 peratus hasil jualan dimasukkan ke Tabung Pendidikan dan Kesedaran Alam Sekitar Stephen Ronee Lau.

Imej yang banyak dipamerkan pada pameran terbabit adalah hasil fotografi Johor National Parks Corporation antaranya Cauliflower Soft Coral, Mersing Island; Co’ Chromodoris Nudibranch, Tinggi Island dan Gorgonian See Fan, Mersing Island.

Pengunjung yang hadir pasti teruja melihat keunikan dasar laut menerusi imej yang diambil jurufoto profesional bawah laut seperti imej Anemonefish Eggs, Tioman Island oleh Ahmad Zaki Imbi dan Hanging Garden of Tube Sponges, Sipadan Island oleh Sim Chee Gee.

Pengunjung juga boleh memiliki koleksi imej yang dipamerkan dengan membeli album digital dan buku saiz saku yang memaparkan keunikan hidupan bawah laut dengan harga RM24.90 untuk dijadikan koleksi peribadi serta dihadiahkan kepada ahli keluarga dan kenalan malah, setiap pembelian akan turut menyumbang kepada tabung yang ditubuhkan.

INFO: Pameran Fotografi dan Album Digital Malaysia In 24Hrs (MI24H) Beautiful