When you are in Putrajaya, don’t forget to tour around the beautiful sceneries of the surrounding.

There are quite a number of bridges in Putrajaya..The first bridge that I reached is the Seri Saujana bridge which is the link between the Core Island (Precinct 4) and Precinct 7. The Seri Saujana Bridge is strategically located at the main entrance where I came from, the KL-KLIA highway.

The Seri Saujana Bridge and the Seri Wawasan Bridge are two bridges I like most as their designs are unique and beautiful. Drop by and don’t forget to take some photos of these bridges and its surrounding well-landscaped  gardens fringed with trees, shrubs and  bright colourful blooming flowers.

The Seri Saujana Bridge is the main bridge in Putrajaya, the Malaysian federal administrative capital. From a distant you can see these two bridges and getting there is easy as all the roads in Putrajaya are made for one-way traffic.

These are some photos I shot on the Seri Saujana Bridge and its nearby surrounding … with the pictureque lake and river as the backdrop, the bridge with is unique design is simply outstanding.

Many wedding photographers like to reccomend their clients  to have  their wedding photo shoot at Putrajaya too.

My family and I went for a leisure drive to Putrajaya one evening recently. It took us half an hour to arrive at the Perdana Putra. It is a popular tourist spot to relax and enjoy the beautiful view of the lake and surroundings.

Putrajaya has  become  the new capital city and it is located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur. It’s also 20 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at Sepang  in the south.

Putrayaja is the new Administrative Center of the Government The Perdana Putra is a building complex in Putrajaya which houses the Malaysian Prime Minister office. The building was first occupied in April 1999 after all sections of the Prime Minister Department moved from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya.

Traditionally the Qing Ming  falls on the first week of April and Chinese will go back to attend this Tomb Sweeping Day every year.

The Chinese elderly parents will want the qing ming or  tomb sweeping Day to continue..to give an opportunity for the younger generations to meet and learn to respect the ancestors of this traditional culture.

Three months ago, the permission to remodify the tombs of my ancestors  was granted after consultation with a medium. An auspicious day was chosen and all family members are required to attend the ceremony.  

It was for a good  reason that  when  family members  come back to  pay their respects during the qing ming festival, the tombs being restored would prove that the dead are not forgotten by their filial descendants.

Under the medium’s guidance  the ceremony started with the digging of the graves to collect the ancestors bones with much care every tiny piece of bones and the skull of the dead were unearthed and placed into an urn arranged according to position and reburied into the same graves.

Another date was set for all members of the family to attend to witness the new tombs with the medium performing a ceremonial ritual..

Now the qing ming festival is near and all our family members have decided to return to our home near Ipoh on this coming Sunday and we will gather again. Our deceased grandmother’s soul would be pleased to have the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren gathered at the new tombs -rebuild after almost 50 years.

Related article: Qing Ming festival is a time to get together

Canna or Canna lily are one of the most popular garden plants beside orchid and hibiscus. These tropical flowers can be seen during my old days where I was bought up in the village near Ipoh. Many residents like to grow these plants because of it’s beauty and color.

Although Canna or Canna Lily are of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they can enjoy about 6 hours average sunlight during the summer.

The photos were taken at the  Tanah Rata’s park, Cameron Highland recently.The species Canna or Canna Lily has two color, red and yellow. I am not sure if there are any more color of these beautiful species.

 Sometimes, they are also grown as potted plants. Photo taken with Canon 70-200mm F2.8 zoom lense.

If you want to enjoy the cool weather and fresh air – 5000ft above sea level highland for a holiday, I would recommend  the Cameron Highlands. Relax and enjoy the beauty of nature and also don’t forget to go to the BOH plantations.

BOH Plantations owns four tea gardens with a total planted area of 1,200 hectares: Boh, Fairlie and Sungei Palas in Cameron Highlands, and Bukit Cheeding in the lowlands.

I always like to go to the Boh Tea garden at Ringlet whenever I am on holiday in Cameron Highlands. This time I choose to visit this Sungei Palas Garden.

After touring Cactus Point and Rose Garden in Brinchang it was almost afternoon, we took the road which is nearby Brinchang and proceeded to the BOH SUNGEI PALAS GARDEN.

The road is very narrow so we can’t stop along the way for photography. I don’t have many photos on this plantation and also I missed some photo opportunity when the workers were working, plucking tea leaves in the morning.

We reached and parked our cars near to a primary school and walked along a small path toward the tea centre. A tea sommelier led us to a small room for a video presentation on the tea plantation and explained the intricacies of tea tasting. 

In 1929, a man named J.A Russell obtained a tract of freehold land and transformed it into the first highland tea garden in Malaysia. He named it Boh. So begins the history of BOH Plantations.

Generally the process of tea is 1. Plucking 2. Withering 3. Rolling 4. Fermentation 5. Drying 6. Tea tasting 7. Storage .

Later we ordered a cup of Boh tea in the Tea centre and enjoying our cuppa while overlooking the valley.

Related article : Are we still getting cool and fresh air in Cameron Highlands?

These are some pictures I took in the Hibiscus Garden. I kept them in my computer for quite sometime and I am not 100% sure if these flowers belong to any of the hibiscus species. It looks different from the previous flower pictures that I posted

The hibiscus plants in the Hibiscus Garden are planted with well-planned landscaping to beautify the garden. I noticed that there are quite a number of hibiscus flowers of various varieties and of different sizes, shapes and colors.

This particular flowering plant is seen creeping on the wood frames just in front of the office, and the little flowers grow closely together in clusters to form a drooping garland. When I looked carefully, the flower has five petals, a stigma just like a hibiscus flower, the only difference is that it is smaller in size. The colorful flower is a combination of yellowish-orange and red.

I hope I am right as these flower pictures were photographed in the compound from the Hibiscus Garden.

Related article : All about hibiscus flowers

© Anthony Suau for Time / via World Press Photo The World Press Photo of the Year for 2008: Detective Robert Kole must ensure residents have moved out of their home, Cleveland, Ohio, March 26,2008.

The PDN reported that The 52nd Annual World Press Photo of the Year has been awarded to Anthony Suau for a photograph shot for Time magazine related to the economic crisis in the U.S. taken in Cleveland, Ohio.

The black-and-white image was chosen as World Press Photo of the Year 2008 because of its strength in showing the opposites. It looks like a classic conflict photograph, but it is simply the eviction of people from a house following foreclosure. Now war in its classic sense is coming into people’s houses because they can’t pay their mortgages, Jury chair MaryAnne Golon said. Read more

There are 16 winning World Press Photo images and it’s worth to click on the Photo Gallery here to have a look.

Click here to see more prizewinning photos

Fairey says the Associated Press image at left, by Mannie Garcia, was the basis for his Obama poster illustration, but that its use falls under the Fair Use Provision.

Now Shepard Fairey wants to sue AP Over Obama Poster Dispute.

Shortly after the AP accused Shephard Fairey, the artist behind the famous Obama poster, of infringing copyright, Fairey struck back, filed the suit February 9 in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

The new development caught many a surprise and it’s interesting to read. and I would like to post some of the  comments from PDN here.

Joel – Los Angeles / February 12, 2009
Fairey is a vandal, a tagger, and a thief, and IMHO an infringer. Fairey was arrested a few days ago, yet again, for tagging in Boston. Fairey has boasted that he’s been arrested “over 14 times” for tagging and other vandalism, much of it involving stenciling or posting his own “art” on private and public property. In addition to other arrests. Fairey knew that he could have used any of thousands of photos in the public domain, including those offered on Hussein Obama’s own website. Many are indistinguishable from the infringed (cropped) AP image. Perhaps Fairey is incapable of grasping the concept of honesty, or respecting other people’s rights. Fairey is, though, a pretty accomplished hypocrite. Having created his posters through infringement, he has already threatened people who were trying to sell derivative copies of the poster on their own.

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Posted by: B Finger | February 05, 2009 at 02:41 PM

I think Fairey has a pretty strong case for “fair use” here. His art work uses and is in part a commentary about popular culture and popular cultural imagery. It was originally produced to be “street art” where profit was not the original motive. It was only when Obama supporters discovered a posting of the artwork (posted by Fairey as a freebie in support of Obama, I believe) on the internet and printed out copies for themselves, did it take off as a popular image. Even though his painting and subsequent posters were based upon the AP photo it could never be mistaken for it and would never be in competition with it in the market place.

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Posted by: David | February 12, 2009 at 01:21 PM

Regarding Carl’s lengthy February 10 attempt at analyzing copyright law, “I find the Fairey case fascinating, as I have studied copyright law quite a bit.” Please, Carl, remember the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I am a copyright attorney in Chicago and former photographer. Let me first comment that you appear to be mixing the legal definition of “original” as used in copyright law and as used in an artistic sense. It’s easy to do, but it makes your argument confusing. Continue reading comments of Carl and David about the lawsuit from PDN

Related article: “Hope” Obama poster-Does the AP have a case? Infringement or fair use?

This ” HOPE” poster of Barack Obama was used to campaign and became very popular during the last year’s U.S presidential election. The poster was created by artist Shepard Fairey and the photo was taken by the Associate Press photographer Mannie Garcia.

Now the AP is claiming the copyright from the author because the created poster was based on AP’s photo and entitled for compensation according the PDN reports.

The accused, Shepard Fairey, claims fair use through his attorney. But AP is claiming infringement. Mannie Garcia who shot the image doesn’t want to fight Shepard Fairey over the Obama poster.

The interesting thing is who has the right over the copyright of the photo? The photo was taken on 2006 by Mannie Garcia but the photographer now is no longer with the AP. Garcia also questions whether the AP even owns the copyright to the photo. He says that he was not on the AP staff at the time the photo was taken, and never signed the AP’s freelancer agreement.

What do you say. Does the AP have a case? Infringement or fair use?

The Year of the Ox brings economic uncertainties to Malaysian folks here. Local newspapers has reported more about the closing down of factories and retrenchment of workers.

Despite the global economic slowdown, shopping malls in Klang Valley are putting up  activities to attract crowds for this festive Chinese New Year.

I took my family to the Pavilion at Bkt Bintang Kuala Lumpur. We chose to visit this place as  the Chinese New Year Open House will be held here on Feb 7. As today is the start of celebration the first anniversary of Pavilion, the place would be hive of attraction.

A life-sized Golden Ox displayed at the entrance of the mall draws curious shoppers to have a closer look.  Many took the opportunity for a photo shoot posing next to it .

Those born in the Year of the Ox are said to be hard working and persevering. But to the businessman, the year of  Ox will bring them good business and prosperity.

As we walked around the mall we hardly see any crowd perhaps many are still on the long holiday and have taken the opportunity to go outstation. Those  here are mostly window shopping as we realise the times are bad and everyone wants to control their spending.

Nevertheless the mall is still in the festive mood for the Chinese new year as many shops are well-decorated with red and colorful lanterns, flowers and plants

Pavilion has passionately designed for the love of food especially the public food court with many local cuisines. It is the only place that is crowded with many city folks, Malay, Chinese, Indian and tourists enjoying their favourite food. We ordered three bowls of curry noodle which cost RM24.00

I hope the Golden Ox will bring all the happinese and smiles to our folks here.