What do you want to be when you grow up?

Something a little different for a change – I’m writing about the police and kids.

Have you seen the latest Singapore Police Force commercials? I happened to see one of them on TV the other day, and Joanne pointed out that she and her female colleagues recently crowded around one computer swooning over this particular one for ten minutes:

For more, you can go to the Singapore Police Force Facebook page or their YouTube channel  for the rest of the 2011 recruitment drive vids.

Coincidentally, I was actually planning to write a post about something I’d spotted a month ago during my visit to the National Museum, and it’s related to the police as well.

There was this activity corner on the second storey, where kids were invited to draw out their personal hopes and vision for Singapore, and put it up as part of an interactive exhibition. And one common thread I found was that many of kids wanted to be policemen and women when they grow up!

Farewell, Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

The last train rolled into Tanjong Pagar Railway Station last night  (June 30). Hundreds of people crowded the historic building yesterday, for their last chance to see trains arriving at the tracks. If we count the many others who have streamed in over the past month, the figure would probably be closer to thousands, or even tens of thousands.

Although I was on afternoon duty yesterday, I’d toyed with the idea of heading out to the King Albert Park area to grab some shots of the 8am train headed for Johor. However, I had worked the late shift the night before, and stayed up till late to finish up the previous blog post. I decided that I would be too tired to work if I went. As it turned out, it rained cats and dogs in the morning, and I would have been drenched from head to toe, and dead like zombie at the office if I had gone.

Anyway, here’s the best of the other photos I took during my visit there earlier this week. All photos on Kodak Portra 160VC, taken with the Nikon F6 and AFS 24mm f1.4.

A train driver on the walkie talkie as the train pulls out of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.

A photo guide to taking a train from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

How time flies. I visited the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station about half a year ago to take some photographs, and before I knew it, the day when a KTM train leaves the station for the last time – June 30, 2011 – is almost here.

Joanne and I had been planning to take the train from the station for just one time, before the chance is over, but in typical fashion we procrastinated for a bit. It was June 26 when it finally struck me – there was less than a week to go. By then, Joanne had left for a holiday to New York, so I would have to go alone, I thought. But my mother, who last took the train more than 20 years ago, wanted to join me (perhaps driven by the hype in the media?). As it happened, I was off duty the following day – Jul 27 (Monday). We were set.

One of the train station workers preparing for departure on June 27. The train was bound for Kuala Lumpur. I took the train to Johor Sentral Station, the first stop in Malaysia, and then returned by the next earliest train.

This month, Singaporeans have flocked to the station in droves to take photographs, enjoy the food at the two canteens and take a ride from there for the last time. The tickets for the last day, if I didn’t hear wrongly, were sold out weeks in advance. KTM must have made quite a killing in recent days, I suspect!

Since the train station closes today, I thought it might be interesting to show how the experience of taking a train from there is like, using some of the shots I have taken. Especially for those who have never done it before. Here goes!

The park in my backyard

Some of you might have read about Ang Mo Kio Town West Garden park in the news recently – a 64-year-old man was allegedly killed by a teenager who was under the influence of drugs. Subsequent news reports highlighted that teenagers, sometimes in their school uniforms, are occasionally seen glue-sniffing in the bushes there.

Well, I happen to live close by, but I'm ashamed to say that I rarely pass by and have never seen the plastic bags used by the sniffers littered on the grass there. Not that I want to see them though.

A loving elderly couple taking a stroll in the park on a sunny Thursday morning in the Ang Mo Kio Town West Garden park.

I did actually go for a morning walk there in April, in a bid to finish using up a roll of film. There weren’t a lot of people around, but just enough activity to keep me snapping the 13 frames I had to expend.

It starts with a mini project at Serangoon

Two weeks ago, I attended a four-day course on “Visual Journalism”. I had been looking forward to this course, because I have always been interested in visual design.

And I came away inspired to do more photographic work.

The course, which revolved around the effective use of photographs and graphics in print design, was conducted by Mr Peter Ong, a former journalist who now runs his own consultancy. He is a guru at newspaper and magazine design, and has worked with publications all over the world, including in China, India and South Africa. He writes a blog about media trends and his work here. 

A “No Peddling” sign at the old Serangoon Bus Interchange. Until I visited the place that day, I don’t think I had seen such a sign in Singapore! In a way I think it shows the age of the place.

On the last day of the course, we were assigned in groups of 4 to 5 people to do a simple report, with the use of graphics and photos. We had the whole morning to do it. My group was given the task of doing a photo essay on something around Serangoon Central.