YONEX BRUNEI OPEN IKE SHIO CUP

It’s only January 2010 and I’ve broken two indoor stadium attendance records. The first being the ABL Barracudas vs Slingers match on Jan 20th and second being the very recent Yonex Brunei Open on Jan 29th. The motivation was the same, I wanted to capture the moments from these fast action sports and see how much of ambience and adrenalin I could freeze given the EOS 5DII isn’t exactly bred for this type of assignments. But I enjoy a good challenge like that to find out the limits of my skills and hardware for a given shoot.

Other than my long term love for badminton and Yonex, I don’t follow much of the world tournaments on TV, my only claim to fame was meeting renowned legendary players: Yang Yang, Zhao Jian Hua (China Men’s Singles), Tian Bingyi, Li Yongbo (China Men’s Doubles) Foo Kok Keong, Razif, Jalani Sidek (Malaysia) at the Australian Bicentennial Open in 1988. During my four years stay in Perth, WA where I competed with a HK partner in the University of Western Australian’s badminton tournament.

Highlights from the 2010 Yonex Brunei Open included a 430 km/hr smash demo by one of the Japanese shuttler and it’s speed was recorded Japanese Embassy First Secretary Mr OKOUCHI Hiroshi whose portrait I photographed for two Japanese business magazines. The top speed attained that evening using the Yonex ArcSaber Z Flash racket was 420 km/hr. My favourite weapon of choice is the Yonex Ti 7. I have tried the ArcSaber 10 which I found very energy sapping after just 10 minutes of use.

Following that was what I believe is the Yonex Power Cushion shock absorbing demo which reverses the impact energy for smooth transition. Compared with urethane, the Yonex Power Cushion construction provides 3 times more shock absorbing power. Nothing is more evident than dropping an uncooked egg at some 12-13 feet up and then seeing that egg bounced off intact (with Mr Okouchi narrowly missing the egg on rebound). Impressive stuff and I now wonder if I’ve been wearing shoes with genuine Yonex insoles!

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from these guys who kept breaking eggs for fun

There were as many as 100 lucky draws to walk home with Yonex goodies and judging from the ticket numbers announced, attendance may have exceeded 1,500 so each ticket holder has a reasonably good chance to win something. The odds of me walking away with good pictures are way higher than winning a lucky draw

As with any situation where luck prevails, there are winners and there are the not-so-lucky ones. Lucky prizes aside, we were very fortunate to have been given an opportunity to watch the finals and also get to see the pretty Reiko Shiota at just a stone’s throw away (I don’t recommend throwing stones if you want her to visit us again sometime). So yeah, in many ways, we’re all winners that night.

Former Malaysia national backup player Beryno Wong won the Open Singles category against his opponent in two straight sets. I love watching players who jump smash a lot and understandably so, it’s the most dramatic prelude to a killer smash. When I play I jump smash quite a fair bit and this is about the only high energy cardio exercise I do on weekends (not enough but better than none at all). So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw Beryno play.

Later came more jumpers from the Japanese team in the friendly match a.k.a. entertainment category between Brunei and Japan. Those who went know exactly what I’m talking about here. But this was clearly another McDonald’s moment for me and I’m Loving It all (and of course some Kodak moments to share here).

When I wrote earlier that everyone who watched the game was a winner, there was just one exception. One of the Japanese players threw his racket and judging from the second photo below, Mr black “Las Vegas” tee shirt was the proud recipient of an ArcSaber Z Flash worth over B$300. Apparently, I had been wrong about money not falling from the sky—it does, in fact—but not very often

What struck me as something interesting about the Z Flash racket is its colour scheme which resembles the colours of our national flag. His mate in red seems to be a soccer player judging from the logo on his striped jersey but I could be wrong. Sometimes.

Now, I know some of you were out of the country and missed a chance to meet one of a number of most talked-about attractive female professional sportsperson—here’s Reiko Shiota making her graceful entrance to the delight of cheerful and whistling crowd.

Some lucky audience received Yonex TOURNAMENT grade shuttlecocks courtesy of Reiko. It was revealed to me by a source at the tournament that a tube of Yonex Tournament shuttlecocks cost B$80. That works out to be B$6.66 each—looks like someone is trying to upgrade the status of this sport to that of golf. The good thing though, unlike golf, you don’t need a car with a large trunk to accommodate your golf investment.

LETTING IT RIP!

Here’s a second instalment of my Lexus shoot for NBT TOYOTA following the publication of the RX350 in 2009. Once again, I missed the actual ad that appeared in the Borneo Bulletin newspaper so the kind folks at ZenderFang emailed me a copy of the artwork (a complete one which I delicately ripped to fit in this space). Although on the day of the shoot, an actual IS300C was in the process of clearing customs we were unable to get it ready for the shoot other than that it had been pre-booked by a client, it wasn’t right to do so either. So the red convertible was from a different source while we had the silver IS300 to play with. You’ll find my personal rendition below which wasn’t part of the deliverable but that didn’t stop me from dabbling with the image.

A second in a long day of shoot in the scorching heat. Just 2 images shy of a thousand RAW files were shot in one day from three Lexus models. I don’t know about other photographers but this is surely a personal record. The photo below was taken by Gavin whom I invited to assist me and creative director James from ZenderFang.

A hardcopy print out of the RX350 artwork pinned on the cork board a reminder of the long hours in the sun. The colours from the Canon PIXMA IP6700D is as vibrant as it was the day it was printed.

BRUNEI BARRACUDAS VS SINGAPORE SLINGERS

Last night was the first time I saw the two teams  again since the official launch of the ASEAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE in Makati, Philippines on Aug 30th 2009. There had been numerous home games which for one reason or another got in the way of attending. So when I asked around and managed to secure a couple of friends one of whom offered to drive, it was an opportunity for some lens work and also a “reunion” with the guys I shared a bus and a journey with, not too long ago.

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The [Singapore] Slingers went on a shooting spree in the second half and extended their lead to 20 points before the Barracudas rallied to cut the deficit to 72-83 going into the final four minutes of the game. “We [Barracudas] never recovered from going down 10-0 at the start of the game. I know that the players have tried their best but we played badly in the beginning and gave them a cushion too big that they controlled till the end,” said Ramos | Barracudas — The Brunei Times

I enjoyed tense atmosphere, the drums, the noise, the vantage point and most of all the consistency of the lights that lit the indoor stadium compared to other lesser basketball tournament venues I had previously shot in. All images shot on EOS 5D mkII and EF70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens in alternating One Shot | AI Servo modes between ISO 3200 and 5000. Better vantage points and opportunities can be had with a media pass and freedom to move closer to the basket.

THE SINGAPORE SLINGERS—A FAN’S PERSPECTIVE

“How do we match up? Coach Goh from the Dragons has already given us many helpful tips. He obviously wants to help us to help themselves. The Slingers do not have a deep bench, but the Barracudas are one of the only teams I can think off with an even shorter bench with six to seven players being used during key minutes.” —Kelvin Poh

ROAD TO A GREENER BRUNEI

Is blue the new green? That’s the first thing I noticed when I reached Jerudong Park Polo & Riding Club for the official launching of Brunei’s first ‘green car’ the TOYOTA PRIUS. With a green theme shrouding the event, I wondered why Toyota had chosen the colour blue for its green vehicles and it appears not once but three places I looked (logo rim, gear knob and next to HYBRID label).

Apparently, Prius is a Latin word meaning “to go before” and Toyota chose this name because the Prius vehicle is positioned to be “the predecessor of cars to come”. Rapid population growth and economic development in recent decades have resulted in a sharp increase in fossil fuel consumption on a global scale. Faced with the challenge to create an earth-friendly vehicle, Toyota has produced the world’s first mass produced hybrid automobile and NBT TOYOTA introduced the first brand of hybrid (in its third generation) vehicle to Brunei Darussalam.

Other than questions regarding  its rather hefty price tag of B$58,400*, I’m pretty sure you have some burning questions regarding how the “the most advanced hybrid powertrain” system works on the road. The Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) provides dual power sources by combining the advantages of a nickel-metal hydride battery, an electric motor and a petrol engine. From starting off to low/mid speed, only electricity from the battery drives the motor to reach “full power instantly.” Driving conditions are monitored and an intelligent ECU controls engine and motor for optimum fuel efficiency. During hard acceleration however, power from the battery supplements power produced by the petrol engine to enhance overall driving power. During decelerating and braking, the motor is activated as a generator to convert kinetic energy into electricity that recharges the battery. When the car is at a complete stop, the petro engine shuts down and is on powered by electricity energy from the battery, thereby reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions. Sounds like a blueprint for the future vehicles for the environmental conscious public. *correct at time of this post.

[R]educe — [N]ow — [B]runei — [D]arussalam

Because the Prius starts off in full electricity mode, the car is incredibly silent and you could literally have one brush right past you and you wouldn’t realise it—talk about an automobile for covert operations—imagine if this also came with stealth features you could effectively speed and is naked to the current generation of radar guns! Food for thought!

And just in case you’re wondering if the Prius has a radiator, it does. I was unable to locate the usual overflow coolant container but the pink liquid you see below is the coolant for the inverter unit which I imagine should be fairly costly to replace in the event of failure.

At the launch, Japanese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Hirose Noriki said Brunei could lead the way in the Asean region in promoting the “green” initiative. “I think Brunei is a good country to set an example to Asean countries in ‘greening’ the country (with the introduction of the green car),” he said. The ambassador added that if Bruneians opted to switch to green cars, it would be able to reduce the domestic consumption of petrol. “When that happens, the extra petrol can be exported to increase the country’s revenue. It can even help the government in reducing subsidy to petroleum,” he said, adding Brunei could “double benefit” from using “green cars”. — Brunei Times

NBT Brunei Sdn Bhd’s Managing Director Ninan Chacko said, “This (launching of the hybrid car) is a small, but significant step to ensure that the Green Heart of Borneo will continue to be enjoyed in the future. We must adopt a long term view, even though there is currently no official compulsion to do so. We believe that as a responsible 21st century green motor company which is ISO 14001 (Environment Management System) certified, we have a moral obligation to contribute to a greener, cleaner and brighter Brunei Darussalam.”

Ninan Chacko (L), NBT Managing Director presents the mock key to the Toyota Prius fleet to Tareq Mahmood, HSBC CEO (R) as Pg Hj Ahmad Pg Jaya Negara Pg Hj Abdul Rahman (C), Director, Jasra Car Rental Sdn Bhd looks on.

A representative of NBT gesturing to Guest of Honour the digital dashboard while Japanese Ambassador Hirose Noriki  and Japanese Embassy First Secretary, Hiroshi Okouchi (right) look on.

HSBC (B) Sdn Bhd yesterday purchased 13 units of Toyota Prius in a bid to reaffirm its commitment to environment protection. Tareq Muhmood, chief executive officer of HSBC, said, “The cars will be used by the managers, or if we have visitors, then the cars will be used.” The bank normally has 13 to 15 vehicles which are now old and will be replaced by the Prius. “It is time to put our actions to where our words are, so we would like to encourage our customers to do the same,” he said, adding that the bank has introduced the lowest ever rates for car financing for anyone who wants to buy the Prius. — Brunei Times

Minister of Energy Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Mohd Hj Daud was present as guest of honour to officiate the launching of Toyota’s hybrid car, Toyota Prius, held at the Jerudong Polo and Riding Club.

Pehin Hj Mohd told The Brunei Times cars in the Sultanate were the biggest emitter of carbon into the atmosphere contributing 53 per cent of carbon gas emission. However, the launch of the Brunei’s first “green” car could be the light at the end of the tunnel. Pehin Dato Hj Mohd said: “I hope that the green car(s) would help reduce carbon emissions and also help (fight) climate change.” — Brunei Times

“Let me emphasise here, we are doing this, not for ourselves, but for our future generations”

One of many reasons to smile about, the team at NBT TOYOTA Brunei Darussalam are on the road to a greener Brunei Darussalam.

About NBT Toyota Sdn Bhd
NBT, the sole distributor of Toyota vehicles in Brunei, led the market with 3,717 passenger and commercial vehicles sold. It dominated the automobile market with a 30 per cent market share. In December, the Toyota distributor sold 142 units of top seller Toyota Vios, outselling all other car distributors.