Tag: Shrine of Remembrance

Categories
Photography

[2267] Of a photograph of colorful war medal in a hard drive

I just realized that October will be closing its door soon. This might not be the most profound observation but the year is ending and boy, what a year it has been so far.

I have also realized that I have a bucketful worth of photos stored in my hard drive, unshared, sitting there alone and I like many of them. Given that I do not have time to write thoughtfully, these photos are good to fill the space just to keep this blog active. I will be done with school in less than 4 weeks. After that, I will be back with a vengeance.

In the meantime, enjoy the meek me and my photos.

These are war medals hung in Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. I shot this the first time I visited the city earlier in January.

Categories
Photography

[2262] Of my god, it’s full of stars

Nine months after my first visit to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, I found myself there again dead in the middle of the night. That has to tell you something about how I love war memorials.

What I like most about this picture is the stars. The small size of the picture does not do justice to the stars. I am working on that. I hope that some time in the near future, I will find a new template that I like that will allow me to post larger photos without messing everything up.

About that stars, I have never actually managed, or thought of, capturing them. I did not know it was possible with my camera and lens, until that night. The craziest thing is that I could not see most of the stars with my naked eyes when I was standing there doing 30-second exposures for nearly an hour.

Maybe, that says more about my vision than about my camera’s capability. Oh well…

Categories
Conflict & disaster History & heritage Photography

[2161] Of thank you Australia

I have always loved war memorials. I have been to the Tugu Negara in Kuala Lumpur multiple of times. When I was in Washington D.C. for a very short stay, I visited the war memorials there. Likewise in Sydney and Melbourne. The reason for my love for war memorials is not because that I glorify wars. Rather, it is closely related to my love of history.

While I do think wars sometimes are necessary, especially when liberty is under attack to make wars a serious option for libertarians, I do not cherish the thoughts of its necessity. Wars are never pretty but the wars that Malaysia went through, notably against Japanese imperialism during World War II, against communist terrorism for a good part of the country’s history and against attempt of invasion by Indonesia during the formation of Malaysian federation, were certainly wars that could not be avoided in terms of preservation of liberty.

Australia is one of several countries which have dedicated its men and women to the defense of Malaysia or its current components prior to 1963. Malaysia won the wars because of countries like Australia.

Australia remembers this in Sydney in form of the Anzac War Memorial…

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

…and in Melbourne in form of the Shrine of Remembrance:

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

Belated maybe, but I say thank you nonetheless. It has been a fruitful alliance.