Ray of Light 2005 - An Unrealistic Ambition?

Over 17,000 people were killed during the Nepal Civil War. "Ray of Light" was a coffee table book - a UNICEF project to raise funds for Nepalese children suffering through the war. It required a USD40,000 pledge to UNICEF and another $30,000 for its production cost. I wanted all donations for the book to go to UNICEF, ie the sponsor would have to absorbed travel, production, admin and compliance costs. After the widely publicized pilots' salary dialogue with our late SM LKY in 2004, it was deemed an impossible ambition.

What company would dare invest SGD80,000 in a 2 year CSR project while risking the possibility of the pilots grappling over salary matters at the time of the charity launch?

Preamble

"Dear, when you fly to Kathmandu one day, you will love the bubbly children." A young stewardess told her fiance. They shared the same set of values and shortly after, became husband and wife.

He joined SIA a few years later, "Children of the Lesser World" was produced - using these adorable faces to share with their new born child how happy a simple life could be. The video taught their children the values of kindness and gratitude, important values that would then go on to influence the decision to return and help the less fortunate children one day– this time, as a family.

Back in the day, there was a lot of adverse publicity on pilots and stewardesses. “Ray of Light” was in part also a community connection initiative to share another side of the aircrew with the public.

Wedding Geographic

The goodwill were fostered from the 80s when I was the Chairman of Canon Photo Club and subsequently the Honorary advisor to Konica, Minolta Photo Club. They knew I could tastefully brought up the plights of the less fortunate children.

They regarded Madeline and I as a couple who could comment on the finest wine at 40,000ft high in the sky but yet also be able to leave our comfort zone to help the needy. We commanded respects by sharing our creative way of handling crisis under "The Arts of Life 艺术人生", an art to turn challenges in life into beautiful memories.

Minolta needed a series of elegant pictures, using its consumer digital cameras to rival their competitor's professional SLRs. They were impressed by the "Wedding Geographic" and wanted to produce a series for their new camera launches.

A showroom in Funan Centre was dedicated to depict how a non-professional photographer could use camera 1/5 the price to produce poster sized wedding pictures for his wife. The WedGeo was an amazing and demanding minimalist shooting style 20 years ago. A "Selfie" taken by the couple with a tripod! There were many inquiries by other couples requesting for us to do their overseas wedding shoots. But instead of making more money, we decided to dedicate our talent and our limited time helping the less fortunate.

Beyond Premium Service

Divorce rates were high amongst aircrew. "Beyond Premium Service" brought devotion, talent, endurance, and time management to a new level. A pilot flew his wife around the world, keeping his promise of personally shooting her wedding photos to make up for the hiccups during their honeymoon.

As you know, stewardesses occasionally attract attention in the news for the wrong reasons. However, Madeline portray a refreshing image of an elegant SIA Girl that could not only bring out the best of a $125 gown, but yet also throw a $5 T-shirt on to help a black community in South Africa. She was also respected for her courage to follow her husband during the civil war in Nepal for the UNICEF project.

$92,000 was raised for UNICEF!

Next

... the civil war intensified and finally there was a ceasefire...

… but on the night of our arrival, the minister's house was bombed, and ceasefire was cancelled...

… "Mummy I had a nightmare you were caught by a monster"... Instead of leaving the civil war to look after her children back home, she chose to follow her husband.

… Children and parents were overjoyed when they saw that underprivileged people like them, who had not taken a picture before, could now appear in a UNICEF book...