The Havoc Reunion

Portraiture: Marriz In Africa

In the jungle,

the mighty jungle,

The lion sleeps tonight.

Marriz, It's Your Birthday

Slides From Our Graduation Night

For those who have either missed watching the slides I've compiled for our graduation night held last night, or wish to relive the memories again, you can watch it here in all its glory. (Thank you iMovie and YouTube).

Now that my colleagues and I have graduated, we are entering a whole new journey, with new challenges and opportunities that awaits us in our doorsteps. Our future is brighter now. But we will forever cherish the moments my colleagues and I spent together since our first day we set foot in The Business School.

Frustrations of a Late Bloomer

Gambar ini adalah sekadar hiasan sahaja. Hak milik tercipta. Dilarang menduplikasi.
It's a tough world we live in. Age and O levels are still the factors in our nation when deciding to further our studies, despite the efforts some of us have made which, in foreign standards, are considered eligible for it. For most of my generation, these factors have become obstacles at this stage of life. It's quite a challenge for some, but also a waste of resources when we think about it.

Everybody deserves a second chance. A person who have struggled years of hardship and only managed to get back up again can be no different than the child prodigy. If they reject the next person who have successfully achieved outstanding results despite not qualifying the other criterias such as age (I mean, c'mon, seriously, what's up with that?), then they could've made a very big mistake. One decision can make a big change. What if that person could one day change the world if he had not been rejected?

I speak on behalf of these people like myself who have fallen before but managed to stand up again at this very day. Everybody deserves a second chance, and these people speak for themselves. Despite factors which have become obstacles that gets in their way, its the burning desire, drive and motivation to study which still exist in them that keeps them going. If these people, despite age, wishes to study, why stop them? Is education an investment or a cost in the future development of our nation?

Yes its true that we have to raise the bar in our education standards over the course of time in order to meet our vision 2035, but what about the responsibilities of fulfilling the promises of our late monarch, the architect of Modern Brunei? He envisioned that all, and I mean ALL of us in this nation deserve to live better and prosperous lives. As in the case, I am fighting for my future as its my rights. Its everyone's rights and everyone should stand and fight for it.

So let my experience be a lesson to all, especially to the teenagers who are currently enjoying the freedom given to you. We are living in difficult times. While you still have that freedom you think you deserve, do not take things simply for granted. We should be thankful that we are given education at no cost, so don't waste that chance and blew it. Opportunities are wide open at the early age. Don't end up with life full of regrets like the rest of us who could've done better when we had those chances.


One of the lucky few who have survived the education depression

One Night at Merce

So attachments' over and graduation's only a matter of months away. This is the time where we spend our remaining days together as schoolmates before we put on our black cloaks and graduation hats. To keep ourselves occupied on these remaining months, some have secured their job from where they were attached, others found a different job, while I am a full-time photographer. Nevertheless, we still get the fun going. We were at Merce Pool & Snooker in Kiulap (near Blue Eden) for a game of pool together last night, just one of the fun things we've planned to do before our graduation in May.

Havoc Photo Sale, Day 2

Yesterday marked our 2nd day of our photo sale at the Business School. Our good friend Wali lent a helping hand on the accounts and collections side as we proceeded the bookings for the 2nd batch. Response has been very positive thanks to the 1st batch bookings of last week which caused the spread of word of mouth throughout the campus.

By 4.30 pm, bookings for the 2nd batch has closed and we're now in the phase of compiling the bookings and preparing them for print. Next batch will commence next Saturday as well as collection day for those who haven't claimed their photos yet.


Big thanks to Wali for assisting us in the Havoc photo sale at Incubator 3 yesterday.

Havoc Photo Sale, Day 1

Warning: Images may be too blue for your monitor. Adjust at your own risk.


The photos are finally up for sale! Yesterday was merely booking day for our juniors interested to purchase their photos we took on the previous Business School function a week ago. Big thanks to Kevin of Ex-Zone for lending us their incubator for our display station. Not bad for the first day, the response has been very good. We've received very positive feedback on the number of bookings we've garnered throughout the day.

Took me a while to draw that

All photos will be printed in standard 5R size and will be sold at $2.00 per piece. Bookings are still on-going, which will carry on for every Saturday of the week. The first batch is now in their printing process at a renowned printing studio and will be available for collection next Saturday 1st of November (the only day of the week which we are available due to our attachment on weekdays). Those who have missed yesterday's booking list may proceed on collection day.

Marriz holding a printed sample

Most of the juniors stormed our station in Incubator 3 yesterday to have a glance at their photos displayed on our laptops. Bookings were made by filling up special forms indicating their details and the image numbering. We were at first hesitant about crowd control but yesterday went pretty well than expected. See you all again next Saturday.




This is what happens if portrait-oriented images aren't adjusted on the monitor


Macam boss... hehehe


The one and only Cybercanon

Here's an interesting fact. Incubator 3 used to be a classroom for ND/BNF/07, which was Sai's group. Sai and his colleagues used to be in this incubator throughout their first year from mid 2005 until 2006 before their first industrial attachment. My PD/BNF/02 class with Cybercanon was just next door at that time when Business School was a lot smaller. So many fond memories when we were there yesterday.

Somebody needs a break...

CS3; Still Learning

These past couple of nights since the function last Sunday, the Havoc Bloggers have been up all night compiling all pictures to be post-processed. Generally, lots of editing needs to be done, but in this case, thanks to Marriz' contribution of the studio lighting, it really helps in achieving quality results with minimum editing required.

Editing is an essential part of photography, a necessity to ensure the best possible output. I mean, who doesn't want a better quality picture anyway? Of course, there are those who do not need editing on their pictures and still produce great photos right out of their cameras, but in reality, even the pros have to be in their digital darkroom to fix their images before print or distribution. Saturation, hue, color balance, levels, curves, sharpening, cropping, spot healing, cloning, etc are just basic examples of what adjustments need to be done in every single photo. It's a lot of work but satisfaction is the goal.

I've been an avid PhotoShop user for almost a decade now, but I still consider myself a beginner. There are many out there far more handal than me in their editing skills on the Adobe image editing software. Me, I'm still learning. As with photography, this is a whole new world for me and allowed me to even spend more time with CS3. All I need now is a faster computer.

Photo Enhancement

Att: Business School Students who have attended the Hari Raya function.

Original Raw Image


After post-processing


Would you like your photos to be enhanced? Look for us in school soon. Only images taken by the Havoc Bloggers applied. And yes, PP stands for post-processing, for those who have no idea what we've been talking about on the internet lately. So stop making urine jokes! (especially you, that's right, YOU. You know who you are, and you're reading this blog, and you're laughing out loud right now, so get over it)

P.S. Sorry Miet, pinjam u jadi sample ku dulu. Jangan marah, u lawa.

The Business School Celebrates Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Teachers Day

Pictures were taken from last Sunday evening's event held at the Hua Ho Manggis Mall ballroom. This was our first event coverage by the Havoc Photogs and served as a training ground for us. I'm limiting the photos here as we will be selling the group photos exclusively to the students of the Business School, which should be ready in a week time.

From the main entrance

Everyone was wearing strikingly colorful raya attire and eager to have their pictures taken. But I attempted to avoid taking group shots as my main focus was shooting action shots with my trusty 50mm all the way throughout the entire function. Cybercanon and Marriz worked entirely on taking shots of guests. Marriz even set up a mini lighting kit for that studio quality group photo moments specially for the Business School students.

Principal Habib and his wife

The night was really grand. I've witnessed several talented juniors performing their dances, dramas and songs. I'm very impressed with their potential. It's really nice to see each and every group came up with their own theme and successfully pulled off an amazing show for us. I hope to see more from them in the upcoming Farewell Dinner for our intake early next year.


The President of the Student Council Suserena delivers her speech




Suserena delivering a gift to The Principal of The Business School




The source of the slide presentation






Mr Metrosexual Guy enjoying his meal


Gifts for the lucky draw




Caught dancing behind the mixer

For those interested to recieve their pictures which we took on the night of the function, please do support the Havoc Photogs by purchasing the images from us as soon as we have finished compiling and post-processing them, which by then we will show up in school to announce the sale. Your support are highly appreciated.


The Havoc Photogs Cybercanon, Marriz and Hiero celebrating their successful first coverage together

Football Night With The Havoc Bloggers

Saturday night's spent watching Liverpool vs Manchester United with my fellow Havoc Bloggers Marriz and Cybercanon at Coffeezone Kiulap, along with colleagues Achong, Ain and Muiz. Liverpool won, and I'm happy. I'm not exactly a football fan, but I'm just happy.


These guys sure weren't happy, maklumlah Man U fans. Look at the demon in their faces! Bwahaha!