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[jsadiq]

On a cloudy, humid and blistering day, a few hundred Malaysian lawyers walked 2.6km from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya.

To safeguard judicial independence, demand the senior vacancies to be filled, ask for a probe on possible interference in appointments, etc.

This was Monday, July 14, 2025.

The government left it to the rulers to confirm the names for the posts and announced it just before midnight of July 18, 2025.

About four days.

Of course, it took me as long to get this expired roll of Kodak Tri-X ISO 400 to be processed, scanned and sent back to me.

Actually 24 hours to sort it but two days to finally send to the lab for processing due to other commitments.

This film roll was shot on an Olympus OM4 with either 50mm f1.8 or 135mm f3.5 lenses.

If only life and Malaysian administration was as resilient as expired film and analogue cameras, eh.

Of course, much more can be said on judicial issues but history is still being written, chapter and verse.

So maybe one day soon.

[jsadiq]

Former 🇲🇾 PM @chedetofficial turned 100 on July 10, feted by family & friends at a doa selamat in a KL mosque.

In the Islamic calendar, dusk on Thursday is considered Friday night and auspicious.

He became the longest-serving Malaysian prime minister and elected to lead another government 15 years later — a testament to his political acumen and standing.

Tun Dr Mahathir first became PM at 56 in 1981 and retired aged 78 in 2003 after four successive electoral wins.

He was reelected PM, aged 93, in 2018 by bringing down his former Barisan Nasional coalition. But he resigned in 2020 when he lost his parliamentary majority in a political putsch.

In the last polls in 2022, Dr Mahathir and his party candidates all lost their election deposits.

But age and defeat has not blunted his dry wit, sarcasm and opinion about anything in the country and the world.

And he remains popular among a certain demographic in the equatorial country of 35 million Malaysians.

His wife, Tun Dr Hasmah Ali, turns 99 on July 12.

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Atta loved cars.

In fact, Mr K. A. Abdul Kader probably had more cars in his lifetime than travels out of Malaysia.

In his 70 years in Malaya - landing first in Singapore at age 16 but with a modified birthdate to make him 17 - Atta only ever returned a few times to India, regularly visiting Singapore to meet family and only once to the UK to see his youngest grandson.

But cars he had plenty - with only Mazdas the Japanese option - while the rest were European and US makes such as MGs and Fords.

And he loved people, sharing moments and food he personally cooked for them, from family to friends and annually, the poor to commemorate his parents death anniversaries.

And later my mum's demise too.

Father's Day took an added significance once Mummy passed away in June 2013. We celebrated Atta more and with his eldest grandson's parenthood, that too.

And of course all the goats and kid at the farm to fill his time these past 12 years. The joy of fresh air and open space, to have goats and chickens running free, but always on the lookout for the man in the flat cap and sarong smiling away as he fed them.

This was Atta's life and one that I have seen him enjoy all my life - never the conventional man who worked 9 to 5, but one who always kept busy with chores and friends and family and of course, his films and wrestling shows.

Atta passed away a few weeks ago and the world is slightly dimmer, colder and lonelier without him and Mummy in our lives.

But we'll celebrate his life and love. After all, he and Mummy made the world a better place for us.

And for that we're grateful that Allah smiled on us and gave us our Atta and Mummy.

Happy Fathers Day, Atta. Love you always.

[jsadiq]

An anti-corruption rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur a week ago in January got me to start a one roll of film a month project.

The rallygoers was under 200 and took 90 minutes, pretty quick from the time when it took hours to end in clouds of teargas and torrents of water from water cannons.

That's a story for another day.

The one here is about a film stock that I had backed a few years ago - Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow 400 black and white film - shot with the Olympus OM1n and three prime lenses - the Zuiko 24mm, 50mm and 200mm.

Unfortunately, I don't have any Zuiko telezooms. Perhaps I'll scour the used market for it.

The few rolls of the Agent Shadow 400 I had was first kept at Malaysian humid room temperature and later in a fridge.

It didn't seem to suffer from any defect although shot in bright daylight in a camera that had to use an external light meter.

And one that is manual focus and not auto focus as is the case these days.

More than happy with the results from the scans by Saujana Film Lab despite shooting the film and digital at the same time during the rally.

Of course, the digital camera saw more action and shots but the film camera forces you to slow down and think as you don't want to waste a frame or a moment.

There were more shots than these 10, 28 to be exact, but they were either repetitive or out of focus (only one, I have to add).

On to the next roll and project for February 2025.

[jsadiq]

Ponggal celebrations in Kuala Lumpur this morning, January 14, 2025.

The southern Indian harvest festival is celebrated with milk boiling in a clay pot over an open fire, under a tripod of sugar canes.

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Rain clouds in first week of 2025 over Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It's the Malaysian capital city in a valley ringed by millennium old rainforests and with skyscrapers touching the skies.

And my hometown.

[jsadiq]

Julian Mokhtar is a legendary Malaysian guitarist and luthier.

He plays rock, blues, pop and such.

[jsadiq]

Lord Lokman is a Malaysian rock legend.

The 66-year-old multi-hypenate rocker has discovered singers such as Ella and Shima in nearly five decades in the Malaysian music industry.

Born Ahmad Lokman Ismail, he has the moniker Lord from all the years in the industry that he even has a tophat for most of his shows.

[jsadiq]

Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka 118 - the world's 2nd tallest tower at 678.9m - was officially inaugurated by the Malaysian King on January 10, 2024.

It will have among others - a hotel, skydecks, glass-floored observation, textile museum and a seven-storey retail mall amid the historic Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara near one of the city's oldest streets - Jalan Sultan.

[jsadiq]

It's Jan 1, 2024 and the Merdeka 118 will be the focal point for Kuala Lumpur.

But within a kilometre is one of the oldest roads in the capital city with a host of old and new businesses.

And a thieves market.

Making it one of the more exciting zones in the city.

[jsadiq]

Blue moon!

Now I'm no longer alone

Without a dream in my heart

Without a love of my own

— Richard Rodgers / Ange Lorenzo, Blue Moon

Blue moon, Kuala Lumpur.

While the song written in 1934 is popular, a blue moon refers to two full moons in a calendar month.

The first full moon was on Aug 1 and today is the other full moon.

It is also the last super blue moon until the next one in 2037.

[jsadiq]

A model gestures in prayer ahead of the Hibla Mindanao fashion show in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

The fashion show highlighted collections from five designers with an array of international models taking to the catwalk to showcase their designs and creations.

A great insight to the culture, couture and colours of the island in southern Philippines and the north eastern part of the Malay Archipelago.

Shot with the Olympus OM1 x 75mm f1.8.

[jsadiq]

Trumpeter Isaac Marvin made his debut at the Simply Jazz club in Publika, Kuala Lumpur.

His nerves disappeared as he played with Malaysian jazz luminary and his teacher Michael Veerapen plus two others at the intimate jazz club in northern KL.

And totally made the crowd look up and enjoy the night and their dinner.

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They're both songstressss in their own right and have made their mark on Malaysia's entertainment scene.

Meet Salamiah Hassan and her daughter, Atilia Haron.

And they finally performed together to sing their own songs over two sets at Jao Tim KL's tablelamp concert series on May 20.

Salamiah's voice is as vibrant as ever as she hit both the low and high notes to the delight of the crowd.

Of course, Atilia too showed her chops as she went through a list including some from her upcoming 4th album.

Both are like wine, getting better as time goes by.

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Handphones flicker like Zippos in the wind, capturing and making moments of the past in the present for the future.

The Pesta Ronggeng Vol 2.0 — songs and joget in the key and times of Saloma and P. Ramlee — brought back to life by the irrepressible Aruel Ariel and The FaSoLa with a few guests at Jao Tim last week.

Truly a blast from the past and a regret of it now just for the entertainment in private places and select events beyond the reach of most people.

[jsadiq]

Happy 2023!

[jsadiq]

The first Kuala Lumpur RiverJazz Festival was held this weekend, a week after Malaysia went to the ballot box.

Not that one had anything to do with the other but it entertained many who visited the city and residents who didn't go out to celebrate a long weekend.

The free two-day jazz festival had a fair number of local and Indonesian acts showcasing original numbers and jazz standards.

Hopefully it will be an annual affair with a bigger stage and lineup for jazz aficionados and musicians.

All images shot on Leica SL2-S with 16-35mm & 90-280mm SL lenses.