JessiccaMalaysia Indepedence countdown: That one great moment in time
August 27th 2007 05:32
Article extracted from News Straits Times Malaysia
By : Jason Gerald John
MALACCA: He has seen it all in 63 years of photojournalism.
But the moment Wong Swee Lin will never forget is when he photographed Tunku Abdul Rahman announcing Malaya’s independence here on Feb 20, 1956.
It was a moment the 81-year-old former Information Department employee still cherishes.
"I followed Tunku from the airport and on reaching the Banda Hilir field, I saw thousands people gathered there.
"I assumed that they had come in droves to hear Tunku.
"Little did I know that the event would change the country’s history," said Wong after visiting an exhibition on the proclamation of independence at the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall here.
Wong’s photographs of the Tunku that day have been extensively used over the years in official publications, stamps and coins.
Recalling the time when he was shot at by communists, he said he was travelling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur when the train was attacked.
"We were passing Layang-Layang, and all of a sudden the communists emerged from the jungle and started firing at us. We dropped to the floor to escape being hit by bullets.
"Thank God I was not hit. But the event is still fresh in my mind."
Wong was issued a revolver by the British for protection while doing his job as a photojournalist.
Wong, who still keeps himself busy with a camera, is writing a book on his journey as a photojournalist.
His advice to photographers and photojournalists is to think on their feet.
"You have to capture every moment as it unfolds."
By : Jason Gerald John
MALACCA: He has seen it all in 63 years of photojournalism.
But the moment Wong Swee Lin will never forget is when he photographed Tunku Abdul Rahman announcing Malaya’s independence here on Feb 20, 1956.
It was a moment the 81-year-old former Information Department employee still cherishes.
Photojournalist Wong Swee Lin, 81, has vivid memories of that fateful day on Feb 20, 1956.
"I followed Tunku from the airport and on reaching the Banda Hilir field, I saw thousands people gathered there.
"I assumed that they had come in droves to hear Tunku.
"Little did I know that the event would change the country’s history," said Wong after visiting an exhibition on the proclamation of independence at the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall here.
Wong’s photographs of the Tunku that day have been extensively used over the years in official publications, stamps and coins.
Recalling the time when he was shot at by communists, he said he was travelling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur when the train was attacked.
"We were passing Layang-Layang, and all of a sudden the communists emerged from the jungle and started firing at us. We dropped to the floor to escape being hit by bullets.
"Thank God I was not hit. But the event is still fresh in my mind."
Wong was issued a revolver by the British for protection while doing his job as a photojournalist.
Wong, who still keeps himself busy with a camera, is writing a book on his journey as a photojournalist.
His advice to photographers and photojournalists is to think on their feet.
"You have to capture every moment as it unfolds."
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