Victor Chin

Dominic is ten and he is in standard four in a Chinese school in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. His mother, Lim Siew Chong, is blind due to a car accident when she was twenty-one, in Ipoh. A few years back, both of them moved to live in Brickfields where she could train as a masseur at the Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB) and then later work as a blind masseur in that area. There is a small community of both the blind and the deaf in this part of the city.

Dominic and his mother are both members of the harmonica music group from the MAB. This group of seven part-time musicians was invited to perform at the Sunday lunch party organized by Victor Chin and his friends at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center (KLPac) on the 24 February.

On that day, after lunch, Dominic together with about 20 people, young and old, some with disabilities, were invited by Nala Nantha, from the KLPac, to join her in an hour of theatre-based activities and games. The following day Nala contacted Victor and told him that she was impressed by Dominic’s natural ability and focus during the session and said that she would like to offer a semester of free classes to Dominic.

When Victor contacted Dominic’s mother and told her about Nala’s offer, she was not vary sure at first, but she agreed to come with Dominic to meet Nala the next Sunday at the KLPac. After the meeting and also getting a sense of the place and the activities at the KLPac  Siew Chong was a bit more assured. But she finally consented when Victor Chin and Nala assured her that Dominic will be safe and will be provided with transportation and food as well on the Sundays when he has classes.

After his first class Dominic said to Nala that he really enjoyed the session and also he was pleased to meet with many new friends outside his normal group of pals.

Victor Chin’s Sunday lunch party on the 24 of February at the KLPac is now in video. The video footages were shot by several people on that day including Lucian, Numpueng and Victor. However this short presentation was edited by Victor and this is his first video in youtube.

This recording brings together some of the faces, the families and friends, the food and drinks, the music, the conversations and fun meetings and also some of Victor Chin’s photographs on exhibition at the KLPac. Enjoy.

Brendon and his elder brother Jordan at exhibition and having tea

In the Face of Disability was an up lifting photo exhibition for Jordan and Brendon and they were happy to have gone to see the collection. That experience had stimulated them to seeing the disabled people they come across with new understanding – with care and empathy.

This was the second time Victor Chin showed his photographs at Kimi Gallery Café, in Tamam Tun Dr Ismail. It was displayed there from 17 November to 31 December 2007. Victor’s first collection of photos of the disabled was shown here in 2005. The two occasions were hosted by Kimi Gallery Café and supported by Applied Imaging.

Great care has gone into the planning and execution of these images. Pictorial composition and appropriate lighting help to evoke the drama and atmosphere of each captured moment. The black-and-white digital techniques of dodging and burning are later employed to filter out any distracting background/peripheral elements so that the portraits are allowed to ‘speak’ for themselves.

Victor’s exhibition was reported by the local newspaper, to read the write up, click  The Star.