He is a guy with talent in arts. He told me that when he was younger, he had thought of being a singer or a artist who draws comics for a living. Then being the only son to two elderly parents (his parents had him at 40+ years old), he had to go for more practical work and in the end he studied IT instead of arts.
Last year, he got himself a DSLR and grew an intense interest in photography. He never had any formal training in photography, and all the skills and knowledge were acquired through reading, research and practise. Yet, within a period of few months since he got the DSLR, he was able to take rather good photographs. I had told him that this is a manifestation of his talent in arts.
Then at around September last year, he went to Melaka to attend the wedding banquet of his friend (who is one of my team members, the pretty girl subordinate). He took the chance to have a holiday there too and went around snapping lots of pictures. He would always shared his photographs on Facebook and i was quite impressed with the work.
At about the same time, there was a photo contest organised by an organisation affiliated to the UN. I got to know about this because i signed up as a volunteer for UNIFEM and got a periodic newsletter from the organisation. The photo contest was about women's rights and i remembered seeing a picture from his Melaka trip that could fit this theme perfectly.
So, i asked him to send in his picture as a support for this cause. Initially he said he didn't think that the picture was good enough, and wanted to go take some pictures over the weekends that could be more professional for entering a contest. Then he was very busy with work and didn't manage to go take more pictures. He told me about it and was reluctant to send in the picture i told him about, thinking that it wasn't really up to the standard and didn't really fit the theme either. I had a different opinion and kept on persuading him to just send it in as a form of support, whether he would win the contest or not. In the end, he did so and didn't think much about it afterwards.
Well, it's really no kidding when Forrest Gump's mom told him that "life is like a box of chocolate and you will never know what you will get". If he had indeed had the chance to go take more pictures and send in a different one, what happened next might not have happened.
His picture actually won the popular vote, among 330 entries from over 28 countries!
He got the chance to receive the award at the UN office and was also featured in news articles. It was really an honour.
I was very happy for and proud of him. He kept on thanking me, saying that it would not have happened if not for me. I told him that i have no part in taking the picture at all and so the honour was all his. I hope this is a great motivation for him to continue pursuing something of his interest and do not put his talent to waste.
Yes, i've always felt that it is a pity for people with talents to not make good use of the gifts that God has given them, a lot of time because of practicality in life. You see, i have always been very envious of people who have talents in arts, which is something i absolutely lack of. I can't draw and don't sing well. I have learnt guitar for a short time when i was in highschool but i never played it well and gave it up. I joined the photography society back in highschool but never really had the talent to produce any good pictures.
So i really hope that this marks the beginning of something for my little brother, and i am glad that i have at least helped to make a difference in someone's life.
Labels: friendship
