Sonya Wong and Alvin Chiam
Theatre Practitioners
The second time Alvin Chiam came to my shooting party, he brought along Sonya Wong. She knows a lot of my theatre friends, but I do not remember our paths crossing all these years. There was an old publicity photograph, however, which I took for Drama Box in which Sonya appears. It was meant to be for a kung fu play helmed by Chong Tze Chien. For legal reasons, the play was never staged, but we still have some interesting photos of kung fu–costumed characters shot on Jurong Island. And I also took bridal photos for the couple, as well as their wedding.
Sonya: I recall that year when we were very excited to be working towards a period play, with pretty costumes and swordplay. That was my first and only time looking ancient, out at somewhere ulu along with the others, with Ngiap Heng framing the landscape. Though the period play couldn’t take off, the splendid publicity pictures he took are a good record of the work all of us did. Our paths didn’t cross after that until many years later, when Alvin brought me to Ngiap Heng’s studio. We both share the same views about Ngiap Heng’s intriguing photographic art: we see it as a static moment in motion.
Usually, I tend to be a little stiff in front of the camera—I shy mah. Yet, Ngiap Heng just managed to capture the essence of the candid interaction between Alvin and me. If I may name the picture, I’d gladly call it “Crystal Ball at Play.”