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Musings

Raising Children of Character


You have heard of the phrase, it takes a village to raise a child. We were raised by our parents the best way they knew how to. Most likely with a rotan in one hand and with their favourite word, “No”. However, in this day and age, I feel that parenting challenges are even greater in this generation. My husband recently wrote and shared this message with some of our family members regarding the upbringing of our kids. In our culture of over-indulging our children, it’s so easy for their generation to grow up inappropriately without us realising it. Some of our friends saw what we wrote and asked if they could share this content with their family members too. Please feel free to do so.

Dearest Grandma, Yeh Yeh, Uncle & Aunts of our kids,
Grace and I would like to really take time to appreciate you for playing such a crucial role in bringing up our children. With your presence, their lives (and ours!) are greatly enriched.

With the changing landscape of culture and life, bringing up kids today as compared to yesteryear differs greatly in so many, many ways. We as parents are constantly grappling with how we should remain relevant with the times and balance what to accept from today versus what should be maintained based on the fantastic values that you sowed into our lives.

Here are some thoughts we’ve put together about a few topics, that we’d love to hear your feedback about. Continue Reading

Managing Expectations About Photography on Your Wedding Day

The celebration of marriage is but one little chapter in the tapestry of life. Each story is different but every bit as meaningful as the story of the stranger next to you. It is what makes our lives so interesting to others! When it comes to the chapter leading up to the happily-ever-after part, it is only natural to desire that the heart and essence of every second of the wedding be frozen in time.

This is where the bride and groom come to expect great things from their wedding photographers. But the biggest cause of disappointments when it comes to expectations results from a lack of communication. We’re here to set the record straight and ensure the expectations are reasonable.


1. Getting Ready Photos

We suggest giving us at least an hour to photograph the bride and groom as they separately get ready for the wedding. We like to add some detailed shots of the dress, shoes, cufflinks, rings and invitations. It’s also a good time to capture individual shots once the bride or groom is all ready, plus some photos with close family members and the bridal party.

Continue Reading

Unicorn Galaxy Wedding Dessert Themed Styled Shoot

The studio was abuzz with excitement over a styled shoot we were doing in collaboration with The Wedding Scoop, Shaun Teo Creations and Marble & Co. It was exciting because this was a Unicorn Galaxy – Themed Wedding Dessert Table styled shoot!

When the unicorn cake was brought out, everyone let out “oohs” and “ahhs” in unison. It was so pretty! And the cupcakes, cake pops, chocolates and pudding cups were equally as mesmerizing. The folks from Marble & Co went to work with laying out the lavish dessert table with all the goodies while we snapped away and videoed the whole process.

Nobody could bring themselves to cut into the unicorn cake but the honour went to the man who made the masterpiece, Shaun. We can testify that the cake tasted as good as it looked! It was such a fun session which was brought together by The Wedding Scoop, and we think a dessert table like this at your wedding would look stunning!

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Photographing Children With Autism

We rarely photograph families with children with special needs like autism, and we wondered if it was because parents were simply too intimidated by the whole process. We decided to work with the nice folks from Early Autism Project Malaysia to equip ourselves as well as make a video to provide some tips on how to manage a family photo shoot session with a child with autism.

We started off with an interview with Jochebed Isaacs from EAP Malaysia who gave us some insights into the specialised therapy offered at their centre for children with autism. We were later introduced to Juan and Nancy, who welcomed us into their home for a photo shoot session with their sons Danny and Tommy.  The experience proved to be quite tough but we soldiered on and even received hugs from Danny at the end!

Here are some of the pointers we picked up through this experience:

1. It is important to communicate with the child
Prepare in advance before the session. Communicate clearly what is to happen and what is expected of him. The use of visuals like schedules, social stories and role-plays help to familiarise the child to the event and venue, the people involved (especially if they are unfamiliar to the child), the flow of events and the special equipment used (like the camera!). It should also spell out the rules and expectations.
Continue Reading

Comma Pre-Marital Series 03: Communication & Conflict

Our tongue has the power to build or tear down. With our words, we can either encourage someone or make them feel like the lowest person on earth. How do you handle conflict? Do you recognize these harmful ways of communicating in yourself?
After being married for 11 years, I realized that staying connected with each other is one of the biggest issues I face. When conflict arises, it’s easy to just ignore the problems and then carry on with life. We go to work, we come back, deal with kids, and the relationship becomes functional. Dealing with issues is hard but it is necessary. We need to work hard at maintaining each other’s emotional tanks. So learning to communicate and deal with issues is a huge part of it. I hope this video helps you! Do also subscribe to our newly launched YouTube channel so that we can have more than just my family and friends watching this. :)

Credits:

Script & Content Development: Grace
Filmed & Edited by: Chi Yin