Screenshots

Malaysians have a national passtime -- window shopping in malls and boutiques during weekend.

Cash registers at the retail outlets may sing, while national bonding among our multi-races takes a beating as it finds little space to flourish. There's simply not much capacity building for a Malaysian identity that's generated from the bottom-up, save for the regular manufactured, canned top-down feel-good make-believes.

I've often asked: Why don't we grab the digital cameras to shoot the beauty of Malaysia and its diverse rich cultures and start sharing our commonalities instead of harping on our heredictary differences and acquired boundaries and blockades?

Candid shot courtesy LensaMalaysia member MyBest: Penang

Festive seasons, when people unwind a little from the daily rut-race to relax and reflect, are a good opportunity to capture these moments of joy cameraderie oozing uncontrollably from among our neighbours and neighbourhoods.

LensaMalaysia was formed on September 28, 2005 when twelve of us, notably Malay and Chinese photography enthusiasts, put together our heads and efforts to help Malaysia make a difference. No big mantras, but this is all what we believe in: Let's look behind the lenses, let's capture those decisive moments when Malaysians interact, and let the photos do the talking.

Photography guru CY Leow, a Penangite who has since retired in the Southern Hemisphere, reprised his 2005 effort and brought us his 2006 collection of Lunar New Year pictures captured when New Zealanders thronged the streets to celebrate on Feb 11. His 24-picture collection is available here.

MyBest, another LensaMalaysia member from Penang, saw CY's picture, posted a fond remark, and reciprocated with his own 31-pix collection of the national-level Lunar New Year celebrations and Open House held at the Heritage Enclave in Penang on February 4 .

Courtesy MyBest, Penang

Click here to view his 30 other pictures. "CY is from Penang and I'm sure he misses good old Penang," says MyBest.

Before this, when LensaMalaysia member KL-based Penangite JYTioh started a thread on the same topicone week before the dawn of the Year of Bing Xu, his efforts was echoed by fellow enthusiasts like Fireblade, Leonard Yang, imwhoim, Paul Choo, Ahmad Faizal, Mohamd Fadzli, Jimmy Choo, Ailin Chia, Alan Ang, MKLai7, Kelvin 'lanatir' Tan, wokaholic, moriazi, danroxx11, and probably more.

LensaMalaysia Moderator, Ahmad Faizal, has this stunning shot on the first day of Chinese New Year.

Courtesy Ahmad Faizal: Kuala Lumpur

Last year, we did the same when it was time for Bulan Ramadan and Deepavali.

Read on for six more pictures I randomly selected to tell this Malaysian story. Go out there and shoot, and let the photos do the talking for Malaysia!