The body of an old beggar and madman who never bath for seven months full of dirt. 
Ah Hock smile happily when smoking, his hobby.
Ah Hock is doing his routine, sitting on the stairs and enjoys the smoking.
Ah Hock, a loner who lives in front of the empty shops.
Profile
Name: Ah Hock
Age: 48 years old
Race: Chinese
Sex: Male
Hobby: Smoking
“I love the place where I sleep be open to the public and blue sky as my little quilt; I like to be treated as a madman or beggar; I appreciate that I don’t need to work hard in order to get foods and drinks, where else, I always get what I want.” These are absolutely not what they are thinking, the beggars. They are not only the pity group, but also the nuisance to the public. People usually hate this group of people because they strongly think that they are dirty and low class, they are not allowed to be closed to the public. People look down on this group of people. They are so called the ‘rubbish’ to the society.
An old man called Ah Hock, 48 years old, with a medium-long hair, be only skin and bone, dark skin, long beard and half naked body who lives outside the empty shops has attracted me for some time before I interview him. Every time I passed by the place, he will sit on the stairs in front of those empty shops and start enjoying his smoking. An old beggar who like smoking. This is how I labeled him. He always do what he likes and live as free as he want. Maybe this is what some people want for their freedom. But, not for me. A life without family and friends is what the loner lead.
Based on the information from the residence, one thing about the beggar which shocked me is he never bathing for seven months since he moved from other places to the uptown. That is really horrible and disgusting. As you can see in the photos, his body is full of dirt and some flies have become his good friend.
I have bought a pack of cigarettes before I go to interview him. Before I start to shoot him, I gave him some mandarin orange and greet him happy Chinese New Year. I asked him for shooting by giving him the cigarettes. That is the scariest moment I ever faced in my life. I never talk to a beggar or madman and stand to them as near as I stand to that old man that day. What I need to do is just calm down myself and composedly finish the shooting. From my observation, I noticed that there are a lot of rubbish around the places and I believe that those rubbish are threw by him. When I was shooting him, I tried my best not to stand too close to him in case anything bad happened.
As shown in the photos, Ah Hock likes smoking very much. He holds the cigarettes like posing for the shooting. I was thinking that maybe he knows how to posing for my shooting. It’s quite pity to see that Ah Hock is wearing a broken pants and just a shoe on his left leg. Can you imagine he walks without a shoe on his right leg? There may be some accident when he across the road.
I am wondering what he is actually thinks of. Sometimes he looks cool, sometimes he looks sad. Sometimes he looks like smiling and happy. But what is the reason for that? Or he just simple expressed something on his face. Does he have any feeling? Does he is aware of what I am doing? A small cigarette can really make him happy and smile. Maybe that is the answer for his unusual smiling on face. Does a madman like Ah Hock will remember his past or his family? When I look at his face, I will start wondering that Ah Hock is thinking about his past and his family. He has 2 children in the past but they had gone long time ago. He must be missing his children. Pity Ah Hock now live alone without a home. Every time he was hungry, he will go to the ‘mamak stall’ to get some free food and drinks. Luckily, he still lives until now with those ‘sponsor’.
Every time I look at Ah Hock’s face, I will feel some sad feeling through his face. He releases his sadness through smokes to the air and that is why smoking makes him happy and comfortable. There must be a lot of unhappy experience that happened in the past of his life that make him today. In his life, he will not know what are going to take place the next day, the only way to survive is foods and cigarettes. No matter he will recover or not in the future, he is still who he is and he is leading his own way of life in the little corner of the world. “I’m the king of the world.” Maybe this is what Ah Hock is thinking.
An old man called Ah Hock, 48 years old, with a medium-long hair, be only skin and bone, dark skin, long beard and half naked body who lives outside the empty shops has attracted me for some time before I interview him. Every time I passed by the place, he will sit on the stairs in front of those empty shops and start enjoying his smoking. An old beggar who like smoking. This is how I labeled him. He always do what he likes and live as free as he want. Maybe this is what some people want for their freedom. But, not for me. A life without family and friends is what the loner lead.
Based on the information from the residence, one thing about the beggar which shocked me is he never bathing for seven months since he moved from other places to the uptown. That is really horrible and disgusting. As you can see in the photos, his body is full of dirt and some flies have become his good friend.
I have bought a pack of cigarettes before I go to interview him. Before I start to shoot him, I gave him some mandarin orange and greet him happy Chinese New Year. I asked him for shooting by giving him the cigarettes. That is the scariest moment I ever faced in my life. I never talk to a beggar or madman and stand to them as near as I stand to that old man that day. What I need to do is just calm down myself and composedly finish the shooting. From my observation, I noticed that there are a lot of rubbish around the places and I believe that those rubbish are threw by him. When I was shooting him, I tried my best not to stand too close to him in case anything bad happened.
As shown in the photos, Ah Hock likes smoking very much. He holds the cigarettes like posing for the shooting. I was thinking that maybe he knows how to posing for my shooting. It’s quite pity to see that Ah Hock is wearing a broken pants and just a shoe on his left leg. Can you imagine he walks without a shoe on his right leg? There may be some accident when he across the road.
I am wondering what he is actually thinks of. Sometimes he looks cool, sometimes he looks sad. Sometimes he looks like smiling and happy. But what is the reason for that? Or he just simple expressed something on his face. Does he have any feeling? Does he is aware of what I am doing? A small cigarette can really make him happy and smile. Maybe that is the answer for his unusual smiling on face. Does a madman like Ah Hock will remember his past or his family? When I look at his face, I will start wondering that Ah Hock is thinking about his past and his family. He has 2 children in the past but they had gone long time ago. He must be missing his children. Pity Ah Hock now live alone without a home. Every time he was hungry, he will go to the ‘mamak stall’ to get some free food and drinks. Luckily, he still lives until now with those ‘sponsor’.
Every time I look at Ah Hock’s face, I will feel some sad feeling through his face. He releases his sadness through smokes to the air and that is why smoking makes him happy and comfortable. There must be a lot of unhappy experience that happened in the past of his life that make him today. In his life, he will not know what are going to take place the next day, the only way to survive is foods and cigarettes. No matter he will recover or not in the future, he is still who he is and he is leading his own way of life in the little corner of the world. “I’m the king of the world.” Maybe this is what Ah Hock is thinking.
by: Vivian Ng Hui Wen
DMC073/2-4
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