Myanmar : The Golden Land

weibkreuz@gmail.com (.teifotografie) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:56:32 GMT

Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is the largest country on Mainland SouthEast Asia. It shares borders with PRC, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand. Home to about 135 ethnic groups, with the majority being Bamar, Myanmar is one of the most ethnically diverse country in the world. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion in this country, with Christianity mainly adopted by the minorities.

Historically, Myanmar(Burma) had had many glorious ancient kingdoms, namely (in chronological order) Mon Kingdoms, Bagan dynasty, Ava, Pegu, Mrauk U, Toungoo dynasty and the last kingdom being that of Konbaung Dynasty. The last king of Konbaung - Thibaw, saw his kingdom fall to the British and he and the royal families were exiled to British India, starting the complete British occupation of Burma in 1886.

After WWII, the country gained its independence from the British with the negotiation of a few key leaders like Bogyoke Aung San, the revered national hero in Myanmar today. Unfortunately, he was assassinated and the country quickly went disorganized from then on. Military rule dominated much of Modern Burma's history, first in 1962-1989 under General Ne Win who initiated the 'Burmese way of Socialism' combining ideologies of Buddhism, socialism, as well as other unorthodox ideas. The country that was 25 years ahead of Thailand then quickly went backward under this disastrous program. Burma became an isolated country. After the 2nd take over of the Military rule in 1989(till today), the country changed its name to Union of Myanmar and continued the highly repressive and authoritarian regime.

The recent Saffron Revolution in 2007 was triggered by the removal of fuel subsidies and quickly shifted international attention to this country again. Added to that, the Cyclone Nargis that hit in early 2008 devastated much of the lower delta in Myanmar.

Still, even though poor and oppressed, the Burmese people have not lost their smile. They still live within their means, contented believing that one day they will see through the end of the tunnel. Being a strong Buddhist country means that the people are docile, peaceful, and unaggressive thus rendering most of them incapable of hostile strikes and coup against the government . Banning foreign trade and investment as well as discouraging tourism to Myanmar in hope of boycotting the military junta is a problem. Millions of Burmese are directly affected by the lack of investment, trade, as well as dwindling tourism in the country. At the end of the day, only the junta would win, not the people.Therefore I would strongly urge you to visit this beautiful country and see it with your own eyes, and to help support the locals there whenever possible.

Howerd & Novi Pre-wedding

weibkreuz@gmail.com (.teifotografie) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:03:29 GMT

I have known Howerd since I was in primary school. He is a good friend of my brother and often came to my house to play games together. I am happy that he has found his match and is getting married soon. It was a pleasure for me to be able to photograph their intimate moment which will hopefully bring memories when they look back at the pictures years down the road. Although the weather was not the best during our session, but the couple and the crew had a lot of fun together. I sincerely wish them a happy and prosperous marriage!

Photographer: Andri Tei
Assisstant/Lighting : Leon Wei ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/kawattayakusoku/ )
Make Up Artist : Hannah Oh ( http://hannahohmakeup.blogspot.com/ )

Anton & Cynthia Pre-wedding

weibkreuz@gmail.com (.teifotografie) — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:44:03 GMT

Singapore Architecture

weibkreuz@gmail.com (.teifotografie) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:46:14 GMT

Colby the Yorkshire Terrier

weibkreuz@gmail.com (.teifotografie) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:53:38 GMT

Ivan and Tirene's one year old anniversary for Colby. My first ever dog photography and done in collaboration with Jing Quan ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousymousy/ )

.teifotografie: Featured Galleries and Collections

Myanmar : The Golden Land

Howerd & Novi Pre-wedding

Anton & Cynthia Pre-wedding

Singapore Architecture

Colby the Yorkshire Terrier