The President’s Viewfinder

August 2022

Bern Wong

You may have heard August being called as the ghost month, as the Chinese celebrate the scariest festival called the Hungry Ghost, as it is believed that the spirits of our ancestors are freely roaming the whole month.

We’ve been told not to start a business or buy a new house nor make major purchases during this time. In order to appease the spirits, we were told to wear bright colors, offer food, light an incense or wear crystals and semi-precious stones in order to ward off any negativity.

As with any culture, we’ve heard the saying that – ‘to each his own’. The more important thing in my mind beyond this cultural practice is that we are modest in our ways, be honest in our dealings, practice integrity even when there is no one looking and be thankful whatever circumstance comes our way.

I have been reflecting about the innovative projects we have accomplished so far. I am thankful that we have been successful with last month’s Lingkod Larawan, wherein our images are immortalized at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. Big thank you to all who took part in this initiative. And this early, I encourage the others to take part in the phase 2 of this project.

Speaking of reflecting, for the month of August, our photo contest theme is Refractions or Reflections, the Town Hall meeting happens this Thursday, August 11, 2022.

We also have a number of exciting activities both for learning, courtesy of the Z Academy (with Tom Epperson as resource person) as well as the opportunity to shoot together, which is being planned by the Z Places team for our exciting photo walk – and soon – OTS (Out of Town Shoot) as a club! More details on these will be revealed in the coming days.

There is no stopping us now, as we are gearing up for more activities that shall nourish Zone V member’s quest to learn, while espousing camaraderie as we shoot together, and of course, the opportunity to give back to our community through our art.

Surely, the spirits are smiling down on us because of all this.

Yours truly,