Canon PhotoMarathon Asia 2012 Celebrates 10th Anniversary

The Annual Photo Competition Kicks off in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu Simultaneously with more than 1,300 participating photographers

Kuala Lumpur, 20 October 2012 – Canon Marketing (Malaysia) today kicked off its sixth edition of the Canon PhotoMarathon Malaysia 2012 with more than 1,300 amateur and professional photographers alike participating in the most celebrated photography event of the year.

In conjunction with Canon PhotoMarathon Asia’s 10th Anniversary, this year’s flag-off took place simultaneously at two different locations, with one held at the Boulevard, Berjaya Times Square whilst the other crossing the South China Sea at Lintasan Deasoka, Jalan Gaya, Kota Kinabalu.

 (From L –R): Simon Wong, Director of ICP Division, Melvyn Ho, President & CEO of Canon Marketing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Ramdas Nayar, PR Executive, Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB) and Dato’ Yeoh Soo Keng, Executive Director, YTL Corporation Berhad.


Participants gathered as early as 8.00am at both venues to collect their door gifts and exclusive Canon Photomarathon Malaysia 2012 T-Shirts designed by students of the The One Academy.  Ms. Chong Lip Wei, Senior Marketing Manager of Imaging Communication Products Division (ICP) Canon Marketing Malaysia then gave an inspiring briefing to the participants and motivated the crowd to bring out their best creativity, tenacity and skills.

The crowd also saw a cheque presentation of RM32,500, by Melvyn Ho, President & CEO and Simon Wong, Director of ICP Division of Canon Marketing Malaysia to Ramdas Nayar, PR Executive, Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB) and witnessed by Dato’ Yeoh Soo Keng, Executive Director, YTL Corporation Berhad.

“We place great emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as we continue to uphold our corporate philosophy of kyosei, living and working together for the common good.  In line with this, we are glad to announce that we will be channelling all fees collected from the participants to the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) this year in supporting their efforts to empower people with visual impairment and by providing them with opportunities that will encourage integration into society,” said Melvyn Ho President and CEO of Canon Marketing (Malaysia).

“We are taking this year’s Canon PhotoMarathon to the next level by partnering with YES and REDtone to enable instant upload of photographs via the cloud. With the support from YES and REDtone we will be able to have live web streaming in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu throughout the day, showcasing highlights and capturing the exciting moments of the photo competition,” said Melvyn Ho.

The panel of judges includes Steve Koh who is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Image Rom, Joe Chan with 20 years of experience in commercial photography, Eddie Putera who is a professional photographer who learnt his skills in London and started his journey in professional photography in Malaysia 2006, Syed Agil Syed Jaafar who is the Manager of Editorial Department and Head of Photography Unit at Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad and Ng Kok Leong, Photo Editor of The Star Publications. All the esteemed judges are photographers themselves with years of professional experience in the photography industry.

Among the lists of firsts included the fresh line up of prizes provided by joint sponsors such as Kata, Manfrotto and the National Geographic Society. The grand prize winner will walk away with an all-expense paid trip to Hungary and be part of an 8-day photoclinic with Triston Yeo, take home the EOS 5DMark III (Body), the sleek Pixma Pro 1 printer, the top quality MT293A3 Manfrotto Tripod and 391RC2 Photo/Video Pan & Tilt Head.

The first prize winners will also get to fly to Hungary for the 8-day photoclinic with their new EF 85mm f1.2L II USM and the extremely handy National Geographic NG5159 Backpack. The second and third prize winners will receive the coveted EF16-35mm f2.8L II USM Canon lens, the KT-216 Kata Bag and the EF17-40mm f4L USM Canon lens, C-59 Kata Bag respectively.

The winners of the PhotoMarathon 2012 will be announced on the 22nd of Oct 2012, so do keep a look out for that. Check out the Canon Camera Malaysia’s Facebook page or follow Canon on twitter for updates and event highlights of the Canon PhotoMarathon Malaysia 2012.