This New Year was going to be different for me. I had drawn the short straw and instead of partying the night away and singing, or rather drunkenly shouting Auld Lang Syne after midnight with a chorus of friends, I would be working the overnight shift on the Global Pictures Desk.
Any initial disappointment was dispelled by the prospect of seeing how different countries celebrate the arrival of a New Year. I began to look forward to what I imagined would be a fairly relaxed shift because New Year is a quiet time isn’t it? Except that in the closing days of the year riots erupted in Pakistan following the killing of Benazir Bhutto and in Kenya following a disputed election result and a stream of images poured into the Singapore desk.
On the way into the office my taxi started to take an unusual route and when I queried the driver it transpired he had misheard me and was taking me to Chimes, a local hostelry. When I explained that I was going to work he found this hilarious and kept repeating, ”I thought you wanted to go drinking”.
11 pm local time: The first set of New Year’s Eve pictures arrive. It’s Tokyo’s turn to celebrate and as well as the usual fireworks they have a rather serious but traditional Buddhist custom of ringing a bell to symbolize a desire to leave behind earthly desires as Issei Kato’s picture shows.
12 am local time: China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan all share the same time zone and all celebrated with fireworks but my favourite picture is from Bobby Yip in Hong Kong.
1am local time: As midnight struck in Jakarta Supri is there covering the fireworks at the National Monument.
2am local time: Mohamed Nureldin’s picture reminds me that news doesn’t stop for New Year’s Eve showing African Union troops in Darfur changing their berets for the blue berets of the United Nations - African Union Mission.
3am local time: With another 10 hours of 2007 still to run Chip East shows early preparations in Times Square for New York’s celebrations.
4am local time: Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the First Vespers and Te Deum prayers in Saint Peter’s basilica at the Vatican. Dario Pignatelli.
5am local time: I’m sure Steve Mason’s celebrations will be subdued as he reflects on the goal he let in against Denmark at the 2008 IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic. Sean Best.
6am local time: Andy Clark uses the last moments of the old year to deliver Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in a barber’s chair, perhaps getting spruced-up for his own 2008 celebrations in Iowa?
It was a busy night but during the shift only three time zones celebrated the New Year and it wasn’t quite the feast of multi-cultural celebration I’d expected. However things in Pakistan and Kenya were relatively quiet and there was time for my colleagues Amirah, Farah, Matthew, Weiyang and I to enjoy the celebratory goodies we’d brought to work.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2008.
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2 comments so far
As a result of the chaos, most Kenyans chose to spend the night at home quietly.
I was no exception. I slept rather peacefully considering there were riots and running battles with the Police in most parts of the country.
Instead of fireworks, gunfire filled the air in most disturbed areas that is Mathare slums in Nairobi,and Kisumu-Kenya’s third largest city.
Upon waking up to a new year, we were subjected to watching the celebrations from other parts of the world in our news bulletins. I must say, it was rather frustrating. But seeing the display of fireworks beautifully fill the sky like a painting on a canvas was encouraging and heart warming. So thank you for being there to capture those pictures.
Cheers guys!
- Posted by Diana NgilaDue to the fireworks here in Belgium, a horse got out and caused an accident on a highway. (fatal)
The possible outcome for 2008-2009 could be that all animals should be indoor on NYE or that fireworks are banned entirely.
Seeing a beautiful shot as above of the fireworks would make me vote for the first regulation however seeing that NYE celebrations in cities like Antwerp and Brussels usually end in lots of fights as well (alcohol, crowded, etc) I’d go for the ban on the use of fireworks.
I like the idea actually of listing the NYE pictures from different countries / timezones. Top work on the photographs too.
- Posted by Tom