In a submission to host Xiao Ma’s segment “The Moments Bosses Don’t Dare to Post”, the photographer shared that he has been working full-time in the industry for nine years. In the past, he had more work than he could handle — at his busiest, he was fully booked for a whole month without a single day off. Now, he has to wait three weeks just to land one job.

He explained that this change isn’t due to a poor economy, but because the market has shifted. Since the visa-free arrangement between Malaysia and China began, Chinese photography teams have come to Malaysia for work. These teams operate quickly, offer very low prices, and provide comprehensive packages that include two outfits, makeup and hair, photo editing, studio rental, and sometimes even a short video — all for just RM299.

"RM299? That doesn’t even cover my basic costs," he said. "But I know they make their money later when clients choose the photos — RM300 per selected photo, and in the end, customers often spend thousands."

He added that Chinese photographers aren't just taking jobs, they’re also hiring freelance makeup artists at high rates and renting more studios than local photographers.

"We just can’t compete with that kind of scale. It’s not that I’m not improving — I’ve upgraded my equipment, I edit videos, and I’ve experimented with different shooting styles. But we local photographers have to rent studios, hire people, go through processes, handle transportation, and deal with a bunch of taxes... How am I supposed to compete with RM299?"

He candidly expressed how disheartening it is to see fellow photographers leaving the industry one by one, and he’s unsure how much longer local photographers can hold on. What frustrates him most is that the government hasn’t said a word.

"Foreign teams are coming in and taking over the market. We're not saying there shouldn’t be competition, but at least create a level playing field. You want us to go digital, to transform creatively — we’ve tried all that. But in the end, it’s our own people holding on, and our own people going under. The other day, President Xi Jinping came and caused a major traffic jam — one of my scheduled shoots got canceled because of it."

He hopes that Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar will not wait until all the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are wiped out before saying, “We will support SMEs,” because by then, it might be too late.