Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Eversince the vid of my send of Lateralus was posted online, I been getting tons of affirmation from friends in the U.S. and of course Spore. I'm proud of the send, not because it's of monumental significance to my climbing, but also a tribute to the people who have stood by me throughout my struggle to achieve it...especially my wife!

I must thank SCA for putting up a link to my vid as it does lend itself to my shameless self promotion. Though it was mistakenly touted the "first Sporean to send a 5.14", it did create some sort of buzz in the community debating about which Sporean really was the FIRST to send a 5.14. So let me clear it up right now...Jay was the first Sporean to send the 5.14a Lightning at Yangshou followed by my send of Lateralus a couple of months later. So apart all the spray about who's first, who's best in Spore and some say Batam, let me mentioned a few people, who have contributed to the progression of climbing in Spore and who have laid the foundation and spurred us into believing that we're capable of great things in climbing.


Anuar Hassan...our beloved nomad...first Sporean to send a V10 and getting it featured in Climbing mag (bet ya didn't know that!!)


Philip Lim...his masterful performance in sportclimbing is second to none (and cut that PR crap about him...cos he's always our homeboiii). Pretty much unstoppable in his prime and reigned as the Numero Uno in our Spore comp scene.


Halil B Ngah...Numero Uno in our speed climbing scene...then became a loving cat owner and now a loving husband and father. Spearheaded sportclimbing route development in Southeast Asia.


Thomas Tan...nope, he ain't just the guy who filmed my vid and stills. Bouldering aficionado. One of the first to travel widely to climb on blocs and eventually ended up in San Francisco. Currently has more V10s in his bag than any Sporean.


Suzanna Tan...first Sporean woman to send 5.13c (Asia's Shadow Play) and together with my wife, the only women in Spore to climb 13s.


Beatrix Chong...this lady needs no introduction and continues to rule the local bouldering scene.


And of course there's Jay...not only has he done Lightning, he has also sent Botanics 13d/14a. And with me, remains the only Sporean to have sent Jai Dum and climb 5.14.

So these are my picks. Why them? Cos during a time where standards were mediocre, they remained the only ones willing to put in sweat and blood, dedicated to achieving what no one in Spore has done before. Of course, with every wave, the second pushes the first and I can say that they too stood on the shoulders of giants to achieve what they have today...but it still remains for the next generation to build on their achievements.

Last but not least...there's....Shannon Tham a.k.a. FB. Cos he's my climbing instructor when I first signed up for a class and without his intro, I would never have gotten further into climbing. And as you can tell from the pic, his psyche continues to inspire me.