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6. Singapore National Yo-yo Contest 2023 (LONG)
Journey to Singapore National Yo-yo Contest 2023
I have become what I hate: that asshole who registers at the last minute for yo-yo contests. I had no idea what song to submit, so I just chose Teardrop by Massive Attack, the same song I used to win the sOMEThING Video Contest in 2012.
It was time for Singapore Nationals (SYYC23)! I had no intention of competing, but I registered anyway because it felt like a waste to travel to Singapore without at least trying the stage. But the real reason I went to SYYC23 was to scout players for my new yo-yo company.
*Coincidently I was also on the same flight as Ilhan Gabriel. It was rare for him to travel for yo-yo contests so I didn't expect to see him at SYYC2023*
So, I took off from Malaysia to SYYC23, which was held in July at 313@Somerset. I stayed right next to the venue since that was the sole purpose of my trip. In – Yo-yo Contest – Out. Two days, one night. I arrived on Saturday and went out for dinner. While walking out, I checked out the venue, as it was along Orchard Road.
A lot had changed since 2015. Back then, almost every Singapore contest was a banger, organized by Colin, Hans, and the Spinworkx crew. Unfortunately, Spinworkx had to close during the Covid pandemic, and yo-yo organizing shifted to YYAS (Yo-yo Association of Singapore). Singapore contests had always been my favorite because of their strict schedule yet chill atmosphere where everyone hung out and had a good time. You can probably see where this is going…
When I arrived at the venue, I searched for the stage but couldn’t find it. 313 was a pretty small mall, so I explored the entire place, including upstairs and underground. Still no stage. The only thing I found was a tiny platform near the entrance, but there were no backdrops except a white “SG Street Festival” banner. I gave up and had dinner at Tai Er. It was too spicy. I then went on to have my Mr. Coconut (Goated best drink in Singapore).
Contest day!
I didn’t tell anyone I was going to SYYC—probably because it was such a last-minute decision. But on the day of SYYC23, I arrived after the lunch break (prelims were in the morning). The first person I ran into was Brandon Vu, who was vlogging when he spotted me. He said to the camera, “This guy was in my first AP vlog in 2016!” We caught up a bit, and he showed me Xavier’s new signature yo-yo, the Deviant+. He said it was made of titanium, but turns out it was just styled that way. I flicked the yo-yo to hear the sound, but I didn’t flick hard enough to realize it was aluminum – Brandon grabbed the yo-yo back after that.
Next, I saw Jeremy Tan and Chris Lee. I don’t remember the first few things we said, but they quickly called me “old as fuck.” I told Jeremy he had gotten so tall, and Chris still looked angry as usual (I hadn’t seen them since 2018). One person I really wanted to see was Ian Loh, I asked Jeremy where he was and he replied - "I think Ian died", "Yea he's dead bro" - Chris added. But in actual fact Ian had relocated to Australia for his studies.
I pointed to the tiny platform from the night before and asked, “That’s the stage?” They both replied, “YEAP.”
Mall security suddenly showed up and said, “NO STANDING HERE, THIS IS A PUBLIC SPACE”. We were parallel to the stage in the crowd area, but we still got chased off.
Spoiler alert: At this event I got told off by security at least 10 more times for standing in various spots. I wasn’t being petty about it - I get not wanting to block walkways - but I was literally in the designated crowd area - Not the organizers fault.
I then saw Karthik Devaraj, who was in a good mood after doing well in prelims that morning. He ran over, gave me a huge hug, and said, “What the fuck are you doing here?” I hadn’t seen Karthik since AP2018. I think he grew maybe 1cm in height? - but put on some muscle mass. I told Karthik he was looking quite fit now, and then he started flexing and doing some weird poses. He then took out his phone and showed me some of his gym pictures. "Bicep big anot bro?, quite big right? ah this pic got pump". As was our custom, we went outside for a smoke.
Karthik said he had stopped yo-yoing in 2019, and this was his comeback stage. He had prepped for about a month and was ready to show off his LAZERBEAM (his song). While we were chatting, we saw Ahmad Kharisma walking by and called him over. We talked about THOYC before heading back inside.
Inside, I ran into Iskandar Shah (5A legend and former Yoyojam Singapore), my former boss when I was sponsored by Diamont Noir. Iskandar was suddenly lean - dude lost a ton of weight and now looked like an Adidas influencer. I told him to bring back Diamont Noir, and he told me to fuck off. I also asked him for sponsor pack so I can do double dice 5A, he ignored me. We went out for another smoke.
Throughout the day, I caught up with a lot of people and got chased away by security even more.
Back in 2013–2015, I was a “hype” player, and people often asked for pictures with me, or sign their yo-yos. But in 2023, kids would interrupt conversations I was having with friends to ask me to take pictures for them. It was honestly very annoying, and so I purposely took terrible pictures (sorry). I saw Jonathan Sitanggang, Ryuichi Nakamura, and Leo Chan from afar but was too shy to approach them. I knew Jonathan but wasn’t sure if he remembered me, and I’d never spoken to Ryuichi or Leo.
Edit - Jonathan said I did indeed speak to him at SYYC23. He claims I called him a "fat fuck" which inspired him to get fit. I cannot confirm or deny this claim; however it does sound like something I might have accidentally said. Jonathan did noticeably started hitting the gym more after this event. Coincidence?
Guess who I saw from afar? NONE OTHER THAN QUOC ANH AGAIN. It was the 3rd time in 2023, and 4th time in 8 months. It was not the last time I saw him that year..
Christian James Welly also came over and said "Hello Jim! Long time no see! we met at AP2015 & 2018?". I told him I was really sorry that I couldn't remember him. I was quite embarrassed about this - which is why I remember it so clearly. Later that day Welly took the stage for X-International and I thought his 3A was insanely good.
2A-5A Division - SYYC2023
Not much to add here but I was mostly looking out for the following freestyles:
Chris Lee - 2A
Thawhir Iqbal - 3A
Kenny Bay - 5A
Teng Ee - 4A
I still watched routines in-between those but was mostly chatting with Jayson Lim and others. We spoke about the good old days, and I thanked him again for "putting my name out there" when he used to filmed my trick videos and posting it on his blog.
After the freestyles were over, I was pretty sure those guys I listed were winners. They would all end up winning except Chris Lee who got 2nd.. somehow.. ?
1A Division - SYYC2023
When it was time for the 1A Division, Karthik took the stage. He cooked himself 10 seconds in because he couldn’t dismount from a slack trick. His freestyle was ass. Not as bad as the “Insomnia ashtray prototype,” but still ass. I saw his LAZERBEAM routine, and it was ass. He did a Darrell Mitchell trick, which was funny, but he was bummed about messing up. Too bad! Try again next year!
I liked Thawhir’s 1A freestyle and thought he might win - it was really clean, and he was doing tricks I wish I could do.
But then the mighty Xavier Ng, the reigning Singapore champion, hit the stage. I remember a camera crew following him around before he went on stage. Suddenly, kids flooded the crowd area, shoving me around and screaming for their beloved Xavier Ng. I looked at mall security, hoping they’d do something about those kids, but they told me to move away again.
Xavier’s freestyle was great, but I laughed at the sudden song change after the Black Panther Kendrick Lamar track. Sound effects like a gun reloading or shooting weren’t common in freestyles in my day, so it was hilarious to hear. His ending UFO bind (Which is now called the "DNA") was funny too—love you, Xavier. The crowd went apeshit for it though. I swore I saw a kid drooling after that freestyle. "Oh my goodness, that was crazy" - Said the emcee.
After 1A finals, we went back out to smoke and cheer up Karthik. Between his freestyle and now, Karthik must have inhaled five tanks of copium because he thought the freestyle “wasn’t that bad” and that he might still get top 3. Sciran was really nice and said his freestyle was “dope fire”. It was my first time hearing people calling something “fire”.
Karthik then asked me if he was top 3. I told him that I didn't remember all the freestyles but my top 3 was Xavier/Thawhir and then Ryan Lim. As the mood and atmosphere was quite somber, everyone was also matching the tone and being very comforting and caring. I remember accidentally blurting out "What would Iori Yamaki think if your LAZERBEAM?". Everyone laughed but when they saw Karthik's sad face, they started telling me to STFU and to learn how to be more empathetic, Jeremy secretly dabbed me though - He thought it was funny.
Karthik took some of my cigarettes, but I didn’t stop him because he was sad.
International Division - SYYC2023
It was time for SYYC’s International Division. Back in the day, we never watched previous freestyles if we were competing, to stay focused. But since I was scouting players, I watched everything. That’s when I saw Kevin Hendrata.
Three things stood out: 1. I didn’t like his song, 2. Ahmad Kharisma was headbanging to it, and 3. Kevin had potential. After his routine, I saw him at the back trying the horizontal trick he missed on stage. “How come I cannot land? Anjing, you see? So easy,” he said to someone. I think it was a horizontal hop and bind.
Since the event was running WAY behind schedule, I had to do my freestyle and immediately leave for the airport to catch my flight. Oh and mall security pestered me again while I was behind the stage getting ready for my turn.
I wanted to stay until all the freestyles were over, but I didn’t want to risk missing my flight, so I left as the emcee called Brandon Vu to the stage - I didn't actually hear the words "Brandon Vu", but I heard the song "Bring the Madness" and I knew it was him lol.
SYYC2023 was a wrap. Personally, it was my least favorite contest ever. A lot went wrong, but this blog—on my company page, where I sell my yo-yos—isn’t the place to vent. Also, they did not owe me anything, I was just a guest at their event, and complaining about it just makes me an "uncle/Karen". SYYA would step up the following year and deliver a great SYYC2024.
As I was boarding the plane, I saw the results and Karthik got his first of many 5ths to come. I remember seeing IG stories of the boys crashing out and drinking their sorrows away. Maybe they were just sad I was going home.
Ilhan Gabriel would also end up getting 3rd in the X-International Division. Which was a cool win for Malaysia, especially since we never win anything abroad (yo-yos).
Not long after SYYC, the next prototype from the new factory arrived… It was horrible and I threw it away..
To be continued…