Memorandum of Understanding

I'M A SPONSORED ATHLETE NOW WHOOPIE!!!

Ok please ignore the above, it was totally out of character. But do pardon me as there was no other way to express the pure delight except by using uppercase and several exclamation marks.

As of 12/03/2011, I am a sponsored climber with ClimbAsia, dedicated to carrying their brands and flying their flag.

I've always loved the ClimbAsia story - 3 friends at crossroads in their lives, coming together and starting a climbing gym from scratch. Although the original place was constructed into a small dingy shophouse (with a dark and ulu alley entrance no less!), it was assembled with much love. A place built by climbers for climbers, it was where I spent my formative years (read: getting spanked damn hard by the likes of old timers like Thomas, Chuan, Weida, etc)* in climbing. I would rush down to the place after school to watch my climbing heroes crush hard, and it wasn't uncommon to see me with eyes starry and mouth agape. ClimbAsia has since grown from strength to strength, shifting to a much bigger place at the Civil Service Club, seeing a packed gym at nights, and distributing premier rockclimbing brands now.

Initially I was apprehensive about the whole sponsorship thing. I simply felt I wasn't good enough, acknowledging the fact that there are many climbers who climb much harder than me. My performance during competitions is also somewhat erratic. By some random stroke of luck, I actually managed to get myself ranked as the 2nd Singaporean in Singapore Bouldering League for two consecutive years (09 and 10). But I'm under no illusion to think that I'm superior to those veteran climbers who either chose to abstain, or were unable to attend for some reasons. Some people may think I'm crazy for not jumping at the opportunity immediately. What?! Don't be stupid. Just take it lah! Still need to consider meh? But I adopt a principled stand: doing a good job in whatever endeavour I pursue. It is my personal insistence on being responsible, even at the expense of missing out on a privilege like this. Accepting the sponsorship, but only to bomb out at competitions, just smacks of poor character. Such dishonourable acts leaves a bad aftertaste in the mouth.

After I voiced my concerns to the management, they reassured me. Like every other sponsorship, there will necessarily be strings attached. No doubt competition performance is good to have, but it is not compulsory for them. What's most important for them is that the sponsored climber is a good ambassador for the brand, which entails aspects other than purely performance. I am grateful for that, and promise to do my utmost to repay their faith in me.

When I recounted being offered this sponsorship to a friend, his reply was Wow Jansen I'm really happy for you! Your ambition since JC finally coming true! To which my reply was Huh? Since when did I covet a sponsorship? I don't recall! We disputed whether I really articulated the said objective as my dream. But no matter, a friendly argument fades into insignificance upon contemplative reflection. On hindsight, I didn't chase climbing because I wanted a sponsorship. I pursued excellence in climbing because I'm attracted to the intensity. For me, it is a form of moving mediation. I didn't focus on securing a sponsorship, I focused on perfecting the skill (no doubt I still fall short by any yardstick). The moral of the story is as follows. Focus on the task at hand, and the result will follow. Focus on the result, and often you fail at the task.

I hope to continue to grow together with ClimbAsia, as I've done so for the past 7 years :)

*For the record, I still am being spanked hard by them. Sigh.. some things never change.. and I'm happy for that!