00:00Dragon Ball as a sport is really basically demanding.
00:16Being a national athlete, there's so much more required of us.
00:20I'm not ready to stop.
00:23Perhaps achieving more international teams is a way for me to redeem myself.
00:30One, two, three, four, one.
00:40Right now our trainings are actually from Mondays to Thursdays as well as Saturdays and Sundays.
00:46Saturdays and Sundays are actually double sessions for us.
00:49Being a national athlete, there's so much more required of us.
00:53Adapting to training from twice, thrice a week to really six times.
00:59On top of going into a full time job, that was something that I really had to get used to.
01:03Six, two, three, seven, two, three, four, one.
01:08I think to me Dragon Ball is really a big part of my life.
01:13I cannot really take myself out from the sport.
01:16Because it is really in all aspects of my life.
01:19My community, my friends, my mentors, the values that I have in life.
01:24All of it is linked to Dragon Ball.
01:34I think Dragon Ball as a sport is actually really physically demanding.
01:37We need all paddlers on the board to be equally strong.
01:41You are only as strong as your weakest link.
01:43So, it's really the beauty of the sport in my opinion.
01:46Where all of us have that healthy competition.
01:49To want to out-compete one another within the team.
01:52But also push one another to be even better.
01:57At the end of a set, you will feel breathless.
02:00You will feel like dying.
02:02You will feel dizzy.
02:04And sometimes you will really feel like two kids.
02:13You will feel good.
02:14You will feel good.
02:15You will feel good.
02:16You will feel good.
02:31Mentally, I think it's quite draining.
02:34To go through the pain again and again.
02:36Every single day.
02:39There was a lot of sacrifice along the way.
02:41Similar to all the other national athletes.
02:43My teammates.
02:44We will have to forgo some social life.
02:49There's really so much more that I would like to prove to myself.
02:53With effort.
02:54With hard work.
02:55With the right mindset.
02:56We will slowly but surely match up with the other powerhouses.
03:01This is really a goal that I am constantly carrying with me.
03:07I am not ready to stop.
03:09And I hope that the country sees this in us as well.
03:17In 2015, during the 80th finals.
03:19It was quite a defining moment in my dribble career.
03:22All of us were quite hopeful during the race.
03:24And we really tried our best.
03:26During the race itself, we actually felt that we had a very good chance of winning.
03:30But eventually, we fell short.
03:32We got second.
03:33This is part of the reason why we are still battling until now.
03:42Perhaps achieving more international teams is a way for me to redeem myself.
03:46And to feel that I have done something right.
03:48As a Dragon Boat Nation, I really hope that we can really continue to excel.
03:54And eventually become one of the powerhouses in Asia and in the world.
03:58In a way, Garuda Dragon is influenced by the Dragon Boat community in Singapore.
04:11Competitive, fitness-minded, and multicultural.
04:15Our team have fighting spirit and passionate about competition.
04:26Garuda has meaning of unity and strength.
04:29Because we are from different nations.
04:32The team comprised of domestic helpers, caregivers, drivers, and construction workers.
04:38From Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia.
04:44We have one hour land training and two hours in the water.
04:52The first time I joined this sport, I don't think about going for the race.
04:59I'm just doing it for a point.
05:01And once we joined, we're addicted to the race.
05:04Our team is passionate about competition.
05:12I feel that I have responsibility to run this team.
05:15Because I want this team and this mission to keep going.
05:26I can't say that I sacrificed my free time because I enjoy the sport.
05:31Dragon Boat gave me a chance to reconnect with my team.
05:36Then I can meet new people in this sport.
05:42I feel that I made a lifelong friendship.
05:45Sometimes when our teammates, they go back to their country.
05:49They will call me then,
05:50Hey V, do you need anything from India or from Bangladesh?
05:55Yeah, they always offer me something.
05:58I never felt this before.
06:00This makes me sense of belonging.
06:04That I never expected.
06:07A team like Garuda Dragons is important.
06:10Because there's a lot of migrant workers in Singapore.
06:15It will be a good thing if we could inspire them to join in the sport.
06:20To provide them a platform so they can build a sporting community.
06:29I want migrant workers to be seen.
06:31Alita Initiative is a Dragon Boat team for PWDs.
06:48I'm also one of the co-founder actually.
06:50And we coordinate with SUTD students who is designing some sockets for PWDs.
06:55whose upper limb loss able to help better.
07:03And we have a group of volunteers as well.
07:06All these are professionals in healthcare.
07:09And of course, we have all the members from
07:12Amplity Support Group and Scope Survivors.
07:20In 2015, I admitted hospital due to food poisoning.
07:23Due to food poisoning.
07:26And due to organ failure.
07:29And then I need to have life-saving medicine.
07:33And it led me to gangrene and end up amputation.
07:42I was in coma for two weeks.
07:45And when I woke up, I don't think that I have any thought
07:49What am I going to do?
07:50And I don't even know what is next step for me.
07:53Not only me, my wife, my children, even my friends also.
07:57They do not know how to comfort me.
08:00And I'm so lost.
08:02I'm so worried about how people look at me.
08:05I don't even know what to do next.
08:07In 2016, I have a chance to experience this wheelchair rugby sports.
08:13So we actually have the chance to travel to Jakarta for competition as well.
08:20So this came up in my mind to plan a suicide.
08:24If I go overseas, my wife will not alone.
08:27And I have the chance to jump.
08:29But when I encounter sport, I start to love it.
08:35I think I enjoy so much by doing sports.
08:38Which I think I don't need to end up my life so early.
08:42So I think this is the important turning point for myself.
08:44We do the incorporating not only the sports.
08:49We also have a very firm friendship with all the paddlers.
08:53So we actually understand each other's needs.
08:57Like as an amputee myself, I have an inconvenience in moving around.
09:01They actually accepted me for being so slow.
09:04And myself also understand that they also moving slow.
09:08So we accepted each other.
09:12Jakarta for me is involvement.
09:15Not only the medals.
09:16Of course, who do want the medals.
09:17But I think important one is the friendship and the involvement for everybody in Singapore.
09:22I hope all this love can spread to all the community.
09:25Whoever you are.
09:26Either you are a person with disability, you are volunteers.
09:29You are family members, even if you are a coach.
09:32We welcome all you guys.
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