UnXpected is an original AsiaOne series where we speak to people with unconventional interests to find out what keeps them going despite the sometimes negative perceptions of others

If you come across 58-year-old Tay Kiang Meng settling into a full split at the office, don't be alarmed.

The executive director and chief scientist of engineering services company Frontken has also been doing tai chi for some 40 years.

And when it comes to practising his "daily movements", Dr Tay tells us that space is no constraint.

"You should be able to adapt your body movement into any space," he says. "Maybe just a toilet cubicle, or lift, or your car."

His practice ranges from standing during meetings to working on his computer with his leg "hanging in the air".

While most of his colleagues are used to the sight, Dr Tay admits that it can be "awkward" for those who don't know him.

"I just explain to them that, yes, I'm just trying to do some stretching or some movement to loosen myself," he shrugs.

Same old, same old

Dr Tay first came across martial arts in the 1970s, and it's been a constant in his life ever since.

Reminiscing his simple, carefree days growing up in Kampung Mata Ikan off Changi Road, he says that there were no televisions and no toys.

Back then, all he had was the great outdoors. He counted the village's chickens, monkeys, dogs and cats as his playmates, and his days mainly consisted of climbing trees and swimming in the sea.

When he serendipitously stumbled upon a photo depicting tai chi movements at a temple one day, it piqued his interest, and he managed to get his parents to agree to put him into martial arts classes, he shares.

Fast forward till today, the martial arts practitioner says he still practises "the same old thing as the first day I started training".

Besides conditioning and basic techniques, Dr Tay makes it a point to flow through his tai chi form — essentially a standard sequence of movements — on the daily.

That's one thing that can befuddle onlookers or those from outside the scene, Dr Tay admits.

"To outsiders, they see me just doing this [and they say], 'Oh, how come you know already and you're still doing this? And you do the same thing, repeating for the last half an hour?'"

He explains, "What you see from outside is I'm doing the same [thing]. Inside, what I'm doing is training my heart."

Training for life

There's no denying that the regular training has helped his physical fitness — he's lithe, can drop into a split effortlessly and is probably fitter than the average millennial. But during our chat, Dr Tay places more emphasis on the mental benefits of the art form.

"People who can do martial arts well, they should do well in life," he tells us.

A far cry from the old days when martial arts and tai chi revolved around "turning your body into a weapon", the art form nowadays is more performative and about self-discipline, he explains. 

"Martial arts teaches us to [have the] right attitude, positive attitude, right mindset, positive mindset, mutual respect, courage, self-control, emotional quotient, as you all know, focus and confidence."

This has helped him in everything from navigating tough decisions at work to parenting his two children.

Ranice, 26, and Worden, 24, were very active kids, jumping "high and low", Dr Tay recalls. Worden, in particular, would injure himself and had to get stitches "from the head to the lips to the mouth", he adds. 

As a result, he put them into martial arts classes to calm them down.

Today, the pair are both martial arts practitioners and Ranice even trains with the national team.

And it's a family affair — Dr Tay's wife and mother, too, practise tai chi for physical fitness.

"When we get together, we usually will discuss the different types of martial arts.

"We discuss a lot of martial philosophy in our life. So, we practise both physically and we also discuss and spar intellectually."

kimberlylim@asiaone.com

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