SINGAPORE: Wrapped around Jason Teh’s left forearm is a tattoo he got three years ago reminding him of something close to his heart.
In cursive black font and with a shuttlecock at the base, it reads “Family”.
And if not for family, 24-year-old Teh might not be where he is today – at a career-high 37th in the world and in regular contention for his first major singles title.
Having started the year 61st in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) men’s singles rankings, Teh has made two semi-finals and reached four finals this year, propelling him up the standings.
He is the second-highest ranked men’s singles player in Singapore, behind compatriot Loh Kean Yew who is 14th.
A FATHER’S SACRIFICE
Born in Penang, Teh got into the sport at the age of four when he accompanied his father, who played recreationally, to the neighbourhood courts.
“I was very active when I was young,” Teh told CNA. “I couldn’t sit still and that’s why I liked going for badminton because that could burn my energy.”
A few years later, Teh’s family moved to Johor Bahru to make it easier for his father, who was working in the F&B industry in Singapore, to commute to work.
Teh was studying in Montfort Junior School and this meant the pair had to get up in the wee hours of the morning to beat the traffic jams crossing the Causeway.
They usually arrived before the school gates opened, and Teh slept in the car until it was time for morning assembly. Eventually, his two sisters joined him on these trips when they too enrolled in Singapore schools.
When school was done for the day, Teh’s father was waiting outside to shuttle him back to Johor Bahru for afternoon badminton training sessions.
“He supported us a lot and really gave everything,” said Teh, who went on to study at Bowen Secondary School and then Singapore Sports School.
It was this same support which was pivotal when Teh decided to stop school after Secondary 4 to focus on a full-time badminton career.
The option to further his studies by taking up a polytechnic course was on the table, but Teh felt that given his sports schedule, juggling school would have taken away far too much time.
Teh recalled how almost everyone tried to dissuade him, and he could not have made the decision if not for his father’s support.
“I didn’t dare to do it (at first),” Teh said. “He was so much more mature than me … and he guided me.”
Rather than being “half-half” on his budding sporting career, he decided to go all in.
“(My dad) said: ‘If in life you want to fight, you should just straight away go (and do it). If you’re scared of this and scared of that, you cannot succeed in one aspect.
“I’ll never regret (that decision).”
Teh served his National Service immediately after leaving school. His father eventually bought a home in Singapore where the family settled down in 2017 before Teh became a citizen two years later.
“It was good to enlist early so that I could start my career without anything (holding me back),” he explained. “That was when the pandemic hit and there were no tournaments for everybody, so I only lost out on being able to train.”
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