1.5
Critics will not stop his moves, says SEA Games breaking medallist Jeremy Sim
By Chia Kun Liang
Jeremy Sim performing his routine at the men’s singles breaking event at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. (Photo: Sport Singapore)
Three years ago, Jeremy Sim took the nation by surprise when he clinched Singapore’s first medal in breaking — a bronze in the men’s singles competition at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). It was breaking’s debut in the biennial event, and his win was also a long-awaited one for the country — the last time Singapore had a medal in dancesport at the Games was 14 years before.
By that time, the stoic 26-year-old was already a decorated breaker here — notably winning the Freestyle Session 2v2 Asia Qualifiers in 2018 which took him to the World Finals stage in Los Angeles. But he could not remember ever envisioning a world where breaking could make it to a mainstream sporting event like the SEA Games. “It wasn’t a goal because there were no opportunities like this for us, so I was just working hard on my craft and doing the best I could.”
Jeremy’s history-making achievement in the SEA Games created a buzz in the Singapore breaking scene and changed local breakers’ own sense of what they could accomplish. “I want to open them to the idea that it’s more than possible if you put your mind into it,” said Jeremy, who goes by the b-boy name Jeremiah.
Jeremy and his crew Checkered Minds battling against Red Bull BC One All Stars at the *SCAPE Radikal Forze Jam in 2019. (Video: RPProds)
Jeremy saw the outcome serving a purpose greater than himself. “I came from a place where not many people supported it, including my own family,” he said.
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“Now this could change the mindset of many parents, helping them see that their kids are not doing anything bad outside — they’re not taking drugs or mixing around with gangsters. They’re actually investing in a passion that they believe in and love, and that is something very rare, especially if it is taken to such a high level.”
But some Singaporeans took a dislike to him, he said. They were not convinced of breaking’s legitimacy. He faced flak on social media — he was called a kid who “throws a tantrum” and someone who is “drunk or on drugs”. For a long time, he admitted, he was “very disheartened and felt messed up”. But now, he is more impassive about these criticisms.
When asked how he coped with them, he was quick to answer: “Work harder.”
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t stop you from working on your own craft. There are bound to be people who will always hate on you and try to throw you down. You just have to walk past it,” he said firmly.
Jeremy’s ascent to the top of Singapore’s breaking scene began when he was 15.
It was then he first met Gerald Chan, 29, in a practice session. The older b-boy later became his mentor-turned-crewmate and appointed coach for the SEA Games. Gerald, who goes by the moniker The Seeker, had already been competing in local and international battles with successes at that time.
He described Jeremy as “adventurous” and “bold” who has tenacity like none other.
“While others would do maybe five to ten flares, he would be drilling 50 flares in a day,” he said, referring to a power move in breaking. “Most people would not push themselves that hard. That’s why his flare is one of the best, if not the best I’ve seen locally. He applies this to many other moves too.”
It is no surprise that Jeremy’s self-imposed training routine would be a rigorous one.
He gave a recitation of a typical training day: “Be at a session spot from about 1pm all the way until 6pm. Eat. Be back at a session from 7 to 10pm and rest a bit. While on the way home, if I still have time before my last bus, I will continue breaking until about past 12am. After that, I still got to work out.”
Training six days a week meant that he had little time for loved ones and leisure, he shared. “You will have a lot of people disagreeing with you for sure, but if you find the right people, they will understand what you have to do.”
At 19, bucking conventions and family expectations, he quit school to focus on breaking full-time. Later, he tried juggling his education at a private university and breaking but found it challenging to focus on both. It also came at a time he had to make a difficult choice: to take his examinations or compete in the world finals of Freestyle Session in 2018.
“You can take an exam almost anytime, it’s just whether you’ve got the money or not. But this was a one-time opportunity to go Los Angeles. I’ve given so much to this dance, why would I give this up?”
While he and his crew did not proceed to the next round in Los Angeles, the decision to leave school proved to be pivotal. In the following year, in addition to his success at the SEA Games, he and his crew Checkered Minds got to the top-four placing for crew battle at the annual Radikal Forze Jam — the furthest that any Singaporean crew had reached in the competition then.
When COVID-19 hit shortly after the SEA Games, it limited opportunities for Jeremy to travel and compete. But he has not been sitting idly by — he is now teaching at Artistate Dance Academy and BreakiNUS, a dance interest group at the National University of Singapore. If he is not in class, he would be training.
There was also a silver lining — the time spent on his own has given him the space to “break more boundaries within me physically and mentally”.
“You can practise without anyone watching. You can just go underground and create, and no one knows what’s going to hit them when the events are coming back.”
Eventually, Jeremy hopes to become the first Singaporean breaker to top regional qualifiers and, if successful, get into the top 16 in the world to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I’m already prepared. I’m just waiting for the time… for the younger generation to see that we can believe in a local guy from our country.”
He might just surprise us with another spectacular finish on a global stage once again.