Simon Wong
Tienji Taiji, Qigong
Simon is a Taiji and Qigong practitioner who has been based in Singapore for the last 20 years.
British born with Hong Kong roots, Simon first picked up Taiji, Qigong, and Shaolin-based martial arts at the age of 12.
His early inspiration was his grandfather, who through his daily Taiji, energy practice, and physical training since his 50s, lived a long and healthy disease-free life until the grand old age of 94.
In 2004, Simon suffered a severe spinal injury – herniation of two spinal discs due to years of high impact martial arts training, leaving him unable to walk properly again.
Doctors wrote off his chances of a full recovery and advised him to undergo a spinal fusion surgery that would result in significantly reduced mobility post operation. Simon decided against it.
In the following years, Simon would persevere on his pursuit of self- recovery and discover the power of self-healing through practice of a Taiji-based system of movements with deep and gentle awareness to create the conditions needed for the body to heal itself. He was driven by a strong desire to inspire others around him - while dealing with the loss of his wife and soulmate who passed on fighting cancer in 2008.
In 2009, he surprised everyone including his doctors, fellow practitioners and instructors of different disciplines by not only walking upright again but also gained a higher level of strength he had not reached even prior to the injury. Through mentoring and guidance, Simon helped others who had suffered spinal injuries of a similar nature accomplish a similar healing experience as himself.
Simon thus pioneered the Tienji Awareness Method which he lovingly named paying tribute to his grandfather.
Tienji Awareness Method is a self-healing and recuperative modality borne from principles from Feldenkrais, Meditation, Taiji, Qigong, Yoga, and Physical Therapy, a system of practices that guides students through movement with awareness while complementing our body’s ability to self- heal, not just physically but also emotionally.
Simon believes achieving a balanced Mind, Body and Spirit as well as gaining a peaceful inner state is especially important in our modern world, and such boundless wisdom can be found across many age-old teachings and disciplines across different cultures.
He conducts private individual and group sessions for clients such as Barclays, Jones Lang LaSalle, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Singapore National Eye Centre, The Sheng Hong Arts Institute, and has been featured in A Magazine and 938 Now.
Kenny Leong
Affairs of Tea
Kenny Leong is a tea practitioner, presenter, and writer who has devoted himself to tea affairs since 2014. His work focuses on fine artisanal tea and explores it through various contemporary modalities with an emphasis on education and aesthetics.
Kenny regularly conducts tastings, events, workshops, and sessions. In his course of work, he has presented tea for partners and clients such as Mastercard Priceless, FENDI, Straits Clan, OCBC, Starwood, Speciality & Fine Food Asia, etc.
In 2019, he partnered interdisciplinary art collective HF/DF on an experiential tea programme for Offcuts Teahouse, an art installation that was part of the Arts In Your Neighbourhood initiative by the National Arts Council. Through it, he realised one of his endeavours to take tea out of its conventional context while maintaining the integrity of its practice, in order to highlight the transience and ephemerality of the tea ceremony.
While tea education and research form the foundational pillars of Kenny’s work in the affairs of tea, his practice has developed over the years to integrate a deeper understanding and respect for philosophical traditions and thought, reinforcing his belief in empowering oneself to tap into intuitive wisdom and awareness. Influenced heavily by classical eastern philosophical thought and tradition, one aspect of his work employs tea as a medium not so much as to teach or persuade but to encourage oneself to ask questions about growth, change, healing, restoration, and finding solace. Tea sessions become opportunities for the Self to engage in dialogue, in which one learns to embrace the fundamental inseparability of ‘duality and unity’ of life and all that revolves around it. The practice of tea, then, is not an escape from life, but the very means by which to live it with intuition, integrity, authenticity, and awareness.
Kenny obtained his Certified Specialist of Wine (Society of Wine Educators) qualification in 2010. Previously a contributor to lifestyle and luxury publications, his works have appeared in The Business Times, Robb Report, The Peak, Prestige, Singapore Tatler, food&travel, Wine & Dine, TODAY newspaper, and other print/digital publications.
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Hirohashi Nobuaki
Calligraphy
Hirohashi Nobuaki’s journey with calligraphy started in 2003 when he recognised he had poor hand-writing and pursued self-improvement. Whilst he was chef-owner of his Japanese restaurant in Osaka, Japan, one of Nobu’s aspiration was to write the menu for his restaurant in beautiful calligraphy.
It was perhaps by fate that Nobu was introduced by one of his customers to Mr. Taiju Sakaguchi, Master Sensei of (Shokoukai), an important Japanese calligraphy association. Nobu polished up his calligraphy skills through his mentor Mr. Sakaguchi and was also inspired to learn about Zen through calligraphy practice on Zen characters.
From the early days of his practice, Nobu was able to see the similarities and make the connections between cooking and calligraphy, despite the lager being just “black and white on paper”. He practiced daily from 12 midnight onwards after returning from his restaurant and would lose track of time while immersing himself in practice, sometimes ending after the sun rises.
Nobu’s efforts saw him win a Calligraphy Award in a Mainichi Shimbun- held exhibition in 2004, after which he felt a strong desire to learn more, further his calligraphy skills and practice. Nobu won the Award 9 times in total.
In 2009, Nobu moved to Singapore for an opportunity to set up a new Japanese restaurant venture, furthering his horizon. He is grateful that he is able to experience the diversity of cultures while in Singapore, a cosmopolitan city. Nobu believes that in sharing his personal journey and knowledge in Calligraphy (originally from China but arrived in Japan with Buddhism in the 6th Century leading to the development of the Hiragana and Katakana Japanese writing systems alongside Kanji), it uniquely transcends the beauty of crossing cultures, be it Chinese, Japanese, Singaporean, or others.
Nobu is also now an avid and sincere practitioner of Taiji, fulfilling a strong inner desire to learn the art when he left Japan for Singapore.