Getting to know TPKRT [Season 2]

Episode 7: Damien Koh

In this corner, we have the INCREDIBLE....

Bulk? o_O

Or just our own incredible Hulk.

(DAMIEN ANGRY. DAMIEN SMASH)

(yes, its the table on the 8th floor of the library.. you're not dreaming.)

The third of the Grand-seniors, aka the pervy sage. Damien's field of expertise is... um. A secret.

Like all the other seniors on the team, Damien has his own inspirational story. You see, Damien used to look like this.

(typical ah beng... blah blah..)

Don't ask me where i got this. I'm good at stalking.

And now....?

Of course, he has his own personal story and motivation for the transformation, but it is not up to me to tell you that. Get to know him more and you will find out.

What I CAN tell you is his story AFTER he entered the team.

Damien's story is one that's carved into history (because he was the first one to do it) and shares surprising similarity with Bryan's story. See, Damien was the absolute last one to move from a T-1 to a K-1, simply because he could not balance. I bet the feeling must have sucked, because, i his own words, he was expecting to do fairly well in the sport because of his above-average fitness.

In Weijie's words: "I saw an uncle come down to run that day (trials), then suddenly the uncle run so fast until i cannot see him"

( I laughed so hard when i heard that. Really. You ought to ... um... see how Damien dresses at home. xD )

Anyway, to be alone on a T-1 when the rest of your team moves to the K-1 is not a pretty feeling. You know its because of your own inaptitude, but it doesn't change the fact that you're being left behind. But Damien didn't do the incredible sulk because of that, oh no. He went on to compete in a T-1.... and brought back a medal. A silver cookie. Not the bronze one.

If life gives you lemons, you've got two options - make lemonade, or throw it back in its face and ask for watermelons.

Damien did both - he made his lemonade on the T-1, and THEN moved to the K-1 and proceeded to become the fastest rower on the team. His fastest 500m timing was 1:57, after 2 years of training, whereas many people cannot seem to break 2 minutes in spite of years of training.

he's kind of... pretty famous among the other polys team. Haha.

There's also a little backstory to the picture of Damien being a bangla gardener. (scroll up) 

You see, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...........

We....

............

...............

...........................

...... got punished.

The end. 

Punishment? Sweep up ALL the the leaves that were on the ground in the club. 

Yeah, i can almost hear you guys going 'WT%^&@???' as you read that. Well, do what must be done, Damien says, and proceeds to volunteer to do double everybody's job because he was a senior. 

Hilariously enough.... well, hilarious now, but it wasn't funny then, after we were more or less done (3 hours of pointless, backbreaking work, i tell you...) It started to rain. And the wind started to blow. And.....more leaves came down from the nearby trees and covered the club again. If it were an anime, we would have had really hilarious faces at that moment. In fact, i quite think our faces then were 'ROFL-worthy' enough.

I have sidetracked. I was trying to point out Damien's lack of hesitation in taking up responsibility. He's got this thing about him which can best be described as a 'Normally i won't do it, but if i have to, i'll do it good' attitude going. (I know its not a 'best' description, but i couldn't find a suitable word o_O)

You know, it is that very trait which led Damien to surpass his the fellow seniors in his batch, all of whom progressed to K-1 faster than him. Why join a team, if you're only going to waste your time and lag behind, right? With that in mind, he was spurred on to go down to the club every day by himself, brought out a boat, and trained. 

Bryan and Damien will be awesome examples to follow, for some of you soon. See, kayaking is not a sport meant for everybody. It so happens that we have the fortune to join this sport thanks to the Poly. However, I doubt most of you have tried anything beyond a slalom or a sit on top kayak, and will find racing kayaks to be a totally different level. Who knows, maybe you'll downright suck. (If you excuse my language)

But so what? These two didn't give up just because they were moving slower than the others at the get-go. And now... well... you can eat their backwash.

Despite looking like a dragonboater, though, Damien's a really gentle guy. That's why he's not a dragonboater. The same hands which can do this.... 

Can also do this.

(aww. Kitty.)

And oh ya, Damien in case you would like to know... Randall's still taking really good care of that cat. No worries. =D

Anyway, even though Damien knows how to take good care of his million-dollar face by going for regular eyebrow-plucking sessions... 

he doesn't mind the occasional unglam =D Neither does he mind letting his hair down (figuratively) every once in a while, because everyone knows that playing cool perpetually makes you into.... snoopy. (ok, randomness.)

(Rare shot of your VC behaving like a complete toot! =D)

Even though he may fall off his wagon every once in a while........ 

(This picture wasn't faked!)

He still does whatever he needs to do, when he has to do it, and that's why we can call him our senior.