Images: Julian Yee
It was a sweet surprise for Malaysians, since everyone is aware that we are living in a tropical country where the sight of snow was probably unheard of except if you visited the fake snow house in Genting Highlands.
“A lot of emotions ran through my mind when I heard the announcement. I was in shock. The first thing I said to myself was “Yes! Finally, the time has come and I pulled through.” All the years of hard work and dedication finally paid off,” Julian told Rojak Daily.
The prestigious sporting event will take place at Pyeongchang, South Korea from 9 to 25 February 2018. We’re keeping our fingers crossed and pray that Julian will make another historical feat by having a podium finish.
But before reaching to one of the highlights of his career, the 20-year-old skater had to endure a lot of challenges and obstacles to get where he is today.
In this exclusive interview with Rojak Daily, Julian shares his highs and lows throughout his journey as a national figure skater.
From Hobby to Full-Time Career
For many of us, our hobbies are something that we enjoy doing our free time and may not necessarily turn out to be a career. But for Julian, it was a different story.“One day, my mom was at Sunway Pyramid when she saw a young boy spinning on the ice rink. She was intrigued by his moves so she decided to learn it herself and brought along my brothers and I to learn it together. I was four years old at that time. Let’s just say, since that day, the rest was history.”
Julian enjoyed ice-skating as a hobby and eventually fell in love with it that he decided to make it a full-time career. He entered his first competition – Skate Malaysia, a recreational competition at the age of five!
It’s Not a Smooth-Skating Trip to The Top
Behind every success comes an inspirational back story. One that not many people may know and sometimes, could be a cold, icy, and lonely journey.
“When I entered competitions, we were often looked down by other competitors since Malaysia isn’t well known in the figure skating world. It was a rough journey to get people to notice that our country actually has potential in this sport.”
Well, watch out world! Who knows, our very own Julian will make it to final and end up finishing in the top three.
“Malaysia is fairly new to this sport (figure skating) therefore there’s not much people with expertise in this field. I made many mistakes throughout the learning process, which ended up costing more time and money.”
Julian feels grateful for all the sacrifices his family has made for him especially their time and money that was spent on his training fees, coaching, equipment, etc. But now, since he has qualified into the Winter Olympics, there might be some financial setbacks to help him reach his ultimate goal.
Julian told Rojak Daily at the time of interview that he’s currently training in Barrie, Ontario, Canada off and on for the past two years. The figure skater has a series of competitions lined up for him starting this November.
Recently, he revealed that his training sessions can be costly and since Malaysia doesn’t have any proper facilities or many experienced coaches, he is forced to train overseas.
“I have been training for short stints in China, South Korea, and Canada as I cannot afford proper long-term training,” he said.
This has prompted him to set up his own GoFundMe account where he aims to raise about CAD60,000 (RM 202,974.79).
We know, some of you may be wondering, is the government doing anything to help our Olympic skater? Well according to Julian, “This particular sport is still developing in Malaysia and is unknown to many. Since it’s not a core sport in the country, I do not receive sufficient funds from the authorities. One of my aims is to promote the sport and put my country on the Figure Skating map.”
Julian needs to be in top shape and receive the best training at the most suitable facilities and environment in order to give a world-class performance during the Winter Olympics. If you’d like to help Julian to realise his dream, you can donate here.
He’s Got The Brains and The Brawns
We were intrigued to know if Julian is currently pursuing his studies on the side and boy, we were very impressed by the dedication this fellow Malaysian has.
“I have already completed one year of studies at Sunway University Malaysia, and will be transferring over to Canada to further my studies. I’m on a gap year and in between my transfer process and I really hope I’d be able to continue my studies right after the Winter Olympics. I'm planning to major in Management.”
Prior to his territory studies, Julian had to balance what may seem like something almost impossible for any teenager. He was the school’s head prefect and house captain so he had to really emphasize on his time management.
“I've also had to balance my studies and skating as I was a full-time student in high school.”
Although Julian is only 20 years old, he knows what he wants to do in the future and has a noble cause for the nation.
“I really do hope that in the future, I would be able to give back to this sport in Malaysia and even South East Asia. I want to share my knowledge and help guide the future generations and teach them a quicker path to success so that they don’t have to make the same mistakes I did while learning.”
The Secret Ingredients To Make A Graceful Figure Skater
Figure skating may look like something fun and easy but in reality, it’s actually not. It takes years of hard work, perseverance, dedication and countless hours of training.
“Figure skating is a sport that compromises of so many different aspects of other sports. We require the speed of a speed skater, the balance of a gymnast, the poise of a ballerina/ballerino, the agility of a dancer and on top of all of that, we have to make it look easy.”
“Learning figure skating can be fun and a nice challenge and it isn't too difficult but to perfect the art of figure skating is something on another level of difficulty.”
So, What Does Julian Do In His Free Time?
Well you’re in for a surprise because Julian actually enjoys cooking and experimenting on new recipes! Walaoweh, not only can he skate and win medals, he can also skate into your stomachs with his cooking. #HusbandMaterial (kidding).
Apart from figure skating, he also likes skiing and snowboarding but since Malaysia obviously does not have any snow, he tries to play futsal when he has the chance.
Some of you die-hard supporters of Malaysia’s first male SEA Games figure skating gold medalist would know by now that Julian has his own YouTube channel where he shares his vlogs.
“I have taken an interest in vlogging because I find that it would be quite cool and nice to share my experiences with other people,” Julian told Rojak Daily.
When asked whether he will be vlogging his Winter Olympic experience, he says he plans to do so but training and competing is his priority so he will only vlog when he has some free time. We’re sure that thousands of your supporters are hoping to see that Winter Olympic vlog materialise, so no pressure, Julian! You can view his vlogs here.
Julian hopes that he will make it into the finals in the 2018 Winter Olympics and aims to keep the Jalur Gemilang flying high at international skating events to help raise awareness that Malaysia also has a very talented bunch in that arena.
He also encourages more Malaysians to join the sport be it figure skating or ice skating in general to help contribute to this developing sport in our country.
“I feel that we have got a lot of talented up and coming skaters but it would always be great if we could attract more people in to this sport to build a bigger pool (of skaters) and foundation for it.”
Well Julian, we wish you the best of luck and we are looking forward to see the Jalur Gemilang at the Winter Olympics next year. Malaysia boleh!
Sumber Julian Yee Shares His Struggles From Skating At The Local Ice Rink To Qualifying The 2018 Winter Olympics
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