The man who never stopped living and lifting

By, Daniel Yam

January  2016

 

Meet Kalai Vanen, the fifty-six year old Paralympic powerlifter who won Singapore's very first medal for the event. Losing one of his legs at 29 never stopped the father of two from living life and achieving his goals. Now training for the upcoming games at Rio 2016, Kalai shares with us his story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video credit: Daniel Yam, Aruni Musfirah

 

Imagine finding out your left leg has contracted cancer at the age of 22 with your whole life ahead of you. That was a terrible reality Kalai Vanen faced in his youth. Now fifty-six, the father of two won Singapore's very first Paralympic powerlifting medal at the recent games held in Singapore.

 

Kalai never stopped living the life he envisioned for himself. With sports very much a part of his life, he simply didn't let his physical limitation stop him from living and achieving his dreams. Now running a successful personal training programme, he aims to achieve more than any Singaporean Paralympian has done before by taking part in the Paralympic games in Rio 2016.

 

My team travelled down to Feng Shan community centre where we meet Kalai during one of his training sessions. Due to his increasing popularity, there were other photographers from different schools on site as well to conduct their own respective interviews. We had a sit-down interview with Kalai as we learn of his motivations and shot visuals of him in action.

 

 

 

 

 

Industry-related broadcast journalism piece done in association with Sport Singapore. Travelled to Feng Shan community centre where Kalai trains and conducted the interview with other reporters on site as Kalai allocates a specific time for interviews to be done.