Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Ming Leong: 'I swore never to be belittled by anyone. Thus, I developed into this little toughie'
Be inspired by the success stories of fitness influencers, celebrities, models, trainers and everyday movers in Singapore
Cheryl Tay
·Contributor
Sun, 7 April 2024 at 5:57 pm GMT-7
Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Ming Leong is an entrepreneur who has set up her own pole studio Euphoria Pole. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more! Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook!
Name: Ming Leong aka Suzie Wong (
@suzieming)
Age: 55
Height: 1.50m
Weight: 46kg
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Status: Single
Food: I don’t have a particular diet; I just eat everything in moderation.
Exercise: I do a mix of pole and aerial fitness, bungee fitness, jogging, cycling, dragon boat and CrossFit.
Q: When you were younger, were you active in sports?
A: Yes, I was on the netball school team when I was younger. I also scored gold in the annual physical fitness test and I still have the gold collar pins to attest to it, haha.
How did you get into pole dancing?
I got really unfit when I started working, and that must have been between 25 and 35 years old. I was rather unfit for about 10 years of my adult life and I was trying different things to improve my fitness.
Then I stumbled upon pole dance fitness at 35 and have never looked back since.
Ming Leong got into pole dance fitness at age 35, in a bid to get herself fit. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
What led you to start your own pole studio Euphoria Pole?
I started doing pole dance performances at corporate events and practically every time I was done, I encountered ladies coming to ask me where they can learn this form of dance. I thought to myself that it might be a good idea to start a small studio, so I did in 2008.
Why did you decide to take pole dancing beyond the studio?
As a singer and entertainer for corporate events, I often need to think out of the box to add value to my acts and stay relevant. Hence I was considering a bunch of different stuff from belly dancing to poi twirling. When I started learning inverts on the pole, it gave me an idea to marry pole dancing with my singing acts.
At that time there were no mobile poles available here so I went to a carpentry shop to have mine fabricated. It cost S$1,600 back than and it was so heavy it literally required four burly guys to lift it on and off the stage. Despite the challenge, that made me the first Singaporean to incorporate pole dancing acts into company dinner and dances and gala events.
The 2009 National Day Parade also invited me to be part of it that year and my team and I were the first pole dance team to be featured on national television. As my act became more popular, I started modifying the mobile pole stage until X-pole came up with their modular version called the X-Stage.
Currently I own the most number of X-stages in Singapore, because we at Euphoria Pole and Aerial Fitness are the No.1 provider of pole and aerial performances in Singapore.
Ming Leong's pole dance fitness team was featured in the 2009 National Day Parade. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
When you were younger, did you experience any incidents that made you feel insecure about yourself?
I’ve always been the tiniest in school so at the age of eight, I asked my mum to let me learn martial arts and I got my black belt in taekwondo at 12. I recall a guy in my class who called me "Shorty" and during one sparring session, I literally beat the hell out of him.
In Primary 6, I had a class form teacher who was mildly abusive. He was also our PE teacher. When he heard I was a black belt in taekwondo, he would torture me in PE class. I had to do exercises that were doubly hard compared to other students, as he sought to embarrass me in class. I would endure and when he could not achieve his objective, he took it out on me academically.
For example, he punished me and made me stand up in class from the start to the end of the session, just because we could not agree on something. When I went home and told my mum about the punishments, she sobbed and apologised because she felt that she was inadequate in protecting me (back then, parent complaints were not a thing unlike now). That made me want to stand up for myself more and I swore never to be belittled by anyone. Thus, I developed into this little toughie that I am up till today.
When did you feel the least confident about yourself?
I felt the most vulnerable the one time I had to lead an entourage of 50 performers for one of Singapore’s most iconic destination’s fifth anniversary celebration with a full 40-minute circus act (think Singapore’s version of Cirque du Soleil). Up till two weeks before the event, we failed to get all the necessary engineering approvals and documentation and that caused me many sleepless nights.
Ming Leong is happy with her physique at her current age of 55. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
I had very few people I could confide in so that didn’t help. It still haunts me to today because I was responsible for so many people’s safety. Thankfully it all went well eventually. This was in June 2019.
I have since become more knowledgeable about handling bigger events and when you have knowledge you become more confident.
Did you ever struggle with your body?
I went for a physique competition once and I struggled quite a fair bit mentally. The incessant training and diet warped my mind way after the competition and I got easily depressed over a slight weight gain. Because of that, I don’t think I’ll ever want to compete in bodybuilding again. I am happy with who I am and how I look now.
Are you satisfied with your body now?
Yes I am. At 55, I am at my peak in fitness and health so I have nothing to complain about.
Do you get any comments about your body?
While majority of the followers are encouraging, inevitably there is a small group of guys who would DM suggestive stuff. I would either reply with a smiley emoji or ignore altogether haha.
If you could change anything about yourself, would you?
Yes, I wish I had started pole dancing, or just fitness as a whole, sooner. That way, I could have enjoyed it longer. But since I can’t change that, I will just make the best out of each day and live each day to the fullest.
Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Ming Leong. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)