In a country of pragmatic and conservative citizens, Ng “Pokemon” Jun Hong goes against the grain to pursue a part-time career in esports.
Well-established in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) professional scene, the 22-year-old native Singaporean player excels with his superior game sense and aggressive playstyle.
Starting the game back during his compulsory military service, the Evos SG offlaner soon found himself hooked by the prospect of a higher level of gameplay. Shortly after he decided to pursue the game competitively and applied to join Evos SG.
“I found out about Evos through YouTube and thought to myself ‘wow I want to play ML competitively on a stage too’,” shared the offlaner.
Today the Evos SG player continues to enjoy the game and is not only ranked in the top 100 on the ranked leaderboard but also a maiden winner of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Pro League (MPL) SG 2021.
“Whenever I’m in a game it feels like I’m living in another world and escaping from reality,” added Pokemon.
A work-life balance nightmare
But sadly, reality always comes back to haunt him. To support himself financially, the young MLBB player faces the challenge of balancing his full-time job as a financial advisor with his commitments as a professional player.
With such demanding commitments, Pokemon tries to overcome the mountainous challenge the only way he knows how, by pushing through and allocating his time properly. Ensuring no time goes to waste.
“It’s impossible to do both things at the same time, for MPL SG I sacrificed my work for 2 weeks just to be able to fully focus on MPL SG,” shared the 22-year-old.
In exchange for the constant challenge and sacrifice, Pokemon found not only a place for himself in the competitive esports world but also a family.
“I’m pretty sure these people will be part of my life for the rest of my life,” added Pokemon.
Onwards to the next frontier
Moving forward as the maiden winners of MPL SG, Evos SG prepares to face its greatest challenge yet. The upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2021 starting on Monday (7 June).
Set to face off strong teams like RSG MY, Blacklist International and even RSG SG again, Pokemon and his team religiously practice their skills, playing scrimmages and reviewing their matches, all for the chance of winning the title and overcoming their greatest threat and counterpart Evos Legends.
“EVOS Indonesia is the biggest threat to us and Antimage from EVOS Indonesia is the strongest player,” added the 22-year-old gamer.
Gearing up for the tournament and faced with stress and criticism, Pokemon overcomes the brickbats and haters to continue pursuing his passion. All the while staying true to his own beliefs.
Said Pokemon: “The way I deal with stress is actually pretty simple, people hate on you when you’re above them, just continue doing what you do best and don’t let their criticism get the best of you.”
