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When Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam posted a video of himself deadlifting his personal best of 105kg at a gym, he went viral.

At the Chong Pang Fitness Fiesta held on Sunday, Nov. 27, he clinched a new personal best of 125kg.

Working his way up to 125kg

63-year-old Shanmugam started with warmup sets involving lighter weights and took breaks in between sets.

His trainer gradually increased the weight up to 90kg, 100kg, and his previous record of 105kg.

After breaking his own record by lifting 110kg, his trainer increased the weight plates in increments of 5kg.

Shanmugam managed each lift up till 120kg, and was then given a choice between 122.5kg or 125kg for his next attempt.

He went for 125kg.

He also promised his trainer that even if he managed to lift 125kg, he would not go any further than that.

With encouragement from his trainer and the crowd that gathered at the event, he managed to deadlift 125kg, 20kg heavier than his previous personal record.

Shanmugam's trainer also shared that not many people can do it at this age, and that it takes mental strength to be able to do it.

"To do 20kg more is not easy, so I am quite glad, but you know when you do weight lifting, it is more for your bone density, your muscles, it is not an ego trip," Shanmugam told Mothership after his win.

He reiterated that the reason for him trying to hit a new personal best at the event was to encourage more to attend.

"The more important message is that everyone should try and get healthy," he said.

Chong Pang Fitness Fiesta 

Chong Pang Fitness Fiesta 2022 was organised in Shanmugam's ward in Nee Soon GRC.

The event had both adult and children categories, with 20 stations each, for participants to try different sports and fitness exercises.

Participants aged 18 and above could join the adult category, while those aged six to 17 could participate in the children's category.

Shanmugam shared that the main purpose of the event was to encourage residents of all ages to lead a healthy lifestyle.

"One of the biggest issues facing Singapore is an aging population. When we age, we want to age well, we want to be fit and healthy, we don't want a long life that is spent in hospitals with low quality [of life], we want it to be high quality," he said.

Shanmugam said the response to the event was "quite encouraging", with people from different age groups signing up to participate.

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Top image via Mothership livestream