S'porean man, 32, seen parkouring over rooftops at RWS hotel, clarifies he was doing it legally

A Singaporean man was seen jumping over the rooftops of Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), prompting some backlash and criticism.

He was captured in a TikTok video on Oct. 12, with the caption reading, "Saw a siaolang (crazy person) flipping over a roof at my hotel at @rwsentosa".

@deeenester Saw a siaolang flipping over a roof at my hotel at @rwsentosa 😱 @Red Bull Singapore ♬ original sound - ROLI Create

Some users were quick to decry his actions, with many saying his stunts were illegal and calling for the police to arrest him.

Unbeknownst to them, the poster was in fact the man featured in the video — a parkour practitioner with nearly two decades of experience.

He was also performing parkour legally, as part of a collaboration between RWS and Red Bull.

Who is he?

In response to Mothership's queries, Denester, whose real name is Koh Chen Pin, revealed that he has been practicing parkour since 2007.

Originating in France, parkour is a sport that involves traversing an environment through acts like vaulting, jumping, or rolling.

He first came across the sport while watching the movie "Yamakasi" — based on the real-life group which popularised the sport — with his secondary school friends.

Inspired, they imitated what they saw in the movie, practicing at void decks and playgrounds.

He eventually stumbled upon an online forum called parkour.sg and met with other "traceurs" — the term for a parkour practitioner — which became his proper introduction to the sport.

While he received guidance from other community members, he claimed that the process was very much "trial and error" as tutorials and lessons were less common at the time.

He added that he would watch online videos and study other athletes frame-by-frame.

The actual video

Now 32, Koh runs his own academy, Lion City Parkour, with the goal of introducing people to parkour in a safe and accessible way.

He also clarified that his stunts at RWS were performed legally, as part of a collaboration between RWS and Red Bull.

The video featured various locations around the resort and showcased how the athletes maneuvered and traversed the grounds, using an array of tricks such as rolls and flips.

He was one of four international parkour athletes who were part of the video project, with the others being from Australia, the Netherlands, and Thailand.

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Calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, Koh revealed that the video was an idea that he'd nursed for "many years" now, with RWS and Red Bull giving him the chance to make it happen.

From storyboarding to completion, it took five to six months for the video to be completed and posted.

It was "no simple feat", he added, listing obstacles such as permits, insurance, and budgets.

Koh later uploaded a behind-the-scenes video detailing how the video was filmed over multiple days, with safety briefings that began as early as 6am.

The danger?

Despite all his precautions, Koh often gets comments online criticising him for undertaking such dangerous feats.

In response, Koh told Mothership that he has learnt to "take them with a pinch of salt".

"I can understand how they may think it’s me playing with my life, but I know for sure I worked really really hard on myself to be able to ‘play with my life’ like that.

I know how much I treasure my body and life, more than any online commenters would know!"

On his social media accounts, Koh regularly posts videos practicing parkour around HDB estates, traversing structures around the void deck or scaling walls multiple storeys high.

He claims that these "concrete jungles" are "amongst the best parkour spots in the world".

He also emphasised that he does his best to leave the space intact, wiping the area down with wet wipes after he is done.

While he has had run-ins with members of the public, he added that complaints are getting less common as parkour is gaining recognition internationally.

In fact, he often receives positive reactions from the public.

"I do think they can tell it takes a lot of practice to be able to execute the things that I do!"

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