The Faces We Make | A Snapshot – ENSŌ POWERLIFTING

Yasin

Yasin is a man of many talents – the ardent creative behind @faceswemake, the visuals of Malaya Mayhem and half of the ‘Kota Kita’ podcast. Here, he shares his insights on powerlifting in Singapore and Malaysia, as we catch a glimpse through his lenses, and in the process, find out where to get the best fried chicken.

Hello everyone, my name is Yasin, and I am the worldʼs top fried chicken connoisseur.

I have no idea why the ENSŌ Powerlifting boys approached me to write an article for them because fried chicken and powerlifting are 2 very different things.

I may not know anything about powerlifting, but with the power of fried chicken, and some googling, I can become a powerlifting aficionado faster than you can type “World Champion of a Sport No One Really Cares About” on your IG profile.

Okay can, I just spent 81 seconds on google, and I am now an expert in powerlifting and all its nuances and intricacies!

Okay, okay. Enough nonsense.

On a more seriously unserious note, I got into powerlifting back in 2016 to rehab my injured right knee. I injured it while traveling across the Americas searching for the best fried chicken. I know a bit about strength training etc, and I felt that training the big 3 movements was the best way to strengthen my injured leg. Thatʼs when I first really got into powerlifting, and was introduced to the wonderful world of the local powerlifting community.

It was a lot of fun getting to know people from the community and I always felt very welcomed.

Being a photographer, I also enjoyed documenting meets etc. and I felt that that was my way of “contributing” to the vibrant local powerlifting scene.

My first competition was at SPO 2017. Thatʼs when I first really saw and understood what a powerlifting meet was all about. At this point of time, I was still blinded by all the “glitz and glamour” of being part of the most prestigious powerlifting federation in Singapore.

I thought of other federations as illegitimate and disreputable.

Later that year, the OCPI was held here in Singapore. It was probably one of the more fun meets Iʼve ever documented. Plus I got to shoot Jezza!

That same year, I also shot some stuff for another more setanic powerlifting federation in Singapore – the SPA (Setan Powerlifting Alliance) – but I canʼt seem to find the photos. Maybe I ate them along with my fried chicken. But those photos are not really important. Youʼll understand why later.

The vibes of documenting a meet organized by that setanic federation was a totally different experience from shooting a meet organized by the god federation.

The setanic meet was more fun, more chill, and more vibrant. It blew me away. I thought the god federation was the be all, and end all federation. Ainʼt no federation like the god federation. I thought wrong. The atmosphere of a setan meet was amazing, and the best part was that I managed to capture some great images!

Because of my work with that setan federation in Singapore, a meet organizer in KL invited me over to document the APA (Asian Powerlifting Alliance) 2018 Meet. Itʼs a regional level meet where some of the most monstrous and strongest men and women compete. This was when everything changed for me and made me realize that the world of powerlifting is a vast ocean and to limit it to just one prestigious federation is a disservice to the sport.

This was when I saw 220kg being pressed. This was when I witnessed someone pulling 350kg. Heck, there was a 350kg – maybe it was more – squat too!

Mind. Blown.

Iʼve always felt that powerlifting meets in Singapore are akin to being in a library. Quiet, lifeless, and did I mention quiet?

KL changed all that for me.

Words donʼt do justice. Take a look at these images.

The APA 2018 was the turning point for me and Iʼve not looked back since.

The vibe, the crowd, the camaraderie. Everything was on point. This was when it hit me that this “disreputable and illegitimate” federation is the federation that I can identify with. This is what powerlifting is all about. Raw, emotional, noisy, and to a certain extent, vulgar. And I mean that as a compliment.

What Iʼm trying to say is this: If youʼve only eaten KFC fried chicken, donʼt conclude that KFC is the best fried chicken. Go out into the world and discover other fried chicken.

The world of fried chicken is a vast oily ocean of goodness. Go find the one that speaks and clogs up your heart the most!