When Pei Hoon said “We are Better than them” at Represent, deep inside everyone knew it was an incredibly gutsy statement to make, but all of us still yelled out our support and approval.
Personally, I did this not because I believed he would win the 3 way or that a Singaporean will definitely take K.O. (Although I do believe these could happen), but because I did truly believe that gamers in Singapore have reasons to utter those words.
We, Singapore, such a small nation, have hosted an INTER-NATION 6 week long tournament major for Street Fighter 4… Considering the size of the country, the number of tournament regulars and the time we had for preparations, pulling off 5 qualifiers, one of which nearly hitting 64-men, was an incredible achievement.
We, Singapore, are hosting a Japan vs Korea vs Singapore exhibition match. A 3 way showdown pulled off with minimal funding, just the power of the community and the “common language” of people who share a similar passion. (Back in March, Yagami did a nice write up on how Street Fighter is a “Common language” that bridges language barriers between him and foreign players. It explains what I mean in this paragraph really well and can be found here.)
We, Singapore, have been holding tournaments and keeping the passion burning for as long as competitive fighting games have existed and we have been doing this over and over again for various games, not just Street Fighter 4. Where competition is bred by the games and the people, not just by hype. And if you don’t believe we keep doing it over and over again?
We, Singapore, have put aside our worries about money, time, energy and in some cases our social lives, to make this all happen. And we did it all fueled… on Passion.
So if you sit down and think about it, in these 6 short weeks we have achieved a lot that most gamers, screw that, most people with a PASSION for something they love, can only dream about. So to everyone reading this now I say to you this… On Friday and Saturday, you’ll get one shot to take everything that’s been done to make this happen, and make it all worth it.
“A stage and its actors are nothing without an audience.”
You’ve shown us the passion before, now show it to us again, on a stage that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. Shout, laugh, scream, maybe even cry. Make your passion heard at TGX’09.
This is our passion, these are our games. And even if we’re not the best in the world (yet), in our hearts and our memories:
“We..
are better than them.”
Photos were taken off the following sites
www.tkaworld.com
http://sf4singapore.blogspot.com
www.soulsingapore.com
Disclaimer: The term “We are better than them” is not intentionally being used as a taunt or to wag epen. Nor is it being used to refer to the standard of competition or gameplay in Singapore.
