81-year-old grandmaster picked up martial arts to fend off gangs in 1950s Singapore

SINGAPORE - Duels in martial arts competitions are sometimes regarded more as a sport, but fighting used to be a matter of life and death in 1950s Singapore when secret societies ran amok, recalled choy li fut grandmaster Chia Yan Soon.

Then a teenager, Mr Chia had picked up martial arts skills out of interest and a practical need to fend off gangs from the fishmonger business he ran with his older brother.