Pursuing their motocross dreams across the Causeway

Life was looking bleak for Mr Fazlin when his new car-detailing business failed during the pandemic.

The 45-year-old had invested more than $100,000 into the venture in 2018 after quitting his job as a safety officer and putting his safety consultancy business on hold.

For over six months, he slogged for 12 hours daily without taking a salary. But just as the workshop started to find its footing, the pandemic hit.

Mr Fazlin said: “I felt depressed. I stopped talking to my wife and my kids. I just felt like I was a failure because I couldn’t provide for my family.”

But his wife encouraged him to take up his old hobby for solace - off-road motorcycle riding.

The pastime helped him to take his mind off his problems.

There was one other key benefit - he began spending more time with his family again.

His sons Ian Fareez Muhammad Fazlin, 13, and Iman Faiq Muhammad Fazlin, 11, were curious about his hobby, so he introduced them to motocross – a sport he did at 16.

He let them have a go at riding. Both enjoyed it so much that they pestered him to take them riding again.

Since April 2022, they have been travelling to Johor every weekend for motocross training.

"I'm very thankful that they want to do motocross," Mr Fazlin said. “When I was alone, I would worry a lot. But this gives me something to focus on.”

In May 2023, the boys joined the newly formed PGM Tech 23 Racing – a motocross team with Singaporean and Malaysian riders – to compete in the Malaysian Motocross Championship (MMC) from July 8 to Dec 17.

Despite the time spent on their new hobby, Mr Fazlin said he and his wife, Nasuha Slamat, 44, noticed that the boys started getting better grades in school, especially Ian, who started riding at 12, in the run-up to the Primary School Leaving Examination in 2022.

Mr Fazlin said: “I used motocross as a carrot. And it worked.”

He told Ian, who often struggled to pass his exams, he needed to buck up if he wanted to continue with motocross.

“I told him ‘If you screw up your studies, I’m going to sell your bike’.”

It worked. Ian qualified for the Normal (Academic) stream. He also received the Edusave Good Progress Award, which recognises the top 10 per cent of students who have improved most in terms of academic performance and showed good conduct.

For his mid-year exams this year, the Secondary 1 student at Unity Secondary School scored A1s in three subjects, including maths, which was his weakest subject.

Said Ian: “From Monday to Friday, I study hard. Then on Saturday and Sunday, I play hard.”

Both brothers and their sister, Iris Sayra Muhammad Fazlin, 12, are allowed to use electronic gadgets such as phones and laptops only on weekends.

Mr Fazlin, who started working life with an N-Level certificate, said he hopes his children graduate with a bachelor’s degree. He is also working on getting a degree.

“I’ve always told them that whatever they do, do it well. It’s not just about results. It’s about building character,” he added.

“As parents, we can only instil discipline, provide moral support and money – that’s the crazy part.”

Motocross is not a cheap sport – buying dirt bikes, bike parts and petrol all add up.

To fund the hobby, Mr Fazlin works long hours as a safety manager and a workplace safety consultant. Ms Nasuha, who quit her job as a logistics executive four months ago, is looking for a new job.

Mr Fazlin estimates that they have spent about $60,000 on motocross till now. The family spends about $350 every week when they travel to Johor.

He said: “It’s a high-risk sport. Safety is the first priority.”

In June, Ian crashed his bike after a jump, which resulted in a sprained ligament in his left knee.

How does mum feel about her young boys engaging in such a risky pastime?

Ms Nasuha said: “Sometimes when they take the jumps, I will gasp.”

Mr Fazlin, who is a team manager for PGM Tech 23 Racing, is responsible for securing sponsors to partially fund the team’s expenses.

So far, the team have sponsors for tyres, lubricant and other bike parts, and individual riders have sponsors for riding gear.

A typical weekend sees them driving from their four-room Housing Board flat in Choa Chu Kang to the boys’ maternal grandparents’ house in Johor where their bikes are kept.

During training, they usually do three to four races, called motos, which have a duration of 20 minutes plus two laps each. This is nearly twice as long as a standard race for Ian and Iman and helps build their stamina and strength.

When The Straits Times joined them on June 30, the throaty rumble of the engines echoed around the track at Medini in Johor as the sun rose.

By noon, splattered with mud and dirt, the boys wolfed down lunch, which was washed down with isotonic drinks.

During breaks, their coach Hazlanshah Mohd Noor, 31 – one of the top riders in Malaysia before he retired – ran through techniques and strategies to help them better their timing.

Ian said his father always gives them advice and encouragement when they train, too.

He added that he wanted to quit motocross once because he felt that his performance had plateaued.

But his father told him not to give up, and they watched YouTube videos about motocross techniques and studied GoPro footage of his training sessions together.

“I can’t give up because I’ve committed myself to motocross,” the 13-year-old said. His hands were callused on the palm – where torn blisters had healed – and tanned on the other.

To keep pace with their competitors, the boys train on Saturdays and Sundays. Most of the other Singaporean riders spend only a day in Malaysia.

“It’s all about mileage,” Mr Fazlin said. “I told my wife that we have to commit to training twice a week.”

That weekend – June 30 to July 2 – was more hectic than usual because they had to prepare for MMC the following week.

Whenever they had some downtime, the boys scrolled through social media and played mobile games – Iman has seven motocross games on his phone.

Ms Nasuha, who is always the first to wake up to prepare the equipment for the boys, was still doing the boys’ laundry late into the night on Sunday.

On July 6, the family flew to Penang for the opening leg of the MMC – the boys’ first race overseas as part of a team.

The prospect left Ms Nasuha “very kancheong” (anxious) as they had raced only in the Singapore MX Beach Race previously.

The MMC, which was established in 2022, has more than 15 teams this year with over 100 competitors from countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

There are five legs: Penang (July 8-9), Selangor (Sept 16-17), Putrajaya (Oct 14-15), Pahang (Nov 25-26) and Johor (Dec 16-17).

Each leg consists of practice sessions and two to three motos.

Iman rides in the 65cc class for riders aged nine to 12.

Ian, who rides a larger bike, competes in the 85cc class for riders aged 13 to 16.

For both classes, the race format features two motos, with each moto lasting 12 minutes plus two laps. Points earned from each moto are combined to determine the finishing order.

Points are accrued at each event throughout the season, and the rider with the highest total in each class after the final event will be crowned champion.

The track at Penang is about 1.06km long with huge jumps, lots of fast corners and a tricky whoop that brought thrills and spills throughout the weekend. A whoop is a long series of small bumps on a motocross track.

Hundreds of spectators supported the riders while perched on the edge of the hillside around the perimeter of the track, even as it drizzled during the races on the second day.

The weather changed from blistering heat to a torrential downpour, causing track conditions to change drastically over the course of the competition.

In dry conditions, the dirt bikes struggled to find traction in the loose sand and uneven terrain, kicking up mini dust storms.

After walking the track on Friday morning, Ian noted that the biggest jump at the finish line seemed “a little sketchy”.

During the second practice, he accelerated too much uphill, which made him lose control of the landing, and was flung off his bike at the base of the jump.

In the end, Iman beat 10 riders to come in sixth, as his family and friends cheered him on.

Ian came in 13th in a field of 22 riders after the two-day competition, results that had a proud Mr Fazlin telling his sons:

“You guys did good.”

Iman, who wanted to mark his debut with a podium finish, was disappointed but was comforted by his mother, who encouraged him to try to do better in the next one.

Despite the disappointment, Iman, a Primary 5 pupil at Concord Primary School, is already looking forward to taking on faster opponents.

He has his eye on a career in motocross and wants to race at different tracks and explore places around the world.

In contrast, Ian said he feels the pressure to excel because he knows how much his parents have invested in them.

“I try to make my parents proud, so they don’t feel like they’re wasting their money.”

But as long as they put in the work, Mr Fazlin said he will continue to support their dreams.

“I always have this mentality – if you want to do it, just do it. Nothing is impossible.”