Leaps, crawls, rolls: 63-year-old makes parkour look like child’s play in Toa Payoh playground

SINGAPORE – A playground is not just for the young, but also the young at heart.

Forward rolls across rubber flooring, leaping across tiny platforms and leopard crawling under rope netting – these acrobatic manoeuvres are child’s play for 63-year-old Sing Yuen Lim, who was filmed doing parkour at a playground in Toa Payoh.

The video, which is one minute and 34 seconds long, has been making the rounds on Instagram. It has garnered more than 6.8 million views and 208,000 likes since it was posted on Movement Singapore’s page on Jan 29.

Clad in pink tracksuit bottoms and an Adidas T-shirt, Ms Sing Yuen can be seen bounding and leaping across the playground.

The video has sparked amazement among viewers.

One netizen with the handle asriachieww said: “I’m not even 40 yet, but with my current body condition, I’m not sure I could do that. It’s a strong motivation for me to get in better shape.”

Another, who goes by the handle joshuamain_, praised the sexagenarian’s independence, joking that Ms Sing Yuen would “never have to wait for firefighters to save her”.

The video has made some viewers reflect on the health of their ageing parents. One netizen with the username jiex0707 said: “If my mum could do all these exercises at her age, I will be more than happy because it means she is healthy.”

When asked about the reception she gets when people see her doing parkour, Ms Sing Yuen said: “They think I am nuts.”

She added: “My kids think it’s cool, especially when their friends show them the videos. I thought they would be embarrassed. I’m glad they are supportive.”

In response to the viral video, she said she was “slightly embarrassed” because she did not think “it was very good or very extreme parkour, which many people do much better”.

“If someone wants to sponsor me, that would be the bonus,” she added, tongue-in-cheek.

Ms Sing Yuen, who also teaches Lindy Hop dancing in Singapore and globally, said that she realised she had to “take steps to be active” as she aged.

When asked about the attention the video has received, Movement Singapore director and coach Tan Shie Boon said: “Our parkour school has come a long way trying to gain recognition for the benefits of parkour for seniors.

“It seems like there’s more traction and public approval for such a sport that can possibly be more mainstream for seniors.”

Movement Singapore started in 2022 and offers weekly parkour classes in Toa Payoh, Clementi and MacPherson for those aged between 50 and 70.

Mr Tan, 33, said the school aims to combat deadly falls among Singapore’s ageing population through agility training. It has 25 to 30 regular weekly students.

Said Ms Sing Yuen: “Younger people don’t know the challenges of ageing, and it’s easy to dismiss them and get shocked when a 60-year-old does active things. No, 60 is not that old if you keep your body and mind active.”