On Court, He's Magic; Off Court, He's A Cheesy Magician With A Magical Heart
All sports fanatics know the joy of witnessing magic moments - whether on the court, on the pitch or in the pool.
And basketball veteran Ng Han Bin has produced many such moments in his career with the Singapore Slingers.
The 31-year-old, who called time on his B-ball career last August after nine seasons due to multiple injuries and pain-related issues, recently made a return to the court earlier this month.
What did he injure you might wonder? Not only his knees, but also his quadriceps, Achilles heel, and hips. On top of that, he's had to deal with living with only one functional kidney ever since he lost the other one at the age of three.
His return to the court despite these phyhsical obstacles is, indeed, nothing but magical.
Even more magical is this fella's heart.
Since Slingers fan Nickson Yee passed away from leukaemia at the age of 15 in 2017, Hanbin has been playing every game in remembrance of him:
He's also great with children (and the reason he might look like a giant next to them is because he's 1.96m tall), and is a strong supporter of investing in the next generation.
He wrote in one Instagram post: "Fulfilment comes from using our gifts to serve others. Moments like these often serve as great reminders to face all adversities with courage."
In another post, he muses: "More often than not, kids aren’t the reason that we lose our patience. We are. It’s up to us to challenge ourselves to be more nurturing towards them instead of taking our lack of patience and frustration out on them. 'Every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.' Treat them right."
But if you aren't into sports and are just looking for mindless entertainment, that's something Han Bin can provide too.
Now and then, his Instagram feed is interrupted by a video of a magic trick, each with the hashtag #magic时间 (which translates to "magic time"), and delivered in supreme cheesiness and extreme Singlish (although we do believe he puts a lot of thought and practice into each sleight of hand).
We've listed some of our favourite ones here. For example, the coin that moves magically through a shot glass:
The cotton bud that disappears and reappears:
The ice cube that disappears and reappears:
Playing cards that jump from pocket to mouth:
The coin that disappears and reappears:
The piece of paper that floats magically:
The $50 note that floats magically:
VERY IMPRESSIVE: The torn piece of paper that becomes whole again... with a twist!
The coin that gets transferred magically into a bottle of water:
The bubble tea straw that gets cut in half, but not the handphone cable that is threaded through it:
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