It Started With A ‘Very Stupid’ Game
This is Part II of a three-part series on Coach Aeon, looking at how a chance encounter with a “very stupid” game—and a family that gave him room to try—set him on the path to esports.
Long before he became Coach Aeon, Wei Sheng was just a kid who stumbled into a tournament without knowing what was at stake.
“When I was 13 years old, I participated in World Cyber Games 2009… I joined without knowing there are prizes involved.”
“So you accidentally joined esports without realizing it?” we teased.
“It’s a very stupid game,” he says, laughing as he recalled the zany gameplay and visuals of Stwack. Even the name sounds stupid.
“I just went there and competed and won that game.”
He was laughing while remembering Stwack.
Stwack is a casual online multiplayer game from Viwawa where players control stickman characters in turn-based fights.
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Instead of fast reflexes, it focuses on strategy—you choose skills, manage stamina, and predict your opponent’s moves to win. As you play, you unlock more abilities and items, many of which are humorous or over-the-top (like bizarre attacks and quirky power-ups).
Somehow, this crazy title found its way to the World Cyber Games leg in Singapore in 2009.
“I just went there and competed and won that game. That’s when I realized that I love this feeling, I love competing,” Aeon tells ALL-STAR.
He grew up at the same time esports did.
In 2017, both Aeon and esports were still figuring out what they could become. In 2018, they knew there was potential. By 2020, they knew they had a solid future.
By the time he reached Polytechnic (a term used in Singapore for the place where you earn diplomas), the idea had already taken root: if there was even a small chance, he wanted to be a pro gamer.
It wasn’t a practical dream, not in Singapore, where life tended to follow a steadier script. Finish school. Serve in the Army. Then move on to college, and then work in finance, business, or something corporate.
“For me, I went to Polytechnic, where you get your diploma, and then I went to the Army, and I didn’t go to college after. I was already in MPL in Singapore at that time, I just decided to focus on esports,” said Aeon.
But in Singapore, nobody really went to esports as a full-time job. There, it was treated as a sideline. Aeon still pursued it anyway.
“I realized that I love this feeling, I love competing. And even though the prizes were not big at that time, my family was not rich growing up. The money that I won helped my family when we sort of needed that money a bit,” said Aeon.
We stopped him before he could continue.
“I thought all Singaporeans were rich! What did you mean when you said your family is not rich?”
Aeon simply smiled and understood what we meant. He does not deny that Singapore is a very advanced country, ranking high up even among the developed world.
“In all countries, you have the low income, the middle class, and the rich. Singapore, as a country, is rich, in general. Most Singaporeans are rich. Our minimum wage is high.”
“In Singapore, my family belongs to the low-income bracket.”
But even so, they were not considered poor.
“We could still afford to have shelter. Basic living necessities will never be an issue in Singapore. There is no poverty.”
Bunso Culture is the same in Singapore and the Philippines
“I’ve never had the privilege of traveling,” said Aeon.
His first airplane ride was for the MPL. Moonton flew Aeon and his team to Malaysia to compete.
But Aeon had more perks as the youngest in the family. He has two older sisters, the eldest is seven years older than him.
“What was life like as the youngest sibling?” we asked.
“Life is good, actually! I think I’m quite taken care of!”
He was beaming with a naughty look on his face. So we told him about the bunso culture in the Philippines.
“In the Philippines, when you’re the youngest in the family, all your relatives tend to be very protective and supportive of you.”
“Yeah, yeah! It’s the same in Singapore!” Aeon responded with a laugh.
“I am the favorite of my grandma!”
“And also, that’s why I could do esports even though it didn’t really pay so well!”
Just like in the Philippines, when you’re the youngest member of the family in Singapore, expect to be treated with a little more affection. Grandmas tend to serve larger portions of meals for you, or tend to cook your favorite dishes more often, while parents are more lenient on you than elder children.
Aeon’s family was no different. They were lenient on him being in esports in spite of it paying smaller salaries than other jobs. But just like in the Philippines, his sisters and himself pooled together their resources to support the family.
“Now, my family is considered well-to-do because all of us are working already.”
Aeon the Money Man
Aeon knew esports is unsustainable, at least in Singapore. You needed other sources of income if you want to support a well-to-do lifestyle in that city-state.
Before joining the Singapore Armed Forces, he studied IT and earned a diploma in Business Intelligence Analytics. After his two years mandatory service, he pursued a career in finance.
While he’s a senior financial consultant in Singapore, he was also doing side projects in esports. On the side, he also founded his own wellness company, URX.
URX Life is a structured reset experience designed to help individuals disconnect, recover, and reconnect in a high-stimulation world. It is a neuroscience-guided enterprise.
“I was doing financial advisory… I still watched the MPL across regions constantly, and I still played the game a lot.”
And then Team Liquid came knocking.
Aeon took an esports hiatus in the last two years before he joined Team Liquid Philippines. He focused on his financial consultation career.
Through it all, he never lost sight of MLBB esports.
“I’m a one-game type of person. When I play a certain game, I don’t play any other games… my leisure after work is always MLBB.”
When Team Liquid came knocking on his door, he already expected the storm that would come next.
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