A Soldier From Singapore
This is Part I of a three-part series on Coach Aeon, tracing his journey from military service in Singapore to the discipline that would later shape his approach to coaching.
EVERY SON OF SINGAPORE must be ready for war. Their fathers answered the call. Brothers answer the call. Their sons and grandsons will answer the call.
Ong Wei Sheng, better known as Coach Aeon of Team Liquid Philippines, has answered the call. He has been with the Singaporean Army since he was 19.
And every year, he goes back to the Army to keep training.
“After the two years of full-time service, it’s not really done yet because for the next 10 years, we have to go back every year for two weeks. Even for me,” Aeon tells ALL-STAR.
Coach Aeon is now 30 years old. He still has to return to camp for the next two or three years.
ALSO READ:
Why every Singaporean son must serve.
Similar to Israel, Singapore requires its male citizens to serve in National Service for two years, typically starting between the ages of 18 and 20. After completing full-time service, they continue as reservists for the next 10 years, returning each year for about two weeks of training.
In fact, this approach was largely influenced by Israel, also a small country with few manpower. Israel helped Singapore build up its defense structure, sharing expertise on conscription, training systems, and how a small nation can maintain a strong, ready force.
Today, Singapore’s military is considered among the most advanced and potent in the Asia Pacific. And every Singaporean son must serve.
Even Coach Aeon, no matter where he is in the world.
“My real name is Wei Sheng. In game, it’s Aeon. I am the head coach of TLPH, and I’ve been in the scene since the start really, in 2018. I just turned 30 in March,” he tells ALL-STAR.
He sips his iced coffee.
He looked like a happy kid as he enjoyed his mocha with a straw.
Nothing about his demeanor or way of speaking tells you that he endured one of the world’s toughest military training.
But 11 years ago, he was battling the jungle, crawling through mud, drilling endlessly. For the first six months in camp, that was his life.
“You are a recruit, you have no rank, you are basically the lowest of the low in the military. You cannot talk back… your life is not really yours,” says Coach Aeon.
For the first six months, there is no space for anything else. No games, no distractions, no identity beyond survival and obedience.
“The first six months was the training phase, it was really busy. Every day, you have no energy or time to do anything else,” said Aeon.
But eventually, the system loosens its grip.
“After the training phase, you will be posted at different units in the military. Signal, Infantry, Armor, different units in the military,” says Aeon.
“When you’re in those units, you have more time. Like at night, after 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., you stay in camp, you have nothing to do. That’s when I played MLBB.”
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was released in Singapore in 2017. Coach Aeon was one of the first people to play it and has been playing on the same account ever since.
Although many personal items are considered contraband in camp, cellphones are allowed for practical and welfare reasons.
“Around 2017, MLBB was released in Singapore. I was in the Army, so I downloaded it to try it.”
The game became the release of sorts for Aeon, playing with his fellow officers while resting in the barracks.
It was a small reason how they survived through two years of National Service.
Now, Aeon is a commander in the Singapore Armed Forces, with the role of Specialist. Every year, he returns to service for two weeks.
You enter the Army as boys. You come out as men.
“In Singapore, we always have this saying called ‘boys to men.’ You enter the Army as boys and you come out as men.”
A very different kind of boot camp
He takes another sip of iced mocha while vapor rises around him.
“It would take me too long to even explain how it changed me… but I think it would be independence, leadership, and even social bonds.”
“In life, if you don’t like someone, you can not deal with them. But in the Army, we have no choice but to learn to work together.”
In reality, he operates in high-performance environments where results are driven by structure, discipline, and decision-making under pressure. As a civilian, he is a senior financial consultant and a founder of a neuroscience-guided wellness company.
Years later, Coach Aeon finds himself in a very different kind of boot camp. Not a military boot camp but Team Liquid’s esports boot camp filled with personalities, egos, and veterans who have already won everything there is to win.
Despite everything he’s built—his discipline, his experience, his life—here, he starts from zero.
Every son of Singapore must be ready for war.
But his arrival at Team Liquid is something nobody has prepared for.
ALSO READ:
For more exclusive esports stories, click here.
