Prelude
It was New Year’s Eve 2015, Zheng Jiaxing and Nicholas Tay, both 19 then, spent their time confined in a hospital in Singapore. Following a bad fall, Jiaxing suffered a minor concussion and was subsequently hospitalised. Nicholas, who he had met in National Service and quickly became close friends with, was with him. The duo had been wheeling through a particularly dimly-lit stretch at the Kallang Park Connector, enjoying the quiet festivity and chilly breezes, on their longboards when an on-coming cyclist crashed into Jiaxing. “I was snapchatting the view and all of a sudden, I felt my body hit the floor,” Jiaxing recounts, relieved that nothing bad transpired from the skateboarding accident. “Everything was in slow motion and I couldn’t move for a good minute.”
But that fall did not stop Jiaxing nor Nicholas from skateboarding. In fact, it spurred them on. The duo had initially picked up the sport in 2014 and gradually extended their repertoire with simple tricks, dances and even some free-styling moves added to the bag.
“Whenever I skate, the world around me just drowns in silence and there’s that immense sense of freedom and release,”
Jiaxing, Co-founder of Odyssey Boards on his skateboarding passion.
The Adventure Begins
In 2016, Jiaxing launched Singapore’s first longboard brand Odyssey Boards, which first proffered longboards, then cruiser boards, and most recently, surf skates. After a few months of R&D, the team expanded and Nicholas hopped on board (pun intended). “He was the right fit,” Jiaxing gushed. For the uninitiated, longboards are a distant cousin of skateboards. Unlike conventional skateboards, they are longer in size, sturdier and easier to balance on. All these make longboarding easier to pick up although skateboard purists tend to dismiss those who engage in their distant cousin as poseurs.
According to the duo, who were undergraduates then, the decision to kickstart the brand was inspired by a lack of affordable longboards for aspiring hobbyists and enthusiasts in the local market.
“The price of getting a longboard would go as high as $750 then. We had friends who wanted to pick up the hobby but couldn’t afford it.”
Nicholas, Co-founder of Odyssey Boards on making skateboarding affordable for everyone.
At Odyssey Boards, adventuring is built into the label’s DNA; its ideal clientele is first and foremost an adventurer, who, according to Jiaxing, is “willing to take the first step” to embark on an odyssey of his own — whether it’s hugging the curves of coastal road downhill or cruising along East Coast Park.
“I think everyone wants to be part of an adventure. Odyssey Boards is built to empower anyone seeking an adventure.”
Jiaxing, Co-founder of Odyssey Boards on building Odyssey Boards’ community.
Between Being Student & Boss
On how the young entrepreneurs managed the business and school, Jiaxing admits that there were challenges thrown into the pit too. For Nicholas, who was the head of his hall’s acoustic band then, balancing commitments between the two was not easy and exciting. In Jiaxing’s case, juggling school with his freelance videography gigs and brainstorming the operations behind the scene was enlightening and yet, tiring. “I was super sleep deprived during university but at the same time, I really enjoyed what I was doing because they are my passion,” Jiaxing laughs.
The Future of Odyssey Boards
Part of the duo’s ambition is to put Singapore on the map in the longboard scene and showcase local talents to the world. But to do so, there first needs to be a community and Odyssey Boards sets out to grow just that. In Singapore, known longboarding figureheads are far and few between. There’s 38-year-old Adrian Oh who in 2019 longboarded around the world. In the span of two years, or 722 days, he visited 32 countries across Asia, Europe, and North and South America. And then there are the uncles in their early- and mid- 50s, who longboard for fun over the weekend.
To grow this community, Odyssey Boards is looking to sponsor emerging talents with longboards of their own. “These riders can be anyone we see potential in, whether it’s their skill or ability to engage the community to grow the sport,” Nicholas shares. “By providing the longboards, we hope our ambassadors can share their love and represent Odyssey Boards.”
The duo is equally committed to teaching newbies the ropes too. They do so by tapping into Jiaxing’s proclivity for shooting documentary-style videos with tutorial videos and casual travel vlogs around the island city. And while the specifics of these videos may not appeal to non-longboarders, they tug at the heartstrings of those who love seeing Singapore in a new light.
“To us, adventure means moving into the unknown, embracing the failures and growing as a person. It involves taking risks, leaps of faith, and making lifelong friends along the way.”
Jiaxing, Co-founder of Odyssey Boards on what skateboarding means to Odyssey Boards
For the laypersons, watching the lads traversing across urban and natural space with ease can turn out to be a rather therapeutic and awe-inspiring sight to behold. Without a doubt, these video productions remind us to stay groovy — just like Tiktok star Nathan Apodaca in his video which showed him longboarding to work, chugging juice and lip-syncing to Fleetwood Macn— and have the courage to try new things.
If anything, Jiaxing, Nicholas and their company are here to encourage us to bask in all the good vibes longboarding holds.
All images courtesy of Odyssey Boards.
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