Eastern art, Western way

An unlikely teacher is helping to popularise the graceful martial art of Wing Chun in Malaysia.

THE worldwide popularity of the martial art known as Wing Chun has certainly been felt in Malaysia, and the tremors of countless punching bags resonate through the walls of training halls and gyms throughout the country. It is strange, though, that despite the cultural ties shared between the Malaysian Chinese community and Hong Kong, the birthplace of modern Wing Chun, a direct and verifiable connection with this fabled martial art made popular by Bruce Lee, has never been established. Until very recently. And in the unlikeliest of forms.