The past year and a half have been anything but normal. With our lives confined to our homes and the occasional run to the store, it’s certainly not the start to the decade we were hoping for.
In times like these when the clouds are grey and the wind is strong, sometimes all you need is a bit of magic.
While that may not actually be the case, one can certainly hope. And that’s exactly what one Singaporean dad does.
Parents know Kien Meng Wee better by his alter ego Mr Bottle, and he has been quite the magician and party planner over the years.
However, much like every other business, the pandemic wiped out parties and events from the calendar, and that did put a lot of stress on Kien. But this did not deter this dad of three.
He weaved the right spell to use his time more productively by writing a book to inspire kids.
In addition to this, he started documenting his parenting and travel journey and has garnered well over 6,000 followers on Instagram. Then came the family travel blog, and now the magician has created Singapore’s first and only Magic Tour that goes on floors in September.
It’s safe to say that Kien’s life revolves around magic. And not so surprisingly that’s what this father of three kids always wanted to be – a magician.
Growing Up As An Aspiring Magician In Singapore
Image Source: Kien Meng Wee
“I was interested in magic since I was about five years old because I was amazed when my father did simple tricks. I wanted to learn magic then but it was difficult. There was no internet and hardly any publication on magic was sold in Singapore. I am probably not the best candidate for magic because I was really shy,” he tells theAsianparent.
A difficult journey did not deter Kien to choose a different path. The then budding magician would find some books in the library about magic.
“I would write down word for word, draw picture for picture, magic which I liked from the books so I would still remember them after I returned them. As you can see, my interest in magic never faltered, I didn’t give up despite the lack of resources,” he shares.
Kien’s turning point as a magician arrived when he joined the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) Singapore Ring 115 at the age of 17.
“There were a lot of magicians helping me and the meetings opened my eyes to so much more magic,” he tells us.
Adding, “I did shows for IBM and charity shows as well. A gentleman with whom I volunteered together at an old folks’ home, engaged me to do a show at an RC event and that was my first paid show.”
Kien loves children and that naturally attracted him to performing magic for kids.
He says, “The more I performed for kids, the more I love it. I like the laughter I receive from the kids, and I learned so much from them when I spoke to them.”
Kien is an entrepreneur as much as he is a magician, or are they the same things? But this dad is definitely a hustler.
“Doing children birthday parties worked great for me, and being the businessman in me, I reacted to the demands of the market. I was getting requests for other related services like balloon sculpting, face painting, games, and so on. So I started training part-time staff to do those and partnered up with peers in the industry,” he shares.
“I was probably the first one to provide one-stop entertainment services in the market and was very successful. I created Mr Bottle’s Kids Party and produced shows like Science Shows infused in magic, which was the first in Singapore. We have since opened up Mr Bottle’s Kids Party in Taiwan and China (closed due to covid-19) and produced theatre shows,” he informs us.
Making A Career As A Magician In Singapore
It’s easy to dream of becoming a magician at the age of five. The viability of it only gets difficult as you start getting older.
However, it takes a lot of passion and perseverance to stick your guns and believe in yourself. More importantly, it takes more mental effort to train yourself and make your passion a viable skillset. Mr Bottle was exactly that for Kien.
“My parents thought it would be better if I were to do magic part-time as they were worried that it would not make a viable career. I was very focused then and would spend all my energy to make my passion work and hence I went fully into it,” Kien explains.
“A lot of my peers are earning much more than me now in their corporate jobs but to me, my career choice has been very fulfilling and I never regretted making this move,” he adds.
It also helps that Kien has a family that is supportive of his personal choices. Interestingly, his job as a party planner helped him meet his wife.
“My wife is very supportive of my career and that’s how we met, at her niece’s birthday party. I needed a violinist for a gig and she happened to be an accomplished one, performing at celebrities concerts occasionally.”
The doting father of three also finds support in his kids. The magician did cast the right spell when it comes to raising children.
“They love it! I have been organising their parties, performing at their birthday parties and teaching them magic. They are rather reserved like me when I was a kid. Magic has helped them tremendously to grow in confidence and in learning important values like resilience, respect and empathy,” he notes.
The “Reality” Of Covid-19 On Working Fathers
Sometimes things don’t go as planned and that’s the Covid reality for most of us. For Kien too, it ended up in losing about 90 per cent of his earnings and freeing up a lot of his time.
The free time allowed him to document his travels on Instagram and also start a family blog.
His stories on the blog also double up as bedtime stories for the kids. Now, that’s a fun way of teaching them history and geography.
The pandemic also allowed him to finally begin work on the magic tour that was in the box for over a decade.
“I had the idea of making a kids-friendly tour more than a decade ago but emails to outbound tour companies were ignored then. I decided to try my luck again and this time local tour operator, Monster Day Tour, took up my idea. We are launching a very fun kids-friendly magical tour in September. Look out for it,” he informs us.
Is Magic A Child’s Play?
Kien’s oldest was born in 2011. The younger ones followed in 2013 and 2018 respectively.
“Luckily, I did not have to be busy with working at parties when my wife gave birth to them as you know deliveries cannot be timed and magicians cannot cancel out on a birthday kid at the last minute! I admire my wife for how much she loved our children. We did hypnobirthing and she did not have an epidural for all three births,” says Kien.
The magician also saw personal and professional growth with his children. His magic academy was born because of his older daughter. Kien tried to teach her simple magic tricks at just 13 months.
“I was not surprised that she could do the ‘magic’. What amazed me was that she could reset the props all by herself after watching me do it a few times,” says Kien proudly.
“I realised that the learning ability of babies and children are limitless. At that time, I discovered magic was a valuable tool to nurture creativity and fun during learning. Thus, my wife pushed me to develop a curriculum in magic to help other children. As my children grew up, I realised that magic is also a great method to teach values, and that is why focusing on life values is a big part of my magic lessons now,” he adds.
Kien’s oldest daughter is also his first critique when it came to publishing his first book.
Finding Family Time As An Working Dad
Image Source: Kien Meng Wee
Working 24×7 as an leaves you with little time for your family. However, Kien does make sure to balance the scales.
“I will spend my time with the kids first during the day and work when the children are asleep or in school,” he says.
Adding, “Before Covid-19, my weekends and public holidays were packed so I could not spend much time with them. However, I make it up with other activities on weekdays when venues weren’t as busy. My wife is also very supportive and she steps up whenever I am busy.”
While birthday parties aren’t as common as they once were, Kien now organises parties for his children. Sure, there aren’t any monetary returns for these gigs, Kien assures the “customer satisfaction” is priceless.
Kien’s kids are also his test subjects when testing new magic tricks, something that benefits him both as a father and a magician Singapore can be proud of.
“As a magician and event organiser, I am brought to very amazing places around Singapore which I would otherwise not know about. For instance, I saw an Egyptian house in Sentosa Cove and a house with life-size dinosaurs décor so I drove the kids to just see the latter after their enrichment class since we were nearby. I also usually get first-hand news or invites to some of the amazing events,” he shares.
Parenting Style Of A Magician
Of course, juggling between three kids can be a daunting task. Thankfully, Kien finds a tonne of support from his wife who takes charge of quite a few things in the house.
Now that’s some “mum magic” that this magician does not know about.
With Covid-19, HBL also helped Kien and his wife to take more interest in their children’s academic progress.
Kien says, “My son is rather careless and would miss out on his homework frequently. I only found out only during HBL since we were rather hands-off and relaxed over their academic progress. Hence, I decided to set up a routine and system for them to learn.”
“For instance, to ensure that they are paying attention and focusing in class, they have to write down three things they learn in school every day. My kids will have to plan 2-3 goals they hope to achieve every day,” he adds.
Kien also ensures his children help around the house and do simple chores themselves. The youngest is the most helpful though and often volunteers to clean the car and sweep the floor.
He also insists on making his kids become socially aware. From discussing current affairs like the Olympics to dealing with winning and losing, there’s a lesson everywhere.
New Responsibilities For This Magician Dad
With the Covid-19 disruption, Kien’s office remains closed for now but that has given him more time to help out at home.
“My wife and I will always make time for each other every day to eat dinner together. Evening time is usually spent with the children, playing, swimming, reading stories, playing chess (my son’s new hobby) or giving riddles.”
“Since I am not as busy now, I have become their ‘grab driver’ and wake up early to send and pick them up from school.”
The dad now has more time over the weekend, which was dedicated earlier to parties, hotel contracts and other events. “But I make time to have a face-to-face magic lesson every Sunday, which I also teach my children with other participants,” Kien says.
The lockdown has also allowed Kien to explore more of Singapore.
Now that there is less work, we usually spend time at home or occasionally visiting an attraction in Singapore.”
The Magician Singapore Needs And His Secret Spell
Image Source: Kien Meng Wee
While he may have many firsts under his name in Singapore, but Kien is too modest to admit that. For academic or financial success aren’t the only benchmarks.
The father also ensures that his kids follow the same philosophy. He’s not just the magician Singapore needs, but also the dad the island deserves.
“Academic was never our focus from the very beginning. We understood the importance of teaching values to children and instilling good habits as early as we can. For instance, during their birthdays, we suggested to them that we use these occasions to help others instead,” he says.
“Every year, we would ask the guests not to bring any presents to their parties. Instead, guests can choose to donate any amount to a charity of our choices. We have since helped SOS Dogs, Operation Hope Singapore and World Vision,” adds the father of three.
Kien insists that inculcating values is a long journey and the parents are still trying their best to help their kids become better human beings.
It’s also been a challenging time for Kien’s business. The magician couldn’t raise his wand and cast a spell to save some of the things. The lockdown forced him to close the China branch.
But that hasn’t deterred him from trying something new. That’s where the Magic Tour steps in next month.
“I am experimenting a lot with new concepts during this time some of which failed, but the point is to never stop trying. Hopefully a few will hit jackpot. I am super excited about the magic tour and so far, the feedbacks are amazing.”
Staying Grounded Will Take You A Long Way
Kien’s humility also comes from his father, who in his view, was the most humble person around.
“He would give hongbao to the foreign workers during CNY to encourage them. He is still the busiest person I know and juggles them well. We did not come from a well-to-do family so my father would give tuition at night and take up some freelance accounting jobs while holding a full-time job. He volunteers at CCC, RC, my primary school then, and much more. He is still very active with volunteering and had received the PBM and BBM,” he says.
Adding, “Secondly, my wife. She is the most understanding person in the world. We hardly quarrel in our 10 years of marriage and she has been my pillar of support.”
At home, Kien’s role also shifts from “entertainer” to “boss.” This means often reminding himself that his kids are children after all.
“While I need to be firm with setting limits, I also have to show them the same kind of fun love that I display for the children at parties. This is my additional challenge as my children’s friends always find me funnier than their own parents,” says Kien.
Living In Singapore As A Family
Image Source: Kien
Singapore with its multicultural lifestyle and an ever-accepting attitude has been a boon for Kien and his business. While he still misses personal interactions, he continues to do virtual shows regularly.
“I have pivoted to perform a virtual magic show and I believe I was the first one in Singapore to do so. I tried to sell decoration packages targeting a worldwide market,” he informs us.
The dad even sold magic props and STEM educations kits online and has done virtual family days during this time for ECDA, STB and CPA Australia.
Now, here’s the magician Singapore had been missing.
It’s not the school’s responsibility alone to teach values
Singapore has one of the best schooling systems in the world and the recent incidents should not be anyone’s benchmark for measuring what they have to offer. Kien believes in the same.
He also insists that it’s not the school’s responsibility alone to teach values.
“Though schools have booked me to run magic workshops for their social skill and resilience programme, parents can pay a little more emphasis on their overall growth, and not just solely on academics. The overall mindset has to change to nurture a holistic child than an academically proficient child,” he says.
Kien’s children are enrolled in Chinese composition and they attend classes that they are interested in like music, ballet, swimming, rollerblading, and of course, magic.
Life’s Golden Mantra For This Working Dad
The journey of a working dad is not an easy one. For Kien, it’s been about becoming a student again and learning about fatherhood. It’s also about learning to be a better dad and that’s a continuous journey.
When it comes to giving advice to other dads. Kien says, “Don’t neglect your spouse after you have children. We always make time for each other every day whether it is over a meal or after the children sleep. We have a “don’t blame” culture in the family so this helps for everyone to learn.”
He also insists that parents do not focus just on academics. There are many things in life to learn like values.
For his kids, Kien says, “They are free to choose any career that they want. However, whatever they do, I always remind them to try their best.”
Kien signs off as Mr Bottle and shares a story with us:
Once upon a time, there was a very shy child. He was so shy that he did not dare to talk to anyone in school.
One day, his father bought a bottle of magic for him. “In it, is a potion that will make you grow brave and strong.”
Every morning, he would open the bottle for some magic.”
“Day by day, he began to make more friends. Many years later, he discovered that the bottle was actually empty. Believing in magic has changed his life. This child is none other than Mr Bottle the Magician, who believes that nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself.”
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