Age is just a number for aerobics guru
GEORGE TOWN: Despite undergoing two surgeries in six years, aerobic dance instructor Jeorge Subramaniam still keeps his passion burning after 35 years.
The 70-year-old shows no sign of slowing down as he continues to conduct free aerobic sessions four times a week at the Penang City Park and New World Park.
“I am still as fit as a fiddle and I find a lot of happiness from a simple ‘thank you’ or when people say ‘Jeorge, you are doing a great job’.
“The satisfaction and motivation stem from keeping thousands of people healthy,” he told The Star.
Six years ago, Jeorge had six screws inserted into his spine during a corrective surgery.
He returned to doing what he loves after a one-year break.
Two months ago, a stent was inserted into a clogged artery in his heart.
But Jeorge showed he is made of sterner stuff and resumed his classes after a onemonth rest.
He started out as an instructor in 1982 at Penang City Park (Youth Park then) for a Youth and Sports Ministry programme where the number of participants grew from 50 people to 300 within a month.
If each session had about 300 people, Jeorge said he would have coached millions of people by now.
“I enjoy doing it. I feel I have to do something to keep people healthy.
“It is rewarding, especially when they tell me they have become fitter, or that their body aches have gone away as a result of the exercise,” said Jeorge, who is also the Penang Fitness Association president.
His effort to promote fitness over the decades did not go unrecognised.
In 2014, he was awarded the Usman Awang National Integration Award.
The same year, he was also the recipient of the Youth and Sports Ministry’s Sports for All Movements Award.
His aerobics sessions at Penang City Park start at 8am on Sunday and 6pm on Wednesday, and New World Park at 7pm on Thursday and 8am on Saturday.