#TheObsessions — Joshua Koh Shares his Favourite Things - Men's Folio
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#TheObsessions — Joshua Koh Shares his Favourite Things

  • By Bryan Goh

Joshua Koh Facestm
What makes some of these local or global creatives tick? In this weekly column, Joshua Koh shares his many inspirations and obsessions.



1. The Rock:
Not because of his physique but his all encompassing discipline to life. This is reflected through, yes; his training regime but also in his personality — what I’m referring to and inspires me the most is his ability to always stay cool, calm and collected, keeping a level head.

Amongst all the noise in his life and the air of fame and popularity he manages to keep things simple. Alongside this he dedicates his time and full attention to whomever he is engaged with.

His focus and discipline is what makes him a great role model for people from all walks of life.


Joshua Koh Facestm
2. Military service:
Despite all things, I believe serving your country is something to be proud of. Simply because if you are proud of it and you are dedicated while you are there, it shows a level of selflessness that many people from around the world will not understand.

The most trialing and arduous times of my life were spent in the army and I endured more than I thought was possible for a human to withstand and overcame many things that when first presented with it, I thought I couldn’t, yet managed to.



3. Books:
Reading for me is a constant saturation of inspiration. To learn through others’ experiences and absorb information that has a lifetime of experience invested into it and have it culminated into a book I think is priceless.

I draw the vast majority of my inspiration from others.



4. Disney:
I am an avid Disney fan. Not to be biased but Disney does it best. I like anything that revolves around happy, positive, colourful ideologies of how life should be and the gentle reminders of the tribulations that can be faced in day to day life, presented in a softer format.

There are a lot of lessons that can be learnt and reminded; from watching something happy and positive.



5. Historical innovators:
Anybody that has taken the plunge to be innovative, whether they were successful or not, I feel is irrelevant. It takes a certain kind of mantle to face the world and present an idea that you think is going to disrupt the market or people’s way of life or their perception.

Anybody that has managed to succeed has shown more than just an inventive success, but a certain kind of boldness.

The drive to convince people that it is something credible and the tenacity to face competitors head on is admirable, it challenges the status quo and shows there will always room for progress and we must move with the times where necessary.


Joshua Koh Facestm
6. Dogs:
Maybe it’s just the warm and fuzzies talking, but dogs are the most loyal animals one can have in their life on a day to day basis.

They want for nothing and give everything, something to be cherished. To live with such simplicity but be willing to give all.


Joshua Koh Facestm
7. The constants in his life:
Because it shows they can both tolerate me and remain relatively sane at the same time. I have very strict principles I live by in life, for the most part those standards overflow into those around me, requiring they be a high functioning human being.

Anybody that has managed to gravitate towards me and remains there willingly, by my definition, it means they have earned it, generally that’s from nothing more than being a good person with one hell of a work ethic.

From that it sets a baseline, a level of accountability to always be improving myself, because the others around me are.



8. Dr Christopher Ang:
I engage with people all day everyday, and while I can generally find a lot of traits I find admirable about people, i.e. a great parent, an excellent conversationalist, a kind heart, very few leave me in awe.

I’m a firm believer in, “we do what we can, with what we’ve got, in the time that we have” and Chris seems to embody this without even trying.

I have met a lot of successful people in life, but none with the humility of this man.

If you’re done reading about the obsessions of Joshua Koh and are bored, listless or sick of doing your job, click here to catch up with our September 2020 issue!