How Olympic medal hope Max Maeder was raised as a 'decision-maker' – who would choose Singapore 'over and over again'

SINGAPORE: A memory which Hwee Keng Maeder has kept closest to her heart is not what one might expect.

It's not the medals or the titles won by her son Maximilian, a world champion and now the top-ranked kitefoiler in the world; but the time he helped his younger brother Karl during a race.

"He (was) following him through the entire race and telling his brother exactly what he was doing, how he was doing and to give him tips," Hwee Keng told CNA.

"I didn't even know about it. It's not like he did it to tell me."

It was only when Karl spoke to his mother after, that she found out what had happened.

"I can't ask for more. He had this in mind, without me telling him," said Hwee Keng. "For me that's the hallmark of how he really cares."

Max's childhood was spent between his father Valentin's native Switzerland and his mother's Singapore where he was born, as well as the Indonesian island of Sulawesi where his parents built a dive resort.

And pretty much as soon as he could walk, Max was up and skiing and enjoying being active, recalled Valentin.

"He was exposed to many different sports," said his mother. "I brought him to ping-pong, tennis, badminton; we gave them a whole range."

Valentin described Max as having strong legs since he was small – at six months old, he once "hopped out like a frog" from a shopping cart.

What was also clear to Max's parents was that he had a "healthy ambition" to succeed.

As a four-year-old, after losing to some older competitors in a ski race, he was the first one to show up at training the next day.

"He didn't like to lose," added Hwee Keng.

When Max was six, Valentin introduced him to kiteboarding, and the youngster eventually progressed to kitefoiling.

Even when he was a child, Max had a "mindset like an