Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min has to juggle between leading South Korea against Thailand in the World Cup qualifiers (left) and fielding questions from the writer just 36 hours later. (PHOTOS: Getty Images/Yahoo News Singapore)

SON Heung-min is the calm in the eye of his own storm. He breezes into the room and things swirl around him: people, chairs, cameras, lights and all other movable objects are suddenly adjusted and repositioned to face him. He pulls focus, effortlessly. The noisiest corner of Tottenham Hotspur’s training complex has been quietened by its silent leader.

Without saying the word, Son already owns the room. As ever, he leads by unrivalled example. He knows all eyes are on him, as Tottenham’s talisman, as South Korea’s icon-in-residence, as Asian football’s spiritual leader and as AIA Singapore’s brand ambassador, which is the reason for our meeting on a rainy spring morning ahead of Spurs’ English Premier League clash against Luton Town. He never forgets his position. More impressively, he doesn’t want to.

Rather than shy away from his considerable responsibilities, he welcomes them. They propel him. Being a role model for impressionable Asian kids is a duty he takes seriously.

“Yeah definitely. If everybody is talking about me in Asian football, it’s a great feeling, so be a good example,” he tells Yahoo Southeast Asia. “Take the responsibility because everybody is watching what you do, what you wear, what hairstyle you have, everyone is looking at you. So I don’t want to be that guy, doing the silly things in front of young Asian footballers. When kids look at me, I want to be the perfect guy, the perfect footballer and also the perfect human being.”