The possibility of Singapore’s table tennis team getting a gold is so great that the PM has decided to postponed the telecast of the English version of the Natonal Day Rally speech. The first thing that went through my head was, what the hell?!?
Let’s put things intoo perspective. The National Day Rally is the most important speech of the year. But that has to make way for the POSSIBILITY of ACQUIRING an Olympic gold. Note that I’m not using the word WINNING. That is simply because, if the team did beat the China’s team, that piece of precious metal and the title would have been considered BOUGHT OVER. We can’t ignore the fact that the team is made up of China-born athletes bought over, and being ‘offered’ Singapore citizenship.
What would have been a truly great WIN is, a true blue born-in-Singapore or who have lived in Singapore for at least 10 years or more winning the gold medal, in whatever sport. What’s the difference?
The medal and the title should reflect who the sportsperson is, and vice versa. The medal should reflect the country’s way of life is a winning one. The country’s way of life should reflect the nuture and nature of bringing up and treasuring a champion among society. The medal should reflect the country’s constant and perseverence in supporting the glory of sporting spirit. A few days back, I saw an article in the local newspaper on why India, being an emerging nation scores so low at the Olympic. India does not place importance on that, but if they do, they would have build international standard stadiums, encourage sports among its people, and provide good financial support. Till that happen, India won’t be able to win an Olympic gold medal. OR, take the easy route like what Singapore did; ‘import’ gold medal winners, or at least potential winners and make them citizen.
So what if the Singapore’s table tennis emerge no. 1? It’s just business. It’s just investment. Just like any other business and investment, some work, some don’t, some are fruitful, some are bad decision. In this case, it’s a calculated good investment. Let’s just forget about patriotism, let’s just forget about being a ‘quitter’ or not, let’s just forget about the sense of belonging… let’s just watch the game, and think, what a good investment the government has made. Go Singapore!
that bottle called 
August 18, 2008 at 4:11 pm |
Li Jiawei has been with us for about 13 years. By your standards, she should have reflected the country’s way of life.
Now that this is out of the way, let’s get another thing straight. They were FIRST given citizenship, then went for Olympics. Simply put, they fought for us with no strings attached. You could said it was for money, but the same applies for everyone attending Olympics donning SG colours.
I think Olympics success transcends money. Had they been told they would be rewarded a meagre sum, they would still have tried their best, as did our other sportspeople. Afterall, their deeds live on after the money is gone.
It was patriotism true and through (pun intended), albeit their double nationalities. And SG grit personified.
So please, enough of the bashing and enjoy the victory. It is afterall, our tax money which made it happen. Cheers.
For more views of why I think it is a success, please read DK’s blog comments.
August 19, 2008 at 9:58 pm |
Well, if you quote Jiawei, then I’ll quote Feng Tianwei. She was ‘bought’ over in 2007, and ‘offered’ a citizenship in 2008, just in time for the Olympic Games.
Of course they are FIRST given the citizenship. Else it would be a tat too obvious that foreign talent were mined to acquire medals for Singapore. Furthermore, it is the Olympic Games rule that in order to represent, one has to be the citizen of the represented country.
I’m not talking about the prize money that the athletes would get. Rather, I’m taking about Singapore’s investment to make a mark on international sporting arena. Just because the $$ is spent, doesn’t mean we have to accept it as it is. The $$ could have well spent on grooming true blue Singaporean athletes.
Anyway, I’m not saying that this is a ‘uniquely Singapore’ problem. Russia for example, buys athlete to compete for the country too. And just because others doing it too don’t make the idea right.
So what’s there to enjoy? If Nicolette Teo WINS a medal, that is sweet. Even if Susilo wins, it would still have a sweet taste. For the table tenis team to win, well, it’s an investment pretty well-invested. In other words, I simply don’t think highly of the idea of Foreign Sports Talent Scheme… that’s all.