BK: Yes, excellent job and proud of our Joseph Schooling. I have no problem that Schooling defers NS to achieve his and our dream of true Champion. Elite sport is not a walk in the park, at times the regime is worse than NS. It takes passion and a single mindedness of purpose.
It is true that given our population size, true Singapore champions will be hard to come by. But look at Australia, they win disproportionate number of Olympic medals given their small population. That is because their ecosystem for Sports is there.
If you want sporting champions then built that environment. Getting foreigners to give you medals is first and foremost against the spirit of Olympics.
Pierre de Coubertin’s (founder of Modern Olympics) statement that “The important thing is not to win, but to take part”, captures the intensity not of winning medals, but that of the human will to overcome.
Schooling is loved by us coz he represents the intensity and the Singapore spirit to overcome. That a small nation can also have champions. His youth represents what we want our future to be. We recognize that we cannot have so many champions like US or China, but we add a little bit to the human will when we try despite the odds.
We beat the odds through our will, we don’t buy the odds to favor us. If we fail, so be it. We try again. But a government that worships GDP has lost their soul. They no longer know how to inspire, they can only bribe. And what do you get for bribery? People like Yang Yin is what.
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Ah Lau: Table tennis PRC imports like GAO Ling and Yang Tze do not have to serve NS, are paid for playing full time and keep the money from winnings, that is the difference! Badminton Indonesian imports also do not have to serve NS, so you can see that true blue SG sportsmen are not accorded the same perks as foreign imports, why is this so?
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Lau Tee Kor: In table tennis our neighboring countries, North and South Korea, Japan, HK do not have a single foreign import in their teams, yet are ranked higher than SG teams which comprised only PRC imports. the two locals included in the teams, Clarence. Chew and Isabelle are for show only, a tactic by Lee Bee Wah to hoodwink Singaporeans that locals are given opportunities to represent the country.
Although their names are there for show, they will never have the chance to be in the first team in major tournaments, just named as reserves. LBW openly admitted that their coaches do not want to field them in the first teams because they have no chance of winning against others and would jeopardize chances of winning medals, such are the bare facts for local sportsmen!
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LBW, you understand?: This is the GOLD that Singaporeans are proud of! We don’t want the gold that is ‘delivered’ by Yang Yin and his brand!
* Comments first appeared from TREmeritus: Local boy Joseph gets 1st gold for SG in Asian Games