An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
By NMP Dr Ben Tan [Delivered in Parliament on 19 January 2015]
Emerging gaps in Singapore’s sports participation
Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to declare my interests as President of the Singapore Sailing Federation (SingaporeSailing) and Sports Patron of the Singapore Disability Sports Council.
In my clinic each day, I see lots of students from both our local and international schools, with their parents in tow. At some point during the consultation, the Singaporean parent will ask, “Dr Tan, can you write my son an MC [medical certificate] to excuse him from Physical Education (PE) and sports? At the same time, can you also ask the school to allow him to use the lift?” You’ll see a similar dialogue with pre-enlistees or their parents requesting for excuse letters or permanent downgrades. Many doctors will tell you that these are common scenarios.
I see students from our international schools as well, such as the United World College (UWC) and the Singapore American School. No, it’s not the MC that they are after. Rather, they want me to sort out their injuries so that they can continue and finish the baseball season and be fully fit before the swimming season begins! It is very common for students from the international schools to do multiple sports – with full support from their parents.
When I see such contrasting attitudes, it worries me. I am worried because this is just one manifestation of a systemic disease in Singapore’s sports participation framework.
Singaporeans are pragmatic – we are goal oriented and we monitor closely our key performance indicators (KPIs). We pay close attention to what is tangible and measureable, i.e. medals and grades. Without fail, before each major Games, the media will ask me, as President of SingaporeSailing, what is our medal target and whether we are on track. Do they ever ask me whether our sailors truly enjoy sailing, whether they are familiar with Singapore’s rich maritime history, whether our sailors see sailing as a lifelong pursuit, whether they are inculcated with the desired values, or whether we have sailors who sail for reasons other than medals? I wish they did, because those are the pertinent questions that matter much more than the medals. I would say that the Singapore National Olympic Council, Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth, and Sport Singapore have done a thorough job of reviewing our High Performance Systems over the years – from the Sports Excellence (SPEX) Programme in the ’90s, to the Committee on Sporting Singapore (CoSS), Project 08/12 Go For Gold and the Olympic Pathway Programme, to the current High Performance Sports (HPS) Programme. Through such comprehensive initiatives, our elite athletes have progressed to the point where we are winning Olympic medals, and last year our sailors won Singapore’s first two Youth Olympic Games gold medals. On the academic KPI, we have done exceedingly well, topping the International Baccalaureate exams for the fourth consecutive year and achieving the best showing at the ‘O’ levels in 20 years.
See More at
10 worrying trends in Singapore’s sports culture
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.
25-01-2015, 10:30 AM
10 worrying trends in Singapore’s sports culture
