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China team No. 1 v China team No. 2? Too true
I CONGRATULATE Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei on their individual achievement in winning the women's table-tennis team silver medal - 'individual' because, in my opinion, the glory is theirs and not Singapore's.
As a small nation, Singapore undoubtedly needs foreign talent to supplement its talent pool. This is beyond doubt for business, scientific research, academia and many parts of the economy. However, I think using foreign talent in sports is a step too far.
Sports is not just about winning, moving up medal tables and statistics. In many ways, sports is the only arena where national passion, pride and achievement can be safely demonstrated. It defeats the point to make foreigners Singaporeans, just so they can represent Singapore and win medals for us.
It has been argued that Tan Howe Liang was also born overseas in China, but the difference is he moved here at the tender age of four. Our table-tennis players came much later in their lives - Wang became Singaporean in 2005, and our semi-final 'heroine' Feng was hurriedly made a Singaporean only early this year. Only Li has been in Singapore a significant amount of time.
This makes our silver medal victory ring hollow. The perception that the final was between China's first team and China's second team is not without justification. Holding pink identity cards may make these players technically Singaporean, but are they truly our own? On television, a refrain is played ad nauseam that after 48 years, 'we have done it'. But have we really done it? Sporting pride cannot be bought.
Finally, the argument that many other countries also adopt foreign sports talent to compete does not hold water. Just because everyone else does something, does not make it right. I think many Singaporeans would share my opinion that we would rather wait another 48 years for a medal, than celebrate a medal that was not truly won by Singaporeans.
Zheng Enli
China team No. 1 v China team No. 2? Too true
I CONGRATULATE Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei on their individual achievement in winning the women's table-tennis team silver medal - 'individual' because, in my opinion, the glory is theirs and not Singapore's.
As a small nation, Singapore undoubtedly needs foreign talent to supplement its talent pool. This is beyond doubt for business, scientific research, academia and many parts of the economy. However, I think using foreign talent in sports is a step too far.
Sports is not just about winning, moving up medal tables and statistics. In many ways, sports is the only arena where national passion, pride and achievement can be safely demonstrated. It defeats the point to make foreigners Singaporeans, just so they can represent Singapore and win medals for us.
It has been argued that Tan Howe Liang was also born overseas in China, but the difference is he moved here at the tender age of four. Our table-tennis players came much later in their lives - Wang became Singaporean in 2005, and our semi-final 'heroine' Feng was hurriedly made a Singaporean only early this year. Only Li has been in Singapore a significant amount of time.
This makes our silver medal victory ring hollow. The perception that the final was between China's first team and China's second team is not without justification. Holding pink identity cards may make these players technically Singaporean, but are they truly our own? On television, a refrain is played ad nauseam that after 48 years, 'we have done it'. But have we really done it? Sporting pride cannot be bought.
Finally, the argument that many other countries also adopt foreign sports talent to compete does not hold water. Just because everyone else does something, does not make it right. I think many Singaporeans would share my opinion that we would rather wait another 48 years for a medal, than celebrate a medal that was not truly won by Singaporeans.
Zheng Enli
