NOW AND THEN: Tabitha and Nicole Tay (above) on Sunday at the SEA Games n Korat, and when they were babies. -- ST PHOTOS: ALBERT SIM

View more photos

Both Primary 4 pupils at St Nicholas Girls' School then, the sisters were sitting in opposite ends of the classroom, yet ended up writing about the same topic during an English composition assignment.

The assignment was to write about an incident that happened in a shopping mall.

A couple of hours later, they emerged with the same story of a robbery, complete with gun fights.

Their mum Jennifer recalled: 'They could have written about 1,001 things. Yet, both chose to write about a robbery.

'It didn't stop there. They would also tend to make the same mistakes in mathematics. It is not uncommon for twins to share some similarities.

'But what Nicole and Taby had seemed almost telepathic, something quite special.'

This past week in Korat, their special bond was brought into the spotlight on the South-east Asia Games stage.

On Sunday, they became the first twins to be crowned joint women's individual all-around champions.

It was also the first time that Singapore have won the title, and the girls' second title of the Games after helping Singapore clinch the team event on Saturday.

Yesterday, the twins were again virtually inseparable, winning two silvers - Tabitha (vault), Nicole (uneven bars) early in the individual finals.

It was not until the evening's final event, the floor exercise, that one managed to pull away from the other.

In the end, it was Tabitha who managed to upstage Nicole, who is, incidentally, the defending champion in the event.

Tabitha's score of 14.45 was enough to win the gold, ahead of Nicole's 14.05 and Vietnam's Do Thi Ngan Thsuong's 13.85.

'One of us has to pull away,' said Tabitha, the younger by seven minutes, as she gave her sister a cheeky smile.

'But, really, it didn't matter who won. We are part of a team, so as long as one of us wins, it didn't matter.'

It is this special bond which saw them persuade their parents to let them take up the sport in Primary 3.

Once mum and dad said yes, the Tay family's lives would never be the same.

Within a year, they were drafted into the school team. The following year, they were selected to represent the Combined Schools squad.

Said Jennifer: 'They'll be in training by 4pm every day and it won't be until 10pm that we get to see them.'

Sundays are the only days the family - who include 14-year-old brother Timothy - can spend time together. School holidays are also busy periods.

'The moment I signed the consent form for them to take up gymnastics, it was as if I signed away my daughters,' said Jennifer with a laugh.

But the Tays are not regretting the decision.

As dad Francis explained: 'They were already close before gymnastics. But the sport has brought them even closer, teaching them about teamwork, perseverance and how to encourage each other.'

Whether in or out of competition, one is almost always never without the other.

In fact, it is not impossible to tell them apart.

At first glance, both are like peas in a pod, even down to the mole on the nose.

But on closer examination, Nicole has another mole on her lip. She is the only one with a dimple - on her right cheek.

The older twin, at 1.51 metres, is taller by one cm and heavier by one kg at 37kg.

They also share the same weakness for desserts, especially ice cream.

Clothes also come from a common pool. The only thing they do not share is soft toys.

Said Tabitha, looking blankly at her sister: 'We don't know why.'

In Korat, they have shared more things.

Both are now the poster girls of Singapore gymnastics.

Their immediate goals are to compete at the next Asian and Commonwealth Games, and, of course, the next SEA Games.

Said Nicole: 'What we achieved here is more down to the team than anything else.

'Everyone has cried and laughed and trained together.

'Even for us, it sometimes feels like we're more teammates than sisters.'

marclim@sph.com.sg