To put Singapore on the world sporting map, let us take a leaf from the book of nations that have consistently done well in sports, such as Australia.

In such nations, sports is a vital and integral part of their culture. Even their universities actively promote sports and pursue sports medals as part of their educational system.

To strengthen a culture for sports, health and fitness - from the young to the old - we need to adopt a multifunctional, multidisciplinary and multifaceted approach.

A comprehensive, catalytic and self-sustaining ecology should be developed to inspire healthy living and participation in sports.

The sports ecology should foster dedication, discipline and diligence for excelling in sports.

Funding for developing such an ecology cannot be dependent on limited public resources.

Therefore, we should galvanise, synergise with and deploy resources from the public, private and people sectors.

We need to develop a roadmap together with key leaders and stakeholders from these sectors to help us to not only become a sporting nation, but to also become a sports hub for the region and beyond.

For example, we can do more in promoting intra-company and inter-organisational games and competitions.

Besides sending athletes overseas for training, let us explore how we can groom some of these athletes at home.

Let us strengthen our model, system and process to identify, groom and propel athletes to become leaders in sports and models for our people.

We need to acquire and develop the necessary infrastructure, talents, technologies and other resources to help our athletes stay above the crowd and lead the field.

By working towards being a sports hub, we can attract foreign athletes, sports-related tourists, enterprises and other organisations to our country.

It can also help us improve the quality and standards of sports, lower expenses and, at the same time, further inspire Singaporeans to be fit and healthy.

Patrick Liew Siow Gian (Dr)

President

Wrestling Federation of Singapore