Joseph Schooling generously said that his Olympic gold medal was for all Singaporeans, not just for himself.

True to his word, he spent most of his precious short four days in Singapore signing autographs, posing for selfies and wefies, attending Parliament, visiting his alma mater and so on, right from the minute he landed at Changi Airport from Rio ("Big crowd welcomes butterfly king home"; Aug 16).

In our enthusiasm to honour him and his parents and to celebrate this historic event, we have, unfortunately, left the Schoolings very little precious family time together, forgetting that they have spent many months apart. His close friends suffered the same fate.

Schooling has shared his Olympic gold with us. He and his family have handled our demands for his time with admirable grace.

We should return their generosity by tempering our enthusiasm and giving him and his family the private space at appropriate times.

I hope that in future, when Schooling or other Singaporeans achieve more feats, we will ensure that we show our appreciation, balanced with respect for their private family time.

Agnes Sng Hwee Lee (Ms)