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Yet, 20 years since Singapore made its Paralympics debut, its disabled athletes are still struggling for parity.
That may change by the time the 2012 Games come around.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser Luck yesterday revealed that plans are being studied to allow disabled athletes, especially the elite ones, to receive the same type of support enjoyed by other national athletes.
Said Mr Teo, who along with Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, have been in Beijing to support the Paralympians: 'All this while, events such as the Paralympics were treated like social-welfare cases. Few saw disabled athletes as sportsmen.
'But now, especially at these Games, people are beginning to see that our Paralympians are also serious about their sport and are among the best in the world.
'And it is about time that they are treated as true sportsmen who represent Singapore with the same pride and joy.'
There are currently no plans to set up an elite athletes programme such as Project 0812 - which played a key role in helping the women's table tennis team win a silver at last month's Beijing Olympics.
But top disabled athletes, such as silver medallist swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, 16, and double bronze equestrian rider Laurentia Tan, 29, who won Singapore's first Paralympics medal on Tuesday, can expect more support as they prepare for London 2012.
Said Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) chairman Tan Ju Seng: 'Now that the Minister, the Senior Parl Sec and also Singapore Sports Council officials have come out here to see the Games, and our athletes have done well, this will translate into greater awareness of our disabled athletes' achievements and what it takes for them to achieve this.
'I think that will mean more support.'
Public support, even before Singaporeans started winning medals in Beijing, seems to have increased.
Four years ago, Singapore's eight-member Paralympic contingent left for the Athens Games without fanfare or a send-off ceremony.
They were supported by just a small band of officials and a physiotherapist. There was little coverage of the athletes in the Singapore media.
Fast forward to 2008.
Mr Teo attended a formal send- off event for the six Team Singapore representatives.
For the first time, they had support for a team of doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists, biomechanists and psychologists from the SSC.
Another first: journalists from all major local newspapers are in Beijing, while Channel 5 is showing Games highlights for an hour a day.
The Sunday Times and Straits Times have also been receiving e-mail messages from Singaporeans congratulating the Paralympians on their success.
It is no coincidence that the increased awareness comes with improved results internationally.
Swimmers Theresa Goh, 21, and Yip have world records to their names.
Said Singapore's Paralympic Games chef de mission Frankie Thanapal Sinniah, who is also SNPC honorary secretary: 'As our disabled athletes have raised their level, the support level has also grown.
'Singapore is results-oriented. Without results, we cannot ask people for support and money.'
Raising funds has been relatively easier than it was a few years ago.
About 85 per cent of the $176,000 it cost to send Team Singapore to these Games came from the Singapore Totalisator Board.
The SNPC raised the remaining sum by soliciting donations from Neptune Orient Lines and Serangoon Junior College, among others. The budget for the 2004 Games was only $112,000.
But it still was not easy to find sponsors, said SNPC manager Kelly Fan, who helped source for funds for the Paralympic team.
'Most people don't know about the Paralympics and our disabled athletes,' she said.
'So we had to help them understand the sports, do presentations and talks before people helped us.
'Most corporations wanted to support the Olympics. Even those who are both Olympic and Paralympic sponsors were more ready to give to the Olympic team.'
Most of the funding comes from the Singapore Disability Sports Council, which raises 65 per cent of its annual $3.2 million budget. It gets the rest from the SSC to fund a variety of sports and programmes.
In contrast, SingaporeSailing alone gets $3.5 million of the SSC's $32.39 million pie, which is shared by 58 national sports associations.
The reward system for the Paralympics also pales in comparison. While the reward for an Olympic gold is $1 million, Paralympians can look forward to only $100,000.
To stay in the game for the 2012 Paralympics, the SNPC would need not just funds but a full development and training programme on par with that for the Olympians.
Said Sinniah: 'We'll need to work hard to maintain standards. We have to do our athletes' training, selection and development properly. We also need to start nurturing younger athletes, not just focus on elite athletes.'
The SNPC will draw up a detailed plan after the Games, but it is estimated that a decent programme to prepare for the 2012 Games would easily cost a few million dollars.
Besides disabled athletes standing to benefit from what is already Singapore's best-ever Paralympics showing, Dr Balakrishnan says that it will also help change Singaporean mindsets of the disabled.
He said: 'It will remind all Singaporeans that there are disabled people in our midst who have high hopes, high dreams and deserve our fullest support. And with the support from the rest of Singapore, they can also set world records and make dreams come true.'
