But this per capita funding per disabled athlete is higher mainly because there are fewer of them and so there is less economy of scale, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser Luck.

He gave the figures on Tuesday to clear up what appears to be a common misconception that disabled athletes received less support.

Responding to a question from Nominated MP Eunice Olsen, he told Parliament that each of the country's best disabled athletes received around $106,000 in funding in the current financial year, while the able-bodied ones received around $54,000.

'Per capita funding per disabled athlete is higher mainly because there are fewer of them and so there is less economy of scale,' he said.

Singapore has 794 able-bodied carded-athletes under various National Sports Associations and only 16 disabled athletes under the Singapore Disability Sports Council.

Carding is the Singapore Sports Council's classification system, which takes into account past performance and potential.

The funding they receive is spent on a wide range of things, including buying equipment, engaging trainers and sending athletes for competitions abroad.

The subject of financial support for the two groups became a talking point after Singapore's team to the current Paralympics won four medals, including one gold.

One point of contention, also brought up by Ms Olsen, was the cash award for medals.

Paralympics medal winners receive $100,000 for gold, $50,000 for silver and $25,000 for bronze.

Singapore's victorious Olympic table tennis team received a $750,000 reward for their silver. Each of the three players received $200,000 while the rest went to the Singapore Table Tennis Association. A gold would have seen them share $1.5 million.

Mr Teo explained the disparity.

He said that the level of competition in the Olympics was different as it was open to all and sundry.

'Paralympians can join Olympics, Olympians can't join Paralympics,' he said.

Also, the scale of the competition was smaller in the Paralympics as various disabilities were classified differently.

Mr Teo said the cash awards came from the private sector, not state funds.