Although the ruling by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), which takes effect on Sept 1, does not go far enough, it will at least deter some countries from importing foreign players. More important, it will persuade countries to work harder to develop local talent.

In this respect, Singapore has some way to go. In the upcoming inter-school sports competitions, foreign students will again feature heavily in most sports, especially table tennis. All schools will field their best players and this means in some sports, foreign imports, who will deprive Singaporeans of competitive exposure.

I hope local sporting bodies like the Singapore School Sports Council will take heed and follow the lead of the ITTF. For a start, primary and secondary schools should review their foreign talent schemes.

Poh Kim Hwee