SINGAPORE - "Singapura tak boleh", or Singapore cannot make it in Malay, flashes on an alarm clock as local rower Saiyidah Aisyah gets out of bed at 5am.
The condescending phrase, which is featured in a slick new video by Team Singapore, is no slogan though.
Instead, we are told in the minute-and-a-half video starring Singapore athletes that "these comments were made by Singaporeans."
It gets better from there though.
"Don't hold back, let it go", we see printed on a wall as national shuttler Derek Wong heads to the court.
Later, as Navy serviceman and table tennis player Jason Chee struggles to walk on his prostheses, he takes heart as the words "We will support you" appear on the treadmill.
"Sweat and tears" goes one comment, and much of that is on display as the video shows the ardous regime of the athletes' training.
Then, to the pounding of drums and the roar of a crowd in the background, the words "Your voice changes the game" flashes across the screen.
It ends with the tagline "5 million voices. One Team".
The video has garnered close to 1,000 Likes and has been shared some 300 times on Facebook by Wednesday afternoon.
Comments on Team Singapore's Facebook page were mostly positive.
"Let's go team singapore!" wrote Mark Lee.
"Saw the filming for netball girls...took nearly 3 hours...but only use about 3 secs in the video...That's tough...haha...Jiayou ! Fighting !!!" said Lawrenz Tan.
Does the reverse psychology work on you?
