I JOIN Singaporeans in saluting all our athletes, and I thank The Straits Times for its great coverage of the events, and for honouring the medallists on two full pages yesterday ("A salute to our medallists").

We should not forget those who may not have won any medals but nevertheless fought with pride and honour.

However, a close examination of the medal list reveals a very telling tale: The medallists for table tennis are almost entirely foreign athletes.

The other sports fielded mainly locals and were equally successful in winning medals.

I am not against having foreign talents, as they have a role to play.

But, something is seriously amiss when an entire team is made up of foreign talents.

China produces equally good swimmers, divers, sailors and basketballers, besides paddlers.

So, what is the other sports associations' secret that has enabled them to be so successful in winning medals without a heavy reliance on foreign athletes?

Jessie Tan Sze Nah (Ms)