Ex-STTA president played big role in developing sport

We thank Mr Sebastian Tan for his feedback (STTA president's boldness good for Singapore table tennis; Forum Online, April 18).

Our former president and current adviser, Ms Lee Bee Wah, has done much during her term as president to develop table tennis in Singapore. Under her leadership, our local youth reached new heights.

Isabelle Li, then 16, won a silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. In addition, high-potential youth like Pang Xuejie, Li and Clarence Chew were fielded in the SEA Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Asian Games respectively.

At the 2011 SEA Games, despite strong objection, Ms Lee insisted on fielding local players in the regional event. In both the 2011 and 2013 SEA Games, Li bagged the silver medal in the singles event and took home the gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Despite his young age, Chew has won a total of two gold, three silver and four bronze medals at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 SEA Games. In 2014, Chew, then 19, was instrumental in earning the men's team a joint-fifth position at the World Championships, despite being the youngest and most inexperienced player.

In the 2011 SEA Games, Pang, then 18, and Ma Liang, then 20, also helped to create history by winning the gold medal in the men's doubles event - the first time that Singapore won the gold and silver medals in the men's doubles event at the SEA Games.

Ms Lee also established a development pipeline for young Singaporean paddlers to pursue a career in table tennis, which she hopes will one day produce more home-grown Olympians.

The pipeline includes the introduction of the STTA-PAP Community Foundation Kindergarten Table Tennis Programme, which has benefited more than 5,000 kindergarten children since its inception.

In addition, seven Zone Training Centres, a junior development squad and the "School Within-A-School Programme" at the Singapore Sports School are all important components of the development pipeline.

Other initiatives include providing educational pathways for our outstanding national paddlers in local and foreign universities, including the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Beijing Sport University and University of Liverpool.

In addition, Ms Lee also helped to set up the STTA Youth Endowment Fund, Meinhardt-STTA Scholarship and the million-dollar STTA-Dr Tahir & Associates Future Ready Trust Fund to further help Singapore-born paddlers achieve their Olympic dreams.

Ms Lee's contributions to the development of local youth in table tennis are invaluable and the STTA is always grateful to her.

The STTA is committed to continue nurturing and fielding Singapore-born players at major games and championships.

Wong Hui Leng (Ms)

Chief Executive Officer

Singapore Table Tennis Association