Singapore’s Paris Olympians and Paralympians honoured in Parliament
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(Clockwise from left) PM Lawrence Wong takes a wefie with MP Denise Phua, para-shooter Daniel Chan, kitefoiler Max Maeder, shooter Teh Xiu Hong, MCCY Minister Edwin Tong, and Paralympians Yip Pin Xiu and Jeralyn Tan on Oct 16.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
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SINGAPORE – Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong on Oct 16 moved a motion in Parliament to honour Team Singapore athletes who competed at the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.
The Republic was represented by a 23-strong contingent at the July 26 to Aug 11 Olympics, with Maximilian Maeder winning a historic kitefoiling medal.
The teenager’s bronze was just Singapore’s sixth medal at the quadrennial Games.
More history was made at the Aug 28 to Sept 8 Paralympics, where 10 Singaporean athletes featured and achieved the country’s best showing of two gold medals and a silver.
Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu retained her 50m and 100m backstroke S2 titles Jeralyn Tan won a historic silver medal in boccia.
Seventeen of the 33 athletes who competed at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics attended the parliamentary sitting on Oct 16.
Paying tribute to the efforts of the Team Singapore athletes, Mr Tong said: “Not all our Olympians and Paralympians present today won a medal in Paris, but they are all winners. They have all fought hard in the toughest of arenas, and pushed themselves above and beyond their limits.
“They’ve not just represented our nation – they have conquered themselves. And we thank and honour our Team Singapore athletes for being our source of inspiration and for being our role models.”
In 2016, Joseph Schooling received a standing ovation in Parliament the 100m butterfly title in Rio de Janeiro for the country’s first Olympic gold medal.
A 13-strong Paralympic contingent, which included Yip, was also honoured in Parliament later that year.
Yip, also a former Nominated MP, was encouraged that the support for sport in Singapore has been ramped up over the years and hopes it will continue moving in that direction.
The 32-year-old said: “I’m very grateful that we are recognising sports in Singapore and sports at a high-performance level at the Olympics and Paralympics.
“We have always had an emphasis on improving our sporting culture over the past few years and this is definitely a sign that there is more and more to do with sports.”
Various MPs who spoke during the sitting voiced their support for the motion, with some giving suggestions on how to better support athletes, and on achieving parity in monetary incentives for Olympic and Paralympic medallists.
The latter topic was a recurring theme during the three-hour session, with Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) and Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) among those who raised it.
The prize money for Paralympic medals remains less than that for Olympic medals, although it has been boosted over the years.
For instance, the cash incentive for a Paralympic gold under the Athletes Achievement Awards (AAA) scheme is $500,000 – an increase from $200,000 in 2021 – while an Olympic gold medallist is awarded $1 million under the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP).
The enhancement of the AAA scheme was till the 2024 Paralympics and discussions are under way for future editions.
Mr Tong explained that the AAA and MAP are funded by the private sector, while the Government is focused on “year-on-year, long-term masterplans” that cover areas of support from infrastructure upgrades to sports science, as well as financial backing under schemes like the Sport Excellence Scholarship.
He said: “These are all spendings that are committed and every year are spent to improve the infrastructure and landscape for both para-sport and able-bodied sports...
“We look at it differently, we decide we want to spend these amounts, spend them, make a commitment and ensure we have efficiency for the spend that we make and it’s an assured amount.”
Another topic that was raised was national service (NS), with Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC), who is also the Singapore Table Tennis Association president, suggesting a modified NS programme for athletes who have competed at the Olympics and have potential to excel at the next one.
Ms Poh suggested that it could include Basic Military Training, followed by a short specialist course, before the athlete is seconded to Sport Singapore to complete the remaining NS term, while training and competing full-time in preparation for the next Olympics.
Hearing these different views made it an interesting first visit to Parliament for Maeder.
The 18-year-old said: “It’s the first time listening in on something like this and to see how involved everything is, even here, and to see how the approach to what sports and the sporting culture mean is very heart-warming and encouraging.”
It was also encouraging for equestrienne Hilary Su, who made her Paralympic debut in Paris.
Su, 33, said: “It’s an honour to be recognised in Parliament and it encourages us in our effort to do better in future Games like Los Angeles 2028.”
