SINGAPORE – The race to the Paris Olympics kicked off on Monday, with Singapore’s badminton players expecting a busy season that includes the May 5-17 SEA Games, Sudirman Cup (May 14 to 21), Singapore Badminton Open (June 6 to 11), Asian Games (Sept 23 to Oct 8) and tournaments on the Badminton World Federation World Tour.
The Singapore team have received a timely boost in their push for crucial ranking points with two major sponsors pledging a total of $1.1 million in financial backing.
Singapore Open title sponsor Karim Family Foundation (KFF) has committed $600,000 over three years to support existing performance pathways in training and competitions for national athletes.
The tournament’s presenting sponsor JK Technology, an information technology solution-sourcing centre, has pledged $500,000 to kickstart the Singapore Badminton Association’s (SBA) new post-career gratuity programme.
The support from both sponsors will take the total amount of funds to $2.7 million as KFF’s contribution is eligible for the Government’s One Team Singapore Fund, which provides a one-for-one matching grant for donations that help national athletes. In addition, SBA will top up $1 million to supplement JK Technology’s $500,000 commitment.
KFF, set up by the family of Indonesian businessman Bachtiar Karim and his wife Dewi Sukwanto, is dedicated to philanthropy with a focus on sports development, arts and culture, mental health, and education.
Its principal Cindy Karim said: “We believe in the ability of sports to uplift our nation and investing in players is a crucial step towards building a strong and sustainable future for badminton in Singapore.
“We hope to reduce the financial worry that many sportsmen and sportswomen in Singapore have as they chase their dreams by giving them the required support, enabling opportunities for them to compete at the highest level and bring glory to Singapore on the world stage.”
KFF’s cash sponsorship will be used to fund SBA’s six-tiered podium programme, which currently helps 38 national athletes and more junior players with their overseas expenses when they compete internationally. Costs for each athlete for a two-week event can come up to between $2,000 and $5,000.
There are currently eight tier 1 athletes – those who have progressed to the quarter-finals of Super 500 tournaments – who are fully funded by the SBA. With the sponsorship, nine co-funded athletes between tiers two and four can now be fully funded for more tournaments depending on their performance trajectory, which is based on the coaches’ assessment. Twenty-one self-funded athletes from tiers five and six may also be considered for co-funding.
National player Insyirah Khan, who is 21 and ranked 75th in the women’s singles, said: “Definitely the additional funds will help us younger players with more opportunities to go for more overseas competitions.
“Despite the existing tournament support, many of us still had to either self-fund or co-fund to go for additional competitions. There were also occasions where we had to forgo some competitions as we didn’t have the financial resources.”
JK Technology’s $500,000 commitment and SBA’s pledge of $1 million will go towards supporting the post-career gratuity programme which aims to provide financial security to national players post-retirement.
The amount is pegged to an athlete’s highest world ranking and the amount of time they represented Singapore, with payouts ranging from $16,000 to $100,000.
JK Technology managing director Eugene Ang said: “This is a very important initiative because one of the reasons we have identified why players have dropped out and are not considering their full career development is that they worry about not having the financial means when they eventually end their playing careers.
“With this fund, players can play badminton with peace of mind, to focus and excel in the game.”
One of the likely beneficiaries of the programme is 28-year-old Loh Kean Hean, who said: “I’m really glad because I didn’t expect this kind of thing. This gratuity programme has helped me to plan ahead.
“With this sum of money, it can kickstart my future plans like buying a house and settling down.”
SBA chief executive officer Alan Ow said: “This is a significant step towards achieving our goals of building a sustainable and thriving badminton ecosystem in Singapore. We look forward to working closely with our partners to create opportunities for our players to excel internationally.”
