Story by Dawn Yip
St James Power Station, Thursday, January 31, 2008 – It was an evening of celebration as Team Singapore athletes, officials and invited guests came together to honour those who had achieved sporting success at the 24th SEA Games, and those who had supported their effort.
A total of $520,000 in cash awards was given out to the 43 athletes who had won gold medals at last December's SEA Games held in Thailand. Sponsored by the Singapore Totalisator Board and Singapore Pools, the awards ranged from $5,000 to $30,000 depending on whether the gold was for an individual event, team event or team sport.
In his address to the gathering at St James Power Station, Minister for Defence and SNOC President Teo Chee Hean congratulated Team Singapore for achieving "a very handsome haul", and "our best gold medal showing in an away SEA Games." Minister Teo also paid tribute to the "gutsy performances" by athletes like bowler Remy Ong, shooter Jonathan Koh and shuttler Kendrick Lee. Making special mention of the rugby and softball teams, Minister Teo said that "few gave them any chance of any medals, but they battled fiercely, created many upsets along the way and won the team silver and bronze medals respectively."
Minister Teo noted that almost a fifth of the Singapore SEA Games contingent was 18 years or below, which is the age ceiling for the Youth Olympic Games. Of this group, more than half won medals at the SEA Games. He urged the athletes to begin preparing for the Youth Olympic Games now, and the sports community to schedule them for competitions and meets to raise their standards. "With our collective effort, winning our first Olympic Youth medal may not be just a dream," said Minister Teo to applause.
[…] what some SEA Games gold medallists said, when Red Sports asked what they would do with their cash awards, an early hong bao (red packet) they received at an awards ceremony held last week to honour gold […]