By Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Ministry of Transport
I am asked time and again about my views on foreign athletes taking away the chances of local-born athletes in representing our nation. Recently at a dialogue, quite a few questions were asked on this topic. One of them left an impression. This student talked about how schools are importing sports talent as well.
I am not keen for Singapore to be a trading hub for foreign talents by replacing one with another. A trading hub is about buying and selling. If we take one foreign talent out due to poor performance and replace the person by sourcing for another foreign talent instead of developing our own for succession, that would be solving the problem in the short term. But finding and developing the best talents, regardless of where they come from, is critical if we want to seek a breakthrough in sports. Hopefully, these talents would include the locally bred and born. We have to accept that with globalisation, talents are now everywhere and accessible. So it is a competition in itself to attract them. The more important question, many are also asking, is: would these foreign talents have an impact that would make or break us?
My view is that it is not about the talent but the system. Foreign talents enhance and enable the sports excellence system. They are an integral part of sports training and development and they also benefit from it. Many came to Singapore when they were talent spotted at a very young age, such as Li Jia Wei. They developed and maximised their talents in Singapore because we have a system. This system is also available for any Singaporean athlete who has the potential and the will. Maybe the question is about how committed these athletes are, and how supportive the people around the athletes are. That is what makes the difference.
Read Teo Ser Luck’s responses to readers’ comments in previous posts.
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Maybe a system can also be set up for Singaporean athletes? A system that supports the athletes (preferably) all-round? Say, if a Singaporean were to pursue his/ her sport full-time, will he or she get the appropriate support such as the financial part and the academics part?
Of course we can’t neglect studies, so let’s say we could get a diploma/ degree at about 21-25 years old (which is also quite the peak for one’s athletic ability), by the time we retire from competitive sports, is there still a place for us in the workplace? I mean, life goes on after sports, after competition, and in the reality side is there really a place for these people in the workforce?
In the midst of pursuing championships, medals and glory, there will be athletes that rise and fall. The ‘risen’ will be applauded, but will the ‘fallen’ be taken care of? Fallen in terms of injuries or unforeseen circumstances…
During the peak performance of an athlete, will they be free from sporting politics (I mean at least try not to get the player involved) and be able to pursue their dreams with no worries about academics, money and injuries?