“At least you know that someone has got your back …” — Ong Weiyu, Dunman Secondary

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

“A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life” — Isadora James

For those who have sisters in the family, the times we spent with them usually remain an integral part of our memory. We often remember the bickering — who got to play with the new toy, whose turn it was to do the dishes; and we certainly remember the good times as well — sharing laughs together, spending time and growing up together.

Though many siblings end up together in the same school, many of them probably have their own circle of friends and lead their own separate lives. But for a group of siblings, not only are they in the same school, they are in the same Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) and play together on the same team.

Red Sports speaks to four pairs of volleyball sisters from this year’s B Division Volleyball Championship — Claira and Celine Ng from Dunman Secondary; Ong Weiyu and Vinnie Ong, also from Dunman Secondary; Chew Jia Le and Chew Jia Hui from Fairfield Methodist; and Ong Qiuluan and Ong Qiufeng from Jurong Secondary.



Claira and Celine Ng

“She is freaking bimbotic!” exclaimed Celine Ng, 15 about her older sister Claira, 17, much to the annoyance of Claira.

Claira and Celine are from Dunman Secondary where Claira plays the position of setter while Celine is a centre spiker. Claira was part of the pioneer girls’ volleyball batch at Dunman and was in the team which won the B Division Championship title last year. Both sisters took up the sport in Secondary One, with Celine choosing Dunman as her first-choice school because of her sister.

Occasionally, Claira would laugh at “unglamorous” photographs taken of Celine during competition and playfully tease her about it, but they remain very close off-court and share many similarities.

Claira commented, “We are outgoing. We LOVE shopping, manicure, pedicure and we hate crowding in the public transport. We are both very noisy, as mentioned by my Dad.”

Being on the same team as her sister certainly has its benefits, Celine cheekily shares.

“I can borrow money from her when I can. I can take over her stuff when she graduates! Things like her bag etc.”

Claira also shared things from her perspective.

“I’ll have my sister’s company when I go home. When I need help, I can look for my sissy (the nickname for her sister). When I feel like scolding somebody, I can just scold her. [Laughs]”

But being on the same team does not mean things are rosy all the time. Both sisters do have their share of arguments and disagreements, like quarreling over rubber bands, who gets to use the washroom first, or wearing the wrong tights.

“[Celine] gets on my nerves most of the time especially when she makes stupid remarks and mistakes,” shared Claira. “BUT … at the end of the day, I still love her.”

Celine also had her share of comments about Claira.

“I have to wait for my super slow sister and therefore we are always so late for training. It’s very stressful [to be on the same team as my sister] and I hate it when she gives me that face. But I know it’s for my own good and I will learn from my mistakes. And I love her too.”

Despite their disagreements at times, Celine certainly looks up to her sister, at least in terms of volleyball.

She said: “I think my sissy is good. She is an all rounder. I hope I can be as good as her. I think her virtues are: I-M-POSSIBLE and screw those who think I ain’t.”

Claira then gave an insight as to how Celine is like at home.

“Celine loves to shout,” she shared. “She can be hyper like forever, but you just have to force her to read her textbook for five minutes and she naturally falls asleep. It’s amazing. Her body reacts so fast to the books.”

On Celine’s performance this year, Claira commented: “I think my sister did pretty well for this season considering her performance in the Under-16 competition last year, which was a mess. [Laughs] Kudos to her for being daring enough to play this season. [I am] quite proud of her actually.”

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