Singapore, Thursday, 14 May, 2009 – It's an issue that just won't go away.
Liu Guodong, who led the Singapore women's table tennis team to a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, returned to Singapore early this morning. His goal? To clarify just what Ms Lee Bee Wah, president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), meant when she questioned his integrity and professionalism.
Ms Lee made the remarks a few days ago to explain STTA's decision not to nominate Liu for the Coach of the Year award, despite his role in bringing home Singapore's first medal in nearly half a century.
According to the Today newspaper of May 6, Ms Lee said that for the Coach of the Year award, "we expect much more than just results, such as he must be well respected by all the players or the team, show professionalism, and integrity."
The decision was controversial and many people weighed in on the issue, from the man in the street to sports insiders.
- Asiaone: Five reasons why STTA did not nominate Liu
- Singapore Sports Fan: Right move by STTA not to nominate Liu
- Channel NewsAsia: Online petition calls for STTA president’s removal over coach saga
Related story:
Coach of the Year Award goes to…nobody
I personally think that the way STTA treat Liu is a disgrace. Especially the English letter. STTA knew that Liu is a Chinese national, he doesn’t know English. Yet they throw him an English letter! It’s like bullying him for not knowing English.
lee bee wah should seriously step down man. she is making a fool out of herself and bringing shame to the whole nation. dont even dare to attend the meetings with liu guodong. what kind of STTA chief are you. MP somemore. see who vote for you for the next election man.
oh my, what a waste of an air ticket. i could think of a hundred ways to better spend the money.
what does lee bee wah thinks?
no integrity, that’s a total insult to the coach!
YING SHUI SI YUAN ..basic thing also don’t know..
MP ah? wake up ur idea la