The Singapore Rugby Union recently announced a new jersey for the national team. Singapore, with red and white in its national flag, will now wear…black.
This has incensed somebody enough to start – you guessed it – a Facebook group. The group is called, awkwardly, but succintly: “Bring back the red, white and orchid in the Singapore Rugby Jersey.”
Writes the creator of the group, Mark Lee: “14 August 2008 – the day Singapore Rugby ripped its heart out and lost its soul. Yes, its a new dawn with a fantastic new relationship between Singapore Rugby and Guinness. Brilliant as it gives Singapore Rugby the profile it needs and truly deserves. But the tangible implications has saddened me greatly as a Singaporean and someone who used to represent the state colours. Why? Sure it looks great, but this will be the first ever Singapore national sports team of any sort that will be donning black and white which is a massive step away from the traditional state colours of red and white.”
He goes on: “Our national team is not a Nascar vehicle having Mountain Dew colours but one that has an identity of its own. We used to be called the Singapore Reds but i guess we’re going to be called the Singapore Blacks with a nice creamy white head.”
The national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim, was also removed from the jersey, leading to one member of the group with a profound affinity for the jilted Vanda to wax eloquently: “The jersey can do but KEEP THE ******* FLOWER!”
Which led us to this exercise in imagination: what if Ribena, Old Chang Kee, Milo, Tiger Airways or Sanrio became next year’s sponsors?
So what do you think?
REDpoll
Feel free to share your opinion via the poll. Multiple answers possible.
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Hi,
Great post, and I love your mock ups…tbh, I was showing my gf and she loved the Sanrio one…could you send me the what you used are the pink and the hello kitty picture…I’m thinking of getting in touch with Sanrio to see if I’m allowed to get it made up…
Cheers,
Changpion
The OLD CHANG KEE looks “good”, make me feel like tackle him down for a hot curry puff.. ha ha.. ha…ar… just wonder how the jersey looks like if “triumph Internation” be the sponsor ……who ever come to my way, will get “bounce” back.. ha ha.. can give a “try”
Think enough have been said. My take is its a team sport, it represents an identity and belonging. If it represents a club a company in most cases it has some representative color or design. When it comes to the national team, it represent the country’s color other wise its citizen may well fly their national flag with different color. Some said that its the player not the jersey. Well, if that is the case you might as well go to the field in your favourite pajamas! I am sure you will say your team mates will recognise each other provided your opponent wears identical jersey..
I just cant see why we have to wear black( the famous All Blacks?) instead of your national color..if you suck you suck
and i realize that the topic was supposed to be on the jersey and now its more of the players for the team rather than the jersey
Singapore is a ‘qualification-MUST’ country and not if we are good in sports, we can survive here. And also, we can be the best over here, but then when we go to other countries, there are bound to be better player than us.
well, everything have an advantage and disadvantage. But the devil, you cant say that they have done EXTREMELY poor for men’s and all ages group. 1stly, take a look at other countries. The players are fitter and more tactical. Look what they are eating and how they are often they are training over there and over here. For now, altho Singapore isn’t performing well, it is still in a process of raising. We are a small country and we have MUCH MUCH MUCH lesser people living here, and therefore, lesser talents over here. Secondly, Singapore emphasizes more on educations rather than sports. Unlike other countries, the kids there are taught to play rugby and other sports since they were kindergarten. Well, tough luck for us, because in order to survive in Singapore, you have to have qualifications.
Hi Rhino, your comment brings up something that I have noticed in covering school sports – the relentless cramming in of fixtures into the shortest time possible.
From a writer’s point of view, it is difficult to cover a sport that comes and goes quickly because by the time we figure out who the players are, the championship is finished. I can’t tell a sustained and continuing story for readers.
FYI, this is the first year of the Standard Chart Rugby Academy. The sponsorship allows SR to set a proper training plan for those that have been selected. Previously, there was no proper structure with various bodies running the show.
Opinion time:
The problem with the national age-group teams is that the best players of that year are never available as they will usually be concentrating on their O or A levels. This is one of the reasons why the ARFU U20 (as it’s now known) never features Singapore’s best as the A Level exams (& now IB) will clash with the tournament dates.
Another reason is that the standard of competition at school level is not very high. For instance, take this years C Div where ACS(I) went undefeated even forcing a mercy ruling in the Semis. The level of competition has nothing to do with the players but rather the organisers. Playing all of your fixtures within a 2 month period is not going to improve the standard at all. As a former coach of a sec school, I felt that for novices/rookies, their competition was over by the time they were starting to learn the game. They would then have to wait for a year to start over again. This is the case for most neighbourhood schools who haven’t got the budget to organise fixtures/tours (even trainings) in the off-season.
Admittedly I grew up in the UK where the way school rugby is run is very different. On average in 1 term (3 months), I would play 2 school games a week, allowing for cancellations I would still play at least 15 games in a term, this is probably more than what most schoolboys would play in their entire sec school career. Whilst I am not expecting Singapore to change completely, the organisers need to learn that you can only improve the overall standard by improving the weakest.
i play for a club (which i don’t see why i need to let you know). i watch the team train. the injuries suffered to bring glory, not to themselves but to singapore. for the effort that they put in, it ought to be recognized. feedback to the SRU then. you shouldn’t be criticizing the players. they do not own the funds. all that they put in is 110% sweat and effort and a good game plan.