SEA Games (Part 2)

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Yes, Singapore won 42 gold medals here in the Philippines, the biggest haul from an away SEA Games....

But, before we start analysingSingapore's successes and failures in medal terms, let us first salute the true spirit of the Games as epitomised by the three girls (Nicole Tay [gymnastics], Deng Ying Zhi [Wushu] and Koh Sock Hwee [Golf])above.

In a race, there can be only one winner. But the others are not losers -- so long as they have fought the good fight.

It is sad, but the Singapore sports mentality is attuned to "Show me the medals".

-- As quoted from The Straits Times (Monday, December 5, 2005), Sports, pg H10, "Young ones worth more than 42 golds", written by sports editor Tay Cheng Khoon.




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Now, to depict to you, literally, the exact meaning of "irony at its best", click on the above picture. It's from the same source, on the same issue of The Straits Times, as the article on "Young ones worth more than 42 golds"

To top it off, this article is carefully and strategically positioned next to Tay's article.

What a great job done by ST's editor to show us what is meant by "irony".

While Tay feels sad about the Singapore sports mentality being attuned to "Show me the medals", his boss/colleague/or whoever in the position of rating the athlete's performance in the SEA Games think(s) otherwise.

The more gold medals you bring back to this tiny island nation, the more points you'll get.

Too bad for sports like soccer, sepak takraw and even silat and bowling. Success is, according to The Straits Times, determined by the number of gold medals you bring back home from the SEA Games.

Who cares about other international competition you've participated before?

If my memory serves me well, we have 2 silat world champions. And did Jasmine Ho win the ESPN Masters' Series for bowling? It's either her or someone else. My memory is bad, so I am not 100% sure about that. Perhaps not a champion, but I'm positive that our bowlers are certainly of a world-class standard.

Oops, I shouldn't have pitied these sports. Afterall, they are not THAT pitiful. There are many other sports which deserve our condolences more than they do. Because The Straits Times think that they shouldn't even in Manila at all.

Tsk tsk. The karate team, the lawn bowls team, the dragonboat team, you guys have wasted out taxpayers' money! That's so wrong of you!

I am disappointed by The Straits Times.