Singapore’s swimming Olympian Joseph Schooling has been on the receiving end of many Singaporeans’ ire after the young athlete failed to defend his gold medal in the 100m butterfly event at the Tokyo Olympics recently.
One of the more common critiques being peddled is that Schooling failed to defend his gold medal despite using “state money” to train.
Coming forward to rubbish those claims is Schooling’s uncle, who goes by Max Le Blond on Facebook. Though he refrained from speaking out earlier as he knew that whatever he said would be considered biased, Mr Le Blond said that an “offhand, ignorant” remark really got to him.
The remark he was referring to says: “So it’s ok to use state money but come in last in the heats as defending champion?”
Schooling’s uncle said he felt that he had no choice but to respond to the comment.
Mr Le Blond’s message was posted on Facebook by Alvin Tan, founder and artistic director of The Necessary Stage. Mr Tan’s post was, in turn, shared on the Wake Up, Singapore Facebook page on Saturday (31 July).
Schooling’s journey to the Olympics was mainly funded by his parents
Schooling’s uncle started off by saying that the person who made that comment was entitled to their point of view and was free to express it. However, he pointed out that Schooling’s journey to the Olympics was financed mainly by his parents, not the state.
Noting that he has known Schooling since he was a toddler, Mr Le Blond recalled how Schooling left to the United States (US) when he was in Secondary 1 or 2. Mr Le Blond remembers helping Schooling with his English and history lessons back then via email and phone from Sydney, adding that Schooling had a “difficult time” adjusting to the US system at Bolles Academy in Florida.
Mr Le Blond then stated that his nephew’s travel, school fees, and accommodation were all paid for by his parents, not the state. The school, he noted, was an expensive one that combined “academics and sporting excellence in swimming”.
Beyond that, Schooling’s parents also footed the bill for specialist coaches, trips to various competitions, and more, according to his uncle.
Mr Le Blond explained, “Because of the taxation regime in the US, his parents had to give up their normal lives so that one of them at a time could be with him when needed in his early years in the US.”
“Those very expensive necessities were not paid for by ‘state money’ but by his parents,” he added, noting the sacrifices the young athlete’s parents made, both in business and financially, as there was little to no state money “for many many years”.
It was only “very late in the ‘game’” did “officially significant and politically highly placed Singaporean minds” started to take an interest, said Mr Le Blond.
Singapore started to take interest in Joseph Schooling after he made headway at international level
It was when young Schooling started to make his presence felt at US swimming circuits, receiving a scholarship from the University of Texas, and beating other great US swimmers that the Singapore state began to notice him, Mr Le Blond explained.
When Schooling started to make headway at the international level, the “Ebenezer Scrooge-like grip on the ‘state moneybag’ started to loosen just a little”, he added.
His frustration shining through, Mr Le Blond went on to chastise critics as being “very much mistaken” for thinking that ‘state money’ was a crucial factor in Schooling bringing “tiny little frog pong Singapore” its first Olympic swimming gold medal five years ago at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
He reminded them that his nephew had to beat one of the greatest swimmers of all time, Michael Phelps of the US, as well as two other world greats, Hungarian Laszlo Cseh and South African Chad LeClos, to bring home the gold medal.
Mr Le Blond emphasised: “I repeat, in closing, that I respect your right to your opinion and to express it. But as someone who was there from almost the very beginning, and who knows how much it took in guts, grit, unrelenting work, fighting past failure, unstinting parent love, and yes parental—not ‘state’—money, to bring Singapore its very first Olympic Gold: I need respectfully to state that you are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.”
Touching on Schooling’s recent defeat at the Tokyo Olympics, Mr Le Blond described what happened as a “profound disappointment”, but stressed that no one is suffering more than the athlete himself and his parents.
He went on to say that “victory has a thousand fathers, defeat is an orphan”.
Mr Le Blond concluded saying that there is a lot to “unpack” about what happened at the Tokyo Olympics, stressing that one of those things is the issue of “state funds”.
In fact, it is noteworthy that back in 2017, Schooling’s mother, May Yin, had already dismissed the possibility of the Government fully funding her son’s education and training.
In an interview with The Straits Times executive editor Sumiko Tan at the time, May said:
“I was told, ‘Why you so stupid? If Singapore wants your son to swim for them, they should pay.’ I said, ‘Tan ku ku‘ (a Hokkien phrase for “it won’t happen”).
“That’s why I keep telling everybody, if you feel your son or daughter has it, it’s up to you whether you want to support them. If you’re going to wait for people, don’t do it, okay?”
