SINGAPORE – Workers’ Party Members of Parliament, Associate Professor Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang GRC), and Mr Faisal Abdul Manap (Aljunied GRC) have filed a Full Motion in Parliament, focusing on Singapore’s sports ecosystem.
This motion, due for debate at the early July parliamentary session, celebrates Singaporean athletes’ successes at the recent Southeast Asian Games and ASEAN Para Games. However, it calls for a comprehensive evaluation of the country’s sporting environment and sets forth “clear, achievable goals for sporting success over the coming decade.”
These discussions come after the conclusion of the 2023 ASEAN SEA Games and Para Games, where Singaporean athletes achieved notable records. Nevertheless, several controversial issues surfaced, such as Singapore’s football team’s crushing 7-0 defeat to Malaysia.
In response, Bernard Tan, acting president of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), admitted that there were areas for improvement and promised a comprehensive review of the situation. The review will be conducted by a panel led by former national head coach Jita Singh, with former national footballer Lim Tong Hai, ex-captain Razali Saad, and football academy coach Harman Ali on board. Tan assured that the review’s findings and recommendations would be made public.
Yet, this approach sparked criticism from netizens who accused Tan and the FAS of deflecting blame onto the players and failing to take responsibility for the team’s performance. Some netizens argued that the root of the problem lies within the FAS management itself.
Lim Tean, a Singaporean politician and leader of Peoples Voice, suggested that Brigadier Generals or lawyers who lack a personal connection to the sport should not oversee its administration. He argued that they are unlikely to possess the necessary love and understanding of the sport to raise national standards.
Mr Lim’s comments seemed to point towards Mr Tan, who served 22 years in the Singapore Armed Forces before retiring with the rank of Brigadier-General and assuming the FAS position after the sitting president Lim Kia Tong’s death following a heart attack last September.
It also seems to reference FAS’ former vice president, Edwin Tong, a lawyer and Member of Parliament from the People’s Action Party, who was appointed FAS vice-president in September 2013, re-elected in the same role in 2017, and stepped down after being appointed Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth in 2020.
In other sporting controversies, two-time SEA Games marathon champion Soh Rui Yong was not included on the Singapore National Olympic Council’s (SNOC) list of successful appeals for the Asian Games that will be held in Hangzhou, despite meeting the qualifying mark. Soh had just won a silver medal in the 10,000m race at the Cambodia SEA Games after being excluded from national selection since 2019.
The SNOC argued that Soh failed to uphold commitments to the council and continued to post derogatory comments online. This move by the SNOC has stirred confusion among the public.
As these debates continue, the Workers’ Party’s motion in Parliament is expected to provide a platform to address the ongoing controversies and discuss the future of sports in Singapore.
