OLYMPIC GAMES 2008

OLYMPIC GAMES 2008:

(Selection and training of athletes): 9.

Mr Michael Palmer asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports what process has the Ministry put in place in respect of the selection and training of our athletes for the Olympic Games in 2008.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mr Teo Ser Luck) (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Sir, sports excellence is one of the three pillars in the Sporting Singapore plan that was articulated by the Committee on Sporting Singapore (CoSS) in its report in 2001. In the past few years since the Committee's report, MCYS and the Singapore Sports Council

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(SSC) have been working closely with other key stakeholders in the sports fraternity such as the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and the National Sports Associations (NSAs) to develop sports excellence strategies and programmes to prepare and support our athletes for the Major Games and other international competitions.

We have put in place various sports excellence systems and initiatives such as starting up the Sports School, enhancing financial support for our elite athletes, establishing partnerships with the NSAs in developing the athletes, and stepping up Sports Medicine and Sports Science support.

This is a systems-driven approach that has yielded results as our athletes have now consistently improved on their performances in recent years. We had our best ever showing at the 2005 South East Asian (SEA) Games when we returned with 42 golds, 32 silvers, and 55 bronzes. We have also registered our best ever performances at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, as you all know, capturing five golds, six silvers, and seven bronzes in Melbourne, and then eight golds, seven silvers, and 12 bronzes in Doha.

Building on such encouraging results at these Major Games, our aim is to raise our performance and improve on our achievements at the Olympics in the near future. Towards this aim, the SNOC has initiated a project focusing on the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, where elite athletes in select targeted sports have been identified for enhanced support and development, so that these athletes will reach their peak at the Olympics. The enhanced support includes more overseas training stints, additional coaches, other sports specialists, and so on. The efforts will be athlete-centred and will build on our existing Sports Excellence initiative. This initiative would dovetail into the

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recommendations of the Sporting Culture Committee that I am chairing so that we can develop a sustained delivery system for champion athletes in the long term .

MCYS and the Singapore Totalisator Board would support the SNOC by providing funding for this project. This project would cost $7 million. MCYS would provide $2 million and the Singapore Totalisator Board would contribute $5 million.

Singapore's only Olympic medal was won by our weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in 1960 in Rome. Since then, while we have, on a few occasions, come close to securing our second Olympic medal, we have not been able to do so. Now that our sports excellence systems are in place, we will make a strong push in the next two Olympic Games in Beijing and then in London. If we succeed, it will be a proud moment to remember for the sports fraternity and for all Singaporeans.

Mr Speaker, Sir, please allow me to use Mandarin to address some of the key points.

Mr Speaker: Yes.

Mr Teo Ser Luck: ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] MCYS, the Singapore Sports Council and the Singapore National Olympic Council have jointly supported the 2008 and 2012 Olympic plans so that our athletes will be able to compete in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. We are putting our sights further. This is not just for the 2008 Olympics. This is a long-term plan. We need to have a very effective sports system and an environment so that we will be able to sustain our best or peak conditions for our athletes. So we need to have the National Sports Council and all the National Sports Associations to work together so that we

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could have these good results. We need to have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans. We want to do better not only in 2008 but also in 2012, 2016 and even 2020. If we say that Singapore's economic progress is a miracle, I would hope that we could also have a miracle in our sports performances.

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Mr Michael Palmer: Three supplementary questions, Mr Speaker. Firstly, would the Parliamentary Secretary care to elaborate on the factors used in selecting the sports for the 2008 Games? Secondly, would he like to name the sports he selected? And, thirdly, what does he think of the chances of winning a medal since he went into the history of our medals?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: I would combine the naming of the targeted sports and the selection process together. In fact, there will be a press conference that will be hosted by SNOC tomorrow. So more details will be addressed there. But let me give an overview.

The selection process depends on the NSAs' recommendations as well. They have worked with their athletes, they know their athletes well, who have the potential, and who have not. From there, the recommendations will be given to the Project Committee, which is the 2008/2012 Olympic Committee, headed by the Vice-President of SNOC, Mr Ng Ser Miang. They have so far targeted four sports, and these four sports are badminton, table tennis, shooting and sailing.

What are the chances? Unfortunately, I did not bring my crystal ball with me. But I would say that chances are good. However, I would prefer to say that if we ever win a medal in 2008, it does not mean we have a good and comprehensive system that will continue to produce champions and heroes at the 2012 and 2016 Games. Because this takes a long-term plan and a strategy to build the

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sports infrastructure, the culture and the environment. So, it takes time. Currently, we are starting to push and that is a good sign. So this is the first step that we need to take. That is the short-term plan aiming at 2008, and we need a medium-term plan for 2012 and a longer term plan for the next 10 and 15 years. The Sporting Culture Committee that was set up hopes to address the sporting blueprints moving forward.

Mr Michael Palmer: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have just one last supplementary question. Since the Parliamentary Secretary spoke about long-term plans, are there any other sports which the Ministry may have identified, besides the four that he mentioned, for the long-term goal of developing them for the Olympic Games as well?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: For any athletes between now and 2008 or now to 2012, if they show promises, we will not let any medal chance get away. We will continue to support any athletes who show potential, including archery that the Member, Mr Michael Palmer, is the adviser. Certainly, if they can shoot bull's eyes every time, we will take that into consideration and we will put them in the programme.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Just now the Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that Singapore won 42 medals at Doha and eight were gold meals. Can he please tell us how many of these were won by foreign talents?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: To represent Singapore, you must be Singaporeans. I am proud to say that a lot of the athletes that won the gold medals were trained under the current system that we have in place, for example, sailing. Sailing implemented a value system for sports since the late 1990s, and that has created a whole horde of good sailors and there are many more coming on board. It is all in the

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pipeline. If you look at the age of the sailors, they are less than 20 years old, and they won five gold medals out of the eight. So, that is an example of the success of a good system that we are trying to build, not just for sailing but across all sports.

To answer Mr Chiam's question, all are Singaporeans. No matter where they come from at the beginning, as long as they come to Singapore, entrenched themselves in the system, and if it is a successful system, we will produce the champions.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, I am not blaming anyone or saying anything about foreign talents. But I just want to know. He does not have to be defensive about it.

Mr Speaker: Mr Teo, you do not have to answer as this is not a question.