The hoo-ha about the Olympic Silver Medal

Strange but i am one of the S’porean who is proud that table-tennis got Silver. I am proud of the fight that the S’porean gals to get the Silver Medal. It is a testament of the sacrifices that they put to train day-in-day-out, leaving their families, friends and win a medal for S’pore.

Cynics say that they come bcos they are not the “A” team in China and that we “buy” our way to the Olympic Silver Medal. To them, i stick my middle finger to them and say “Bollocks”. It is not like we “buy” them 2 weeks before the Olympics, give them citizenship and get them to play. We spotted their talent and potential, put in the money to train them and nuture them along the way. Nobody can understand the pressure that the coaches and players feel during the run-up to the semi-finals. Imagine the pressure of the entire nation upon your shoulders. Imagine the pressure for a nation who has not win a medal for 40+ years. Honestly, nobody knows if they truly treat S’pore as their home but until proven guilty, they are innocent and they are S’poreans.

Here is a post which i written in the Liverpool forum on this topic when it was brought up

The biggest problem doesn’t lie with the FTS program.

The biggest problem lies with the mentality of so-called “true-blue” S’porean and society. In a cut-throat society like ours, how many of us would allow our children to play table tennis full-time when we don’t see the results ?

I put forward a scenario. If S’pore is not able to win the table tennis games in SEA, would any of us allow our children to treat table-tennis as a full-time career ? I doubt it bcos our mentality is that “Aiya, S’pore cannot make it in table-tennis.. Don’t waste your time”. It was bcos of Jin Junhong, Li Jiawei that people started to sit up and say, “hey, maybe we can make it” and with the SSS, they will start to think that their kids can do it as a full-time career too. It was the same for tennis when Michael Chiang won the French Open. Asians started to sit up and think, “we can do it too”.

One thing that is famous in all S’poreans(me included), we are quick to dismiss people’s achievement and even quicker to criticise and suan them. At times, i feel that we are unique in this sense. If it was Australia / USA, nobody would bat an eyelid that they are born in Mars bcos to them, they are THEIR own countryman. To them, what matters is who they are NOW rather than where they WERE from.

Nobody cared that Zidane was from Algeria. Nobody cared that Vieira was from Senegal. Nobody cared that Deco was from Brazil. Great footballing nations have been cherry-picking football talents from other countries. Did the Portuguese cared that Deco was born in Brazil and that he is one of the those that are not in the 1st team of the Brazil team ?

In yesterday’s Sunday Times, there was an article about the person who started the FTS for table-tennis and if i don’t rmbr wrongly, his exact remarks about local talents are as follows,
“We have spotted a couple local kids with WORLD CLASS potential however, they are also intelligent kids with good results and their parents didn’t want them to continue”

Now seeing the results and of cos, $$$, maybe and just maybe, more parents would allow their kids to go for it full-time. Of cos, the S’pore Sports Council need to do their part and make sure that after these full-time athletes retire, there is a career after that as coaches or whatever. Maybe with the SSS in full-complement with the FTS, there is a chance that we will be able to groom well class talents.

I I feel that the S’poreans gals should be lauded rather than picking on the fact that they are from China. So what if they are from China? I cannot be even bothered that they are from Timbaktu or Jupiter. Singapore recognized their potential, we give them the infrastructure, training, money to groom them to take to the next level. It is with Singapore’s support that they are able to achieve this fantastic result. They are S’poreans w/o a ounce of a doubt. Think back about the sacrifices that they must make. They leave their home-town, leave their families, train everyday, pressure is mounted on them and taking the fact that they train, putting in their heart, soul, blood and sweat, they still bear the grouses of S’porean who don’t accept them and belittle their achievements.

If we can’t even celebrate their achievements as S’porean, then what hope is there for the future generation of sportsman / sportswoman ? Which sane parent would want to put their children forward to represent S’pore?

And the countdown begins

Went to the gynae on Sat. Everything is normal and we managed to catch a glimpse of Reyes playing with his fingers. His hands was holding his legs again ! Guess he is turning out to be a true yoga master.

Reyes was growing normally and seems like he is ready to come out! Doc said that it should be within these 2 weeks as Wifey is having minor contractions and the aminotic fluid is just ok.

So with that fact in mind, Wifey and i rushed to complete most of the shopping, getting the cot from her sis and setting it up. We are 95% operational and hopefully, we didn’t miss out anything. Hahahah.

I am quite excited that Reyes will be coming out slightly earlier than expected bcos i cannot wait to see him

Me? Master?

Haha.. Wifey always say that i am obsessed with football esp. Liverpool Football club. Actually, i think that i am quite level-headed liao. I am not the type that will buy the Home Jersey, Away Jersey, Training Kit etc etc but i disgress.

I realised that in the recent months, i have been looking around to play in more competitive football matches. I guess i am not contended with just pinging the ball around at ARJAS every sat. Manfred calls me his “SHIFU” and Darryl is starting to do the same. They feel that i play well as holding midfielder and can play well in competitive matches.

So far, i have played 4 competitive matches and i realised that my fitness level is not as good and my level is not as good as when i play in ARJAS. I wonder if it is the team’s style which allow me to play to that level because when i play in competitive matches, i don’t play as well and i don’t understand why.

I am thinking that it is down to fitness level and level of comfort. Playing in ARJAS, it is a non-stress environment and it is relaxing so no problems. But once i am in competitive mode, i try to play with a different mentality and it drains me physically very quickly.

Maybe i should just relax more and keep my play simple. Play to my strengths and know my weaknesses. Guess i need to arrange another friendly match to put my “theories” into practice..

4 more weeks

Went for checkup on Sat and no news is good news..

Reyes is still doing fine and growing well. He is already at the 2.5kg mark and seems that he will be about 3kg when he is out. Doc also said that he has a big tummy. Hahahhaa.. He has a beer belly like his dad liao.

Anyway, 4 more weeks and we haven’t even prepare his bed yet. Lots of things to do but we are dilly-dallying. Wifey and I are anxious but we dun have the discipline to start to prepare his arrival.