Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports,
Mr Teo Ser Luck
| 1. |
On behalf of the Singapore National Olympic Council and Singapore Sports Council I extend a warm welcome to all of you to this Multi Million Dollar Award Program (MAP) Awards Presentation and Team Singapore Appreciation Dinner to celebrate our team’s success at the 24th SEA Games, which were held from 6 to 15 December 2007. |
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At the 24th SEA Games in Korat, Bangkok and Pattaya we were represented by 423 athletes with 214 officials in 35 sports out of the 44 sports featured. This is our biggest contingent yet to any major games. |
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Despite the absence of SEA Games multiple gold medalists Josceline Yeo and James Wong who both retired after the 2005 SEA Games in Manila, our athletes in Thailand still managed a very handsome haul of 43 gold medals. This betters the 42 gold medals at the last games in Manila, and it stands today as our best gold medal showing in an away SEA Games. |
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A new generation of young athletes such as swimmers Tao Li, Quah Tin Wen, Zach Ong, Bryan Tay, gymnasts Tabitha and Nicole Tay and shooters Jasmine Ser and Jonathan Koh are now shouldering the responsibility to bring in the gold medals at the SEA Games. This is very comforting for Singapore sports, but it is also nice to see senior athletes such as Lee Wung Yew and Nicolette Teo still competing, still winning gold medals, and more importantly providing the leadership for the younger athletes. And how can we forget the waterpolo team, for despite the team going through a major overhaul after the last games it yet again delivered. This is their 22nd consecutive SEA Games gold medal, a feat yet unsurpassed by any team. |
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In terms of overall medals, we finished one short in Thailand, 128 as opposed to 129 in Manila. Nevertheless it is still a very commendable performance, and my congratulations to the Chef de Mission and his team of athletes and officials for the 128 gold, silver and bronze medals. |
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Deserving special mention are the Swimming/Waterpolo, Shooting and and Table Tennis teams with their impressive haul of 12, 8 and 7 gold medals respectively. Together with Gymnastics and Sailing’s 4 gold medals each, these 5 sports garnered 35 of the total 43 gold medals we won. |
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Gold medals aside, there were also many gutsy performances by our athletes which did Singapore proud. Singaporeans were thrilled by the heroics of bowler Remy Ong, rookie shooter Jonathan Koh, gymnastics twin sisters Tabitha and Nicole Tay, badminton’s Kendrick Lee and triathlete Mok Ying Ren, but the media and many may have missed the heroics of the rugby women’s and men’s 7-a-side teams and the softball women’s and men’s teams. Few gave them any chance of any medals, but they battled fiercely, created many upsets along the way and won the team silver and bronze medals respectively. More importantly they won great respect and admiration from their stronger and bigger opponents for their spirit. Here, I must add that the women did one better than the men, both women teams won the silver medal. |
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It is significant to note also that 18% or 78 athletes of Team Singapore at the Games were 18 years or below, which is the age group to compete in the Youth Olympic Games. Of this group, 47 of them won among themselves 19 gold, 18 silver and 10 bronze medals. Singapore Sports Schools contributed 17 athletes to this group, with 9 of them winning among themselves 7 gold and 7 silver medals. |
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| 9. |
I encourage our young athletes to start preparing now for the Youth Olympic Games I also encourage the NSAs and the Sports School to work together with the Singapore Sports Council to schedule our young athletes for regular competitions at high quality meets so as to raise the standards of our young athletes and help them to qualify for the Youth Olympics. With our collective effort, winning our first Olympic Youth medal may not be just a dream. |
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Tonight we will be presenting MAP cash awards to the gold medalists. These awards have been made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Singapore Totalisator Board/Singapore Pools. Thank you Singapore Totalisator Board/Singapore Pools for providing that incentive and recognition for our athletes as they strive to achieve sporting excellence for our nation. |
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We will also be providing tokens of appreciation to SNOC and Team Singapore partners and sponsors to the 24th SEA Games. You played a significant part in our success at the SEA Games. |
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We have also a sumptuous dinner laid out for you. This ‘Appreciation’ dinner is for all of you, athletes, team officials, supporters, parents, employers, sponsors and the media who have been part of Team Singapore at the 24th SEA Games. Thank you, for making this SEA Games a successful and memorable one. |
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| 13. |
I wish everyone here an enjoyable evening. |
