Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary,Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports & Ministry of Transport, Distinguished Guests, Athletes, Ladies and Gentlemen,
| 1. |
On behalf of the Singapore National Olympic Council and the Singapore Sports Council I welcome you to the Multi Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP) Award Presentation and Appreciation Dinner to celebrate Team Singapore’s fine showing at the Beijing Olympic Games. |
| |
|
| 2. |
This has been a wonderful year for sports in Singapore. I would like also to take the opportunity tonight to congratulate the Singapore Paralympic Team for a truly wonderful showing at the Beijing Paralympic Games. To Yip Pin Xiu for her Gold and Silver Medals, and to Laurentia Tan for her two Bronze Medals. |
| |
|
| 3. |
But above all, to all our paralympians - their participation at the Paralympics is itself a personal triumph over adversity for each of them. Thank you for letting our flag fly high and for Majulah Singapura to be sung at the Games. We are all proud of you. |
| |
|
| 4. |
At 2.30 pm on 15 August, on Day 3 of the Table Tennis Competition at the Beijing Olympic Games, at the Peking University Gymnasium the Singapore women’s table tennis team played the South Korean team in the first semi-final of the Women’s Table Tennis team event.
Singaporeans sat transfixed, watching, cheering, and willing the team on. In a gruelling and nail biting encounter that went the full five-match distance, and lasting 3 hours and 13 minutes the Singapore women paddlers edged out their opponents 3-2 to earn a place in the final.
It was a historic day for Singapore as it meant that Singapore was assured of an Olympic medal, it’s first after a 48 year wait since Tan Howe Liang’s silver medal at the Rome Olympics in 1960. |
| |
|
| 5. |
Two days later we played the Chinese team in the finals. Despite our hopes to win the match, and a brave fight by our girls we eventually lost 0-3 to the better team that night. We finished second to the Chinese women’s team. |
| |
|
| 6. |
After a long 48-year wait, our Women’s Table Tennis Team have delivered Singapore’s second medal at the Olympic Games. My congratulations to the Chef de Mission and the team in Beijing for a mission accomplished. The team had set out to bring home at least a medal, and they nearly came home with more than that – with Li Jia Wei coming close yet again in the table-tennis individual event, and Tao Li’s near miss in her 5th placing in the 100m Butterfly Final. |
| |
|
| 7. |
Tonight we will be presenting the MAP awards to our 3 medal winners. The awards have been made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Tote Board & Singapore Pools. They have been SNOC’s MAP sponsor for the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and South East Asia Games since 1995. |
| |
|
| 8. |
I am also pleased to announce tonight that the Tote Board & Singapore Pools have confirmed that they will continue to support MAP right through to 2011. |
| |
|
| 9. |
After a review, there will be some changes for the MAP from 2009 to 2011. |
| |
|
| 10. |
Firstly, the quantum for the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games awards will be reduced by 20%; the quantum for the SEA Games and the Olympic Games awards remain unchanged. |
| |
|
| 11. |
Secondly, the Tote Board & Singapore Pools will offer additional incentives of $50,000 and $5,000 to medal winners who break the Games record in the Asian Games and SEA Games respectively. |
| |
|
| 12. |
And thirdly, MAP winners will plough back 20 % of the monetary awards to their respective National Sports Association for future training and development. This is already the practice in the more established NSAs.
Formalising this and the quantum to be contributed to the NSAs help provide clarity for those NSAs and their athletes who don’t already have such an agreement in place. |
| |
|
| 13. |
Thank you to the Tote Board & Singapore Pools for your continuing commitment to MAP. |
| |
|
| 14. |
Tonight we would also like to say a big thank you to the sponsors of Team Singapore to the Beijing Olympic Games, and also the people who have worked so hard behind the scenes.
Here I am referring to the ever supportive team at the Singapore Sports Council, the team managers, coaches, parents, employers, NSAs, the media, the secretariat and medical team in Beijing, and the well wishers at home and also in Beijing. |
| |
|
| 15. |
This medal would not have been possible too if not for Project 0812 which gave an extra boost to the athletes who were preparing for the Games.
Project 0812 helped us send the best prepared Singapore team for the Olympics ever. 24 out of our 25 athletes met the stringent qualifying standards for the Games after intensive training and gruelling competitions over the last year or two.
This itself was a tremendous achievement for our athletes. Apart from the medals, our athletes came back with several other achievements.
Swimmers, Tao Li, Quah Ting Wen, Bryan Tay, Nicolette Teo and Lynette Lim set new National Records in 6 out of the 10 events they competed in.
Tao Li also set a new Asian Record in the 100m Butterfly event and is the first Singaporean to be in a swimming final in the Olympic Games.
Li Jia Wei finished fourth in the women’s table tennis individual event for the second consecutive Olympic Games.
Our team was also a young one, with 6 of the athletes aged 19 or below. This augurs well for the future of these sports. |
| |
|
| 16. |
So a big thank you also to the Tote Board & Singapore Pools and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports for funding the Project.
Thank you too to the people behind the Project, namely the four NSAs badminton, shooting, sailing and table tennis and their high performance team, the Sports Medicine and Sports Science staff from SSC, and the members of the Project Standing Committee and the Working Committee chaired by Mr Ng Ser Miang and Dr Tan Eng Liang respectively. |
| |
|
| 17. |
This appreciation dinner is for all of you, thank you for helping to make this Beijing 2008 Olympic Games such a memorable and historic one. |
| |
|
| 18. |
I wish everyone here an enjoyable evening. |
| |
|
| |
| |
|
