It’s taken six days for the Olympics to come alive for Singapore and I almost wished it hadn’t.
Because instead of uniting a nation as sports often does, Feng Tianwei’s bronze medal win has done the exact opposite.
Among the over 200 comments on Yahoo! Singapore’s Facebook wall that poured in immediately after her win on Wednesday, Elle Toh writes, “Honestly, I cannot bring myself to feel proud for a foreigner to win a medal for us, although they carry our Singapore flag. But I thank Feng Tianwei nonetheless for putting our name on the chart.“ Full story
Comment: The difference between local athletes and foreign imports is that the former do it for national pride, while the latter plays for the money. If we cut or take away the prize money, will these China-born Singapore paddlers like Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu, Lee Jiawei or Gao Ning still play for Singapore? Should Singaporeans feel proud that we have resorted to buying foreign players to put us on the medal chart?
