Singapore Government Press Release
Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,
MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2^nd Storey, Singapore 179369
Tel: 837-9666

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi

Minister for Community Development and Sports

RAdm Teo Chee Hean

President Singapore National Olympic Council and

Minister for Education & 2^nd Minister for Defence

Ladies and Gentlemen

Tonight, we pay tribute to the achievements of our top national athletes.

Whether winners or nominees, you have reached the pinnacle of sports in Singapore. This you have achieved through endless hours of training and considerable sacrifice. I salute your spirit of determination, discipline and commitment to excellence.

Our sporting heroes can serve as role models to the young.

I urge you to take this responsibility seriously, not just in your sporting careers but in all areas of life where you can inspire and give hope to those who will come after you. And, to the many budding athletes out there, I encourage you to aspire towards these awards and to take up the challenge that sports has to offer you. The joys and rewards of excellence in sports are well worth the sacrifice.

Many of the athletes present here this evening will share this sentiment.

Tonight, I would also like to pay tribute to the many people that have worked to support our sporting talent. When we see a successful athlete, we sometimes forget that it is not just the talent, guts and determination of the individual, but the team behind him that has worked together to make a champion.

A top athlete may need one or more coaches, a sports psychologist, dietician and physiotherapist to train and condition him. He (and please be assured that I also mean the female athlete) needs sparring partners. He depends on efficient sports administrators to arrange funding assistance and opportunities to compete. A supportive media will help boost his morale.

Encouraging employers and parents also pave the way for him to concentrate on his sporting development. It is when all these come together, that the athlete has the best chance to maximise his or her potential and win for the country.

This year, the Singapore Sports Awards have special significance.

It is the first event after the Committee on Sporting Singapore developed a new vision and blueprint for a Sporting Singapore. The Government, together with Singapore Pools, has committed $500m to develop sports over the next 5 years.

Corporations are also seeing the value of sports. Tiger Beer has invested $15m in football over the next 10 years, and NTUC Income is sponsoring $2.5m over 2 years for the S-League. Serious money is being invested in the future of sports in Singapore.

The commitment of both the Government and the private sector demonstrates the growing importance of sports in Singapore. With this injection of financial resources, I am confident that there will be more opportunities for sports participation and for the sports industry to grow, and also more opportunities to excel in sports. It is important that we have winners to drive our vision of a Sporting Singapore.

However, unless we come together as a team to realise this dream, all these opportunities and resources will not add up to our vision for a Sporting Singapore.

The world of sport is fast changing. Records are constantly being broken and the standards by which the global sports fraternity measure excellence continue to rise. If we ourselves do not rise to meet the challenge, the competition will move far beyond us. To reach the greatest heights in sport, it is becoming increasingly apparent that champions today are the product of cutting-edge scientific and professional expertise as well as a committed team effort.

We need to understand this new international sporting environment and what it will take to play in this new league. We also need to assess our own strengths and weaknesses.

I understand that the Committee on Sporting Singapore received much feedback that the sports fraternity in Singapore is hamstrung by a lack of co-ordination and integration between the various players and programmes in the sports fraternity. We no longer have the luxury of taking a parochial or fragmented approach. It will get us nowhere. What we need is a new way of working together to meet the challenges ahead and to realise our vision of Sporting Singapore.

Tonight, I would like to urge the sports fraternity to take the "Team Singapore" approach. What is Team Singapore?

Team Singapore is, at core, the spirit of co-operation and national pride in all our efforts. Such co-operation must involve committed athletes, professionally run National Sports Associations, skilled professionals such as coaches and officials, spirited fans, committed parents, enlightened schools, a supportive private sector and an engaged government.

Let me elaborate. First, Team Singapore is about putting aside personal or organisational interests and working together as a team - each member contributing his own resources, strengths and skills - for larger, national gaols.

Second, Team Singapore is about co-operation between agencies or organisations and the integration of programmes. As an example, this could be National Sports Associations tying up with schools to organise coherent training programmes for student-athletes. This will ensure that we optimise the use of limited resources and provide the athlete with continuity in his sporting development as he transits between school, national service and working life.

Third, Team Singapore is about facilitating the expression of national pride.

At the next SEA Games in Malaysia, ‘Team Singapore’ will give Singaporeans a tangible focus to rally around. It will remind supporters, athletes and officials alike that success in the sports arena accrues to the team, and not just the individual athlete. I am very glad that the Singapore Sports Council and the Singapore National Olympic Council are working hard together to get a large following of Singapore fans to be physically present at the Malaysia SEA Games to cheer our national athletes and for Singapore.

Team Singapore is the way we must work in order to grow a sports culture and achieve the vision of Sporting Singapore. Some commentators have said that sports is a metaphor for life. So even beyond sports, Team Singapore is a powerful new paradigm for the way Singaporeans must work in a new environment where knowledge and expertise, teamwork and networking, flexibility and innovation are key.

While "Singapore Inc" was our paradigm for success in the economic sphere, "Team Singapore" can be the way ahead for a cohesive and resilient Singapore in the social sphere.

Let me end by congratulating the Sports Award nominees for having come this far. You are all winners for sports. I wish you a pleasant evening.