Good evening, Mr Tan Ju Seng

President, Singapore Sports Council for the Disabled,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen

I am very honoured to be here with you at your fund-raising event. Tonight’s excellent turnout is a heartwarming sign of your commitment to the cause of sports for the disabled, and I commend you for your dedication and unstinting support.

The theme of tonight’s gathering, Sports is for Everybody, is a timely reminder that sports is as much for the disabled as it is for the able-bodied. For the disabled, participation in sports confers many benefits –– apart from fitness and a healthy lifestyle, it is also a means of physical rehabilitation, therapy and social interaction, allowing participants to acquire life skills and build self-esteem. Indeed, the Committee on Sporting Singapore, in outlining its vision to transform Singapore into a sporting nation, has embraced the need to develop and promote disability sports in Singapore.

Sports is about many things – passion, endurance, and the triumph of the human spirit. Nowhere is this more evident than in disability sports, which celebrates overcoming life’s adversities. Take Lachlan Jones, a 34-year-old Australian afflicted with blindness and cerebral palsy. His story of how he rose above his condition to become a Paralympic Gold medallist and a four-time World champion in wheelchair racing is truly an inspiration to all.

We, too, have our local sports heroes, such as 14-year-old Theresa Goh, who recently won six Gold medals at the First Asean Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, and was named Sportswoman of the Games. Another star is Azman bin Yusof, who achieved 7^th position in the 100-metre race in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney. Accomplishments such as these imbue you with the conviction that anything is achievable, no matter what the odds.

As the national agency for disability sports, the Singapore Sports Council for the Disabled (SSCD) caters to the needs of disabled individuals of all ages and disabilities in Singapore. Through its 17-member voluntary organisations, the SSCD reaches out to over 15,000 disabled individuals, offering each, through sports, a unique opportunity to develop and grow.

The SSCD views sports not as an end in itself but as the means to an end. That end is the welfare and well-being of its members. By providing welfare through sports, the SSCD performs the twin functions of a welfare organisation as well as a sports organisation. Its numerous and varied programmes have a Sports Excellence component as well as a Sports For All component.

The SSCD’s Sports Excellence programmes include wheelchair tennis, swimming, sailing and athletics, and challenge members to realise their full potential through competition. The best athletes are sent to regional and international competitions, including the Paralympics. Singapore has participated in a number of these meets, including the Paralympics in Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and in Sydney. Our athletes have won medals, putting Singapore on the map of disability sports and bringing honour and glory to our nation. Just last month, the SSCD’s athletes won 37 medals, including an impressive 16 Golds, at the First ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur. The SSCD is now working towards the Paralympics in Athens in 2004 and has identified a crop of athletes with potential and promise.

At this juncture, I would like to congratulate the winners of the Sports Awards for SSCD for 2001. I understand that for the first time this year, awards are being given out to the Best Sportsboy and the Best Sportsgirl, in addition to the Sportsman, Sportswoman and Coach of the Year awards. This augurs well for disability sports, as it is not only an indication of a greater number of competitive participants but also of a significant rise in standards, enabling these athletes to be recognised on a national scale.

Competitive sports aside, the SSCD also has a Sports For All programme, which includes tennis, sailing, swimming, boccia, goal ball, bowling and riding. This programme reaches out to all disabled persons, encouraging each to participate and enjoy sports recreationally and for a healthy lifestyle. This is by far the Council’s most challenging programme because of its scope and reach. In this regard, the SSCD hopes to tap into existing resources by networking with its counterpart, the Singapore Sports Council, the national sports associations, clubs and community centres to bring sports to the disabled.

I wish to end by encouraging the SSCD to continue with its fine work of bringing competitive and recreational sports to its members. I also urge all Singaporeans to join the SSCD in this effort. Sports is indeed for Everybody.

Thank you.