The Singapore Sport
I read a regular sidebar on the Sunday newspaper last week. In it, they ask the man (or woman) on the street for their opinions regarding a current affair. Last week's issue was the state of S-league in Singapore. It seems like there are more and more imports on the soccer pitch across many of the teams in the league, so much so that "S-league" was a misnomer. African-league might be a better name for it.
Most of the people interviewed said they did not keep up with S-league, for reasons varying from "it's too slow and boring" to "their skill levels cannot match the EPL" to "there are no pretty faces to watch". I made the last one up, but it's a very plausible excuse.
A high-and-mighty person in Singapore once dreamed of putting Singapore on the World Cup map by 2010. Well, it's 2010 and we're nowhere close to being on the Asian Cup map. Why is it so difficult to get good soccer players in Singapore? I mean, you're looking at the country that is showing USA how to teach maths to their school children. You're looking at the country that won the bid to host the first Youth Olympic Games. We also have a top-ranking airport, a university that has "ang moh" students choosing it over Harvard (if advertisements are to be believed), an efficient public transport network....
If we put our thoughts to it, we can make it happen. (This is what the army means by "eye power".) In the case of Goal 2010, we even had ministerial backing, so what went wrong? Well, it seems like we didn't really put our thoughts into it. As seen from the responses from the man/woman on the street, we're not really into soccer. Sure, many Singaporeans are crazy about how foreign leagues will pan out, will watch matches at 3 am in the morning and will queue for an hour to place bets on such matches. But play? Siao ah? Under the hot sun? 3 years of training? Boh liao.
Putting our thoughts into sports is one thing Singaporeans can't fathom themselves doing. In US, they have their major sports: Football, Baseball, Ice Hockey. On top of supporting their teams like rabid fans, these sports enjoy massive sign-ups in junior schools all the way up to college. What is Singapore's sport?
Definitely not soccer. It was never the cool CCA to be in. Sure it was fun to play once in a while, but no one wanted a regimental training plan to follow. And attendence at S-league matches are underwhelming, so our soccer fan base isn't as rabid as the undying love and support that Americans give their teams.
Take out any of the other team sports for that matter. Perhaps netball comes close in that we are quite a presence in ASEAN and Asia Pac even. Girls did think that it's a good CCA. But still no rabid fans. Singapore is strong in Table Tennis, but largely due to imported talent.
So what are the sports Singapore is good at? Individual sports like swimming, shooting, bowling and sailing provide the best yields during SEA games. Does it make it a "Singapore Sport"? Not all schools offer these activities as CCAs, either due to facility limitations, or manpower (ie, teacher-in-charge) limitations. As such, only the "mainstream" sports like soccer and track and field are widely offered as CCAs. And besides the decent turn-outs during swimming meets, I'm starting to believe that the image of Singaporeans and excited fans are mutually exclusive events. (Of course, I'm proven wrong by a televised singing competition.)
If "Singapore Sport" were defined as:
A competitive sport;
Featuring majority local sportsmen;
Strong community support (whether or not sports are televised);
Good talent scouting and development, even from a young age,
Then I don't think we have a Singapore Sport.
This post isn't about whether or not this is a problem. It's about uncovering the reasons why the situation is so. There are many sports out there that Singaporeans enjoy and actively participate in. In terms of competitive sports, it seems like Singapore is pretty open to accepting the wide variety of sports out there. Even "exotic" sports like Capoeira and sports that appeal to a very niche demographic like paintballing are available in Singapore.
There are many sports that gather local sporting talents. Many sports that have been introduced to Singapore have quite a healthy following. Take marathons, ultra-marathons and triathlons, which have become popular of late. While talent scouting and development still needs, uh, development in most sports, they have been generally healthy for sports with mature development support. Even a niche sport like gymnastics enjoys the benefit of multiple gymnastic schools (even catering to pre-school kids) and good coaches at a national level.
Ultimately, I feel that Singapore will not be able to call a "Singapore Sport" because of all of them lack a community support element. It's not that we're too results-focused and only detail-oriented to efficiency. That televised singing competition is proof that Singaporeans are willing to rally around anyone with skills (and sometimes, they're very willing to rally with their wallets too). Perhaps sports is not something that spurs as strong a community spirit as, say, music.
Perhaps no one cares that Singapore doesn't have a "national sport". But it's sad that a country that has developed so well intellectually is neglecting such an important aspect of her citizens' lives. -Jimmy
Most of the people interviewed said they did not keep up with S-league, for reasons varying from "it's too slow and boring" to "their skill levels cannot match the EPL" to "there are no pretty faces to watch". I made the last one up, but it's a very plausible excuse.
A high-and-mighty person in Singapore once dreamed of putting Singapore on the World Cup map by 2010. Well, it's 2010 and we're nowhere close to being on the Asian Cup map. Why is it so difficult to get good soccer players in Singapore? I mean, you're looking at the country that is showing USA how to teach maths to their school children. You're looking at the country that won the bid to host the first Youth Olympic Games. We also have a top-ranking airport, a university that has "ang moh" students choosing it over Harvard (if advertisements are to be believed), an efficient public transport network....
If we put our thoughts to it, we can make it happen. (This is what the army means by "eye power".) In the case of Goal 2010, we even had ministerial backing, so what went wrong? Well, it seems like we didn't really put our thoughts into it. As seen from the responses from the man/woman on the street, we're not really into soccer. Sure, many Singaporeans are crazy about how foreign leagues will pan out, will watch matches at 3 am in the morning and will queue for an hour to place bets on such matches. But play? Siao ah? Under the hot sun? 3 years of training? Boh liao.
Putting our thoughts into sports is one thing Singaporeans can't fathom themselves doing. In US, they have their major sports: Football, Baseball, Ice Hockey. On top of supporting their teams like rabid fans, these sports enjoy massive sign-ups in junior schools all the way up to college. What is Singapore's sport?
Definitely not soccer. It was never the cool CCA to be in. Sure it was fun to play once in a while, but no one wanted a regimental training plan to follow. And attendence at S-league matches are underwhelming, so our soccer fan base isn't as rabid as the undying love and support that Americans give their teams.
Take out any of the other team sports for that matter. Perhaps netball comes close in that we are quite a presence in ASEAN and Asia Pac even. Girls did think that it's a good CCA. But still no rabid fans. Singapore is strong in Table Tennis, but largely due to imported talent.
So what are the sports Singapore is good at? Individual sports like swimming, shooting, bowling and sailing provide the best yields during SEA games. Does it make it a "Singapore Sport"? Not all schools offer these activities as CCAs, either due to facility limitations, or manpower (ie, teacher-in-charge) limitations. As such, only the "mainstream" sports like soccer and track and field are widely offered as CCAs. And besides the decent turn-outs during swimming meets, I'm starting to believe that the image of Singaporeans and excited fans are mutually exclusive events. (Of course, I'm proven wrong by a televised singing competition.)
If "Singapore Sport" were defined as:
A competitive sport;
Featuring majority local sportsmen;
Strong community support (whether or not sports are televised);
Good talent scouting and development, even from a young age,
Then I don't think we have a Singapore Sport.
This post isn't about whether or not this is a problem. It's about uncovering the reasons why the situation is so. There are many sports out there that Singaporeans enjoy and actively participate in. In terms of competitive sports, it seems like Singapore is pretty open to accepting the wide variety of sports out there. Even "exotic" sports like Capoeira and sports that appeal to a very niche demographic like paintballing are available in Singapore.
There are many sports that gather local sporting talents. Many sports that have been introduced to Singapore have quite a healthy following. Take marathons, ultra-marathons and triathlons, which have become popular of late. While talent scouting and development still needs, uh, development in most sports, they have been generally healthy for sports with mature development support. Even a niche sport like gymnastics enjoys the benefit of multiple gymnastic schools (even catering to pre-school kids) and good coaches at a national level.
Ultimately, I feel that Singapore will not be able to call a "Singapore Sport" because of all of them lack a community support element. It's not that we're too results-focused and only detail-oriented to efficiency. That televised singing competition is proof that Singaporeans are willing to rally around anyone with skills (and sometimes, they're very willing to rally with their wallets too). Perhaps sports is not something that spurs as strong a community spirit as, say, music.
Perhaps no one cares that Singapore doesn't have a "national sport". But it's sad that a country that has developed so well intellectually is neglecting such an important aspect of her citizens' lives. -Jimmy
posted by Jimmy at 11:38 PM
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