Firstly, whilst I can understand the discomfort with foreigners working in Singapore, I think some simple sensitivity can be exercised.

My father came from China since he was 7 year old, and if I don’t reveal this, most people would never have been able to differentiate him from any other Singaporean around. Though he was never well educated, he persevered and worked hard to support the family. He’s not trash. Interestingly, people in that era do not see or call them foreign trash too. I am certain many of us have friends from different parts of the world, some may find it hard to assimilate but most are able to adapt and make friends with each other. They may be our competitors, some weaker than others, but I do not think they are foreign trash. I do not think there is a need to resort to distasteful name-calling.

Secondly, I do think that there has been progress in the local sports scene as well in recognising the achievements and efforts of our sportsmen and sportswomen, abled or disabled. Yes, there may be room for improvement but lets not be too quick to judge. Our government has done well, albeit imperfect in certain areas.

Thirdly, our paralympians have excelled in the games and I agree that they should be rewarded equally, as much as their supposed abled-counterparts. However, if the intended message is for Singapore to realise that the paralympians are as good or stronger than the abled sportsmen, and hence, deserve equal or more rewards for their outstanding achievements, then more needs to be done. It cannot just be a government effort, it has to be demonstrated at every level. If we feel so passionately about this, we should do more than just voicing it out over the internet. Don’t get me wrong, not that it’s not good, but we could do much more by actively engaging and persuading rich Singaporeans such as Oei Hong Leong and Wee Cho Yaw to up the stakes. The impact would be so much greater than an all-predictable government funding.

Same feelins too, but….
What can citizens do to help ? What avenues are there for citizens to express ? How can citizens be assured that appropriate follow up action be taken speedily.
Complain lah – it the easiest way and may be the most effective way culturally.
Of course, and for the present, even if meant well, it is an ugly way of expression in the cause and effect process. The discourse may lie in deeper issues.
Thank you.

.

By assigning monetary values to different kinds of honour which should be priceless it only goes to show how materialistic our Govt leaders are. Just look at the way they pay themselves, I really cannot help comparing them with Chen Shui Bian.

Damn shameless!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rewardparalympians

Thank you!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rewardparalympians

Thanks Jeff :) That’s exactly how i feel too.

http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=426895254
李佳微：我希望在2008 … 我是北京人，又是中国人， 希望能在自己的本土， 自己的地盘上， 能够取得一面奖牌.

Is she worth $250,000?

One is handicapped and has to work that much harder to win
The other is treated like a princess at every step

One is Singaporean
The other holds a Singapore passport

One is ever smiling regardless of her disability and infinitely likeable
The other is a sourpussed, mercenary whore

One won a Gold
The other only received a Silver (there’s no such thing as winning a silver. Winning actually means Winning)

One received $100K which she will spend in Singapore
The other received $250K which she is taking back to Beijing.

Which One do you love?

In an article I read in Xinmin, Tan Ju Seng, the president of SNOC and SDSC, said that they know that it’s a realistic world, that no one will take notice of disability sports until there are achievements.

Anyway I do agree that we should not be using this opportunity to bash the govt. A lot of pple who do not know anything are just blasting away. Do take the time to read the various reports carefully, learn more about the organisation through its websites, learn about the various classification system for disability sports, before slamming away about what is good and deserving of the athletes. They have been doing this for years, they have gone through a lot to get the award scheme approved for the disabled athletes, they have considered a lot of factors to arrive at this prize money, and the athletes are all very appreciative of what the organisation has done.

It seems like you think that SDSC is only looking after a handful of athletes. What you see are in the Paralympics are just 6 of them who qualified for the games. There are many other athletes who are still undergoing training in various sports. There are many other swimmers, wheelchair racers, sprinters, boccia players, lawn bowl players etc etc.

Besides the elite athlete programme, SDSC also has to cater to other sports programmes to reach out to the disabled population to encourage them to take up sports, and at the same time identify potential candidates to groom as elite athletes for competition. SDSC also has to organise various competitions, roadshows and sporting leagues for the various sports. The most recent one would be the 2nd Boccia invitational, whereby participants for various countries came to Singapore for competition.

Do not just base all your assumptions on what you see in the Paralympics. It’s akin to saying that the whole of SSC just caters to the table-tennis trio. In that case, their annual budget of over $30 million should be more than sufficient? I remember that it was reported in the papers that just for SSC’s sailing programme, the budget is already $3+ million, and that is almost the annual budget for SDSC.

Like i’ve mentioned, SDSC functions as a charity/VWO. The President of SDSC, Mr Tan Ju Seng, gets $0 for his role. And he has been volunteering for 14 years. Compare that to the top shots at SSC and see what kind of salary they are drawing. Perhaps you should also ask your friend in SSC how much bonus he is getting this year. For SDSC – 0.

Anyway, it would be good for you to read up more about SDSC, and take a look at their annual report.

Here’s the website: http://www.sdsc.org.sg

Do we really want to get rid of the foreign trash like some of our grandparents or in some cases, our parents who happen to be FT originating from Malaysia, China, India etc.

Perhaps a little (or maybe a lot more) thought should go into such posts….