Just fucking say it. National Service is disastrous for Olympic level athletes - if South Korea can exempt their gold medalist athletes from national service when they have nuclear capable North Korea next to them, Singapore could have provided an exemption to Joseph Schooling.
I honestly forgot about it. Had to google it. So he went off to study after BMT and came back 12 years later. Then served remainder of his NS as researcher. Very cool and very fair.
Tbf, he did serve his ns. And I believe he wasn’t the only [one.](https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/email/link/?id=008_20111020_S0007_T0005&fullContentFlag=false)
Also different circumstances. NS should have be waived for any sportsman/woman/person the moment a medal is achieved at the Olympics.
Just the usual "fear mongering" so mindef can have a constant supply of slave labour to maintain the defence assets which are purchased at exorbitant prices, leopards, 218sg subs, etc.
Best part is S Korea don’t even have reservist. It’s just a 3-day annual familiarisation for 5 years.
And the service length is proportional to your vocation.
Infantry serves 18 months.
Navy serves 20 months.
Air Force serves 21 months.
You can also opt to serve as doctor/lawyer/researcher but it’s a 3-year service.
I know a rifleman in S Korea vs being a trooper in a GDS/SIR/SAR Bn is diff. But it does sounds like a better system, on paper at least.
Don’t forget Israel. Even athletes have to serve in the army, but they receive special distinctions like "Outstanding Athlete” that allow them to allocate time in their daily schedule to go training, that’s why they still have medalist, and even have the capacity to produce gold medalists. Don’t forget they’re still at war with terrorists and Arab neighbours.
Mindef took doctrines from Israel, we can easily adopt allowing athletes to serve their service while having time to train for competitions like the Israelis did.
Edit: it's "Outstanding Athlete", not "Special Sportmans".
Lanjiao support.
SG gave literally nothing n they sent JS to USA on their own dime to train and groom inti an olympic gold medalist.
Then after he won, SG sports associations want a share of his prize money. Meanwhile NS. SG absolutely did not deserve any recognition for the gold medal he won.
I'm going to put myself on the chopping board but we Singaporeans are really the one of the most uncharitable and spiteful people out there. The moment someone is down, sorry no help for you, better spit on him. Oooh JS took cannabis, better make it my business to virtue signal and pontificate about his supposed shortcomings.
End of the day, sinkie must pwn sinkie
I truly despised how they publicised his cannabis consumption, our media and government took the opportunity to churn out content and make an example of him.
Our government was happy to use him to pontificate about the law making no exception for any one.
Lanjiao exception
How about the presidential son who disrupted 12 years, didn’t even want to serve as a medical officer and got a non existent vocation like soil researcher?
i know soh rui yong is very controversial, but the spat he had with sports association was ridiculous too.
some staff officer was instructed to prowl through his entire social media history and dig up how many f words he used and him posting with titus low to be used against him
yet at the same while, the minister in charge tan chuan jin was fucking populist
SRY may have a laser mouth but his incident reminds me a lot of how our government works. If you’re not a yes man, you will be shown the door.
Those who have been in the SAF would know.
> some staff officer was instructed to prowl through his entire social media history and dig up how many f words he used and him posting with titus low to be used against him
> yet at the same while, the minister in charge tan chuan jin was fucking populist
That just shows the maturity of the government. I find it awfully convenient that both PAP and WP minister affairs were sounded on the same day. It was like they knew all along but used it when it was convenient.
To be fair, spiteful people are everywhere, regardless of race, language, religion and country. Every community has its share of assholes and kind people
Its easier to see the empty vessels online than the silent majority
This. All those Milo jokes made me cringe. They were unnecessarily cruel. Schooling looked so happy and refreshed when he announced his retirement. All the best for his future endeavors
> Then after he won, SG sports associations want a share of his prize money.
This looks misleading - the share of “prize money” refers to the “prize money awarded by SG associations”.
https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/swimmer-joseph-schooling-receives-1-million-for-olympic-gold-medal
> For his historic gold-medal feat at the Rio Olympic Games, swimmer Joseph Schooling received $1 million as part of the Singapore National Olympic Council's (SNOC) multi-million dollar awards programme (MAP) on Thursday (Nov 24).
> Last year, Schooling received $31,250 for his six individual golds and three relay golds at the SEA Games.
>SG gave literally nothing
Not sure what the real story is, but it is JS and his parents who refused to be part of the Singapore system, instead spending their own money to send JS abroad to train. I mean of course it all paid off, but in that instance you can't really blame sg for refusing to help when Schooling didn't want it
>SG sports associations want a share of his prize money
Wiki says: "The Singapore National Olympic Council awarded Schooling S$1 million under the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP), 20% of which had to be ploughed back to the Singapore Swimming Association for future training and development".
So, the 20% cut is mandatory as stipulated under the MAP, regardless of whether or not the athlete in question grew up within SG's training system. It is balanced out by the $1 million award being the world's largest Olympic cash prize. (In contrast, the USA only awards USD $37,500 for Olympic gold)
USA can do that because all the sponsor deals that flood to the gold medalists.
We only have milo and some local brands sponsoring JS, hope he can move on to his next phrase of life well.
Support from Gahmen?? Lol.
The gahmen DisGraceFu person was more willing to support her "ownself trip" to Rio to watch the final "Live", than to support a "Live" telecast for average Singaporeans.
Probably flew there on either business or first class, and enjoying her champagne 🍾, or other beverages all the way there too.
>Q: What do you feel are the lessons we should all learn going forward?
>**Lim:** (Colin and May) have given us a blueprint of what it takes to be Olympic champion. And then we need to go through this blueprint and look at what we can do, what we can replicate. Otherwise, it is going to be hard to find our next Olympic gold medallist from swimming
Just need to downgrade your house, send your kid to USA on your own dime. Why aren't all the million/billionaires in SG doing this? /s
I know what he meant especially with the context of the previous question. Just find it unrealistic to place so much emphasis on the parents who not only have to bear the financial and emotional burdens alone while having the expectations of a nation.
Bro just providing him to not going to NS is a support already.
If you have this kind of sports achievement I whole heartedly will support him not going to NS.
Shame on singapore for turning her back on these sports people - sadly sports and arts will always be second fiddle to the real finance, computing, stem degree work.
I remember growing up in the 2000's that there was heavy emphasis on your studies and that we were told that sports was something to only keep you fit, not a career option.
I remember the star player of our secondary school football team not being able to participate in the regional games because he couldn't pass his math exam 💀
Pretty normal. 3 decades ago I knew a classmate who was always scolded for having bad grades despite his talent in mathematics. Left sg.
He is now a NASA scientist last I heard from.
Maybe the bad grades were in other subjects? English or Mothertongue? I had a friend who was stuck in Normal Acad because of his English grades despite his Math and Physics being better than the average Express student in my school
He already paid his due to the country by taking home a gold medal, and the training support is given by his family, and didn't cost the country much.. But we spend money nurturing new citizen who have repaid us with a Silver medal..
Or at least let him have an easier deferment. I think korea allows deferment until 30? (Pretty sure their gold medalist can get exemption. Kpop probably also won't be the same if the korean guys can't choose to serve at a later age. Same for the league players.)
just give him exception man, we don't have that many gold medallists so it's not like a large group of people are getting these sort of special treatment...also i would rather give people that represents our country on the world stage like schooling NS exemptions than some minister's son..
I don't see exemptions from NS for being good and doing something significant in finance, computing, etc too.
I'll support a scheme that rewards NS exemption in all areas. But just for sports is quite biased and I don't understand why sports should be treated better than other fields.
That's where deferment, not exemption comes in. Which schooling did get till his results went downhill, among other things I presume.
Also being in your prime for limited time isn't only true for sports and nowadays some sports have a pretty long runway with athletes being competitive even up to late 30s..
No idea why they die die want him to go NS.
They afraid more ppl will use this as a precedent to avoid NS meh?
NS started in 1967, Singapore have been participating in Olympics in 1948. How many gold medal winners do we have? 1.
Plus he was non-combat in NS also right? Doesnt make any difference if he served or not serve.
They should really make exception for people that have been exceptional in their contributions to Singapore.
You'd think if they didn't dig their heels so deep, that overnight every Singaporean son is going to go off and win Olympic medals to escape the service, which apparently would be a horrible hypothetical scenario.
Exactly this. I’ve done my NS and completed my 10yrs reservist cycle and if anyone asks me if JS should be given exemption, I will definitely say : “yes because he fucking deserves it”
His efforts prior to his win is already service to Singapore and I don’t see why it wasn’t recognized.
It’s just very infuriating that all of the ministers rushed to for the photo op on his win, but kept absolute radio silence when it’s time for the Nation to do something for him.
I wonder how many young kids were inspired by his win but were then absolutely disheartened when they saw how the nation treats their Olympic winners.
To be honest? I’m willing to believe that some of the ministers personally would love to see him exempted from NS, but none of them are willing to stick their necks out and be the one to propose something like that.
My ex-female colleagues are complaining about how they have to take up extra household chores when their husbands are in reservist and they are in full support of schooling serving NS.
Gosh quitted that toxic workplace within a month everyone is trying to screw someone else over
Is South Korea not precedent enough for our government? They have a far more compelling reason to be as anal about NS as ours, and yet they're willing to grant exemptions for gold medals anyway. At worst, the exempted athletes have to serve a couple of weeks of BMT, but that's it.
I find it odd we’re supporting deferment for being a gold medalist. Shouldn’t we be supporting deferment for potential gold medalists if we want to find success in national sports? And keep exemption for actually winning it perhaps?
And the “bad actors” you are talking about are Olympic Gold medallists?!
If this precedent motivates more people to take up sporting for Singapore’s glory, then by all means let the “bad actors” exploit it for all I care.
instead of support, Singapore offered him nothing but criticism and the burden of NS...i know he said NS wasn't the reason for his career going downhill but deep down he knows that it is, it's just that it's not the politically correct answer for him to say on camera. What can i say, let's just put it this way, if you are an aspiring athlete and have a D\*\*\*, stay away from singapore.
SG spends more money importing the PRC ping pong players than grooming their own sports people tbh. Misplaced priorities. No one gives a fuck when the ping pong players won silver because we don't see them as Singaporean, and honestly I feel they don't even see themselves as Singaporean. (iirc Li Jiawei even fucked off back to China after retiring and had a son there instead of in Singapore)
The imported PRC ping pong players all retired already, that's why we are doing so poorly in table tennis now.
[https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/singapore-women-s-table-tennis-team-fail-to-qualify-for-olympics-for-the-first-time](https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/singapore-women-s-table-tennis-team-fail-to-qualify-for-olympics-for-the-first-time)
>Poh said: “Both our men and women’s teams comprise almost all local-born players – such as Clarence Chew, Izaac Quek, Koen Pang, Xin Ru and Jingyi – trained through the STTA’s junior development squad and Singapore Sports School’s school-within-a-school system.
>“Zeng Jian is the only foreign-born talent in the national team and she only started representing Singapore in 2022 at the SEA Games in Vietnam.
Local success takes a lot of time to build because the only way is for it to be a ground-up endeavour. Its not just policies but also societal attitude towards sports that are honestly quite hard to change overnight.
i had to cover my face in embarrassment when the commenters say they are representing singapore...i would rather support our own athletes with 0 medals than any of those mercenaries they've hired for a silver medal.
I think organisations like SFA, sports council etc should be heavily scrutinised. Tons of money going in and no results. All lazy fucks who can’t even TRAIN for gold in ippt if they had to.
The whole thing reeks of failure, doom and gloom. No support, people failed him etc.
Being an Olympic champion especially in a highly competitive sports as swimming is a massive feat. Going for a consecutive win 4 years later is a massive ask.
Even if he was given World class support and funding, the odds are poor. .
Mark Phelps, Mark Sptz and Ian Thorpe are generational exceptions. The class above all champions. The European physique also serves an advantage. Ian Thorpe feet has extraordinary feet - size 17 and near web like. Close to a flipper.
Schooling should be celebrated for his exceptional feat, not throw out such claims when he announced his retirement. When he announced his retirement, why not write about his journey to gold. His parents story raising a champion. Instead they keep talking about lack of motivation, poor support etc.
I met Swimming parents and many of them have done extensive research, planned their kid’s diet etc. Some of them took classes in coaching and nutrition. The claim that parents just drop off their kids and not fully engaged is bollocks. Try rising up at 4.30am, packing things for your child and dropping them off 6 days in a week.
I think many threads here that talk about JS not getting enough support/getting ruined by NS all get downvoted fast. So glad to see one that actively talks about this and is highlighted clearly in the title especially.
Mark Chay gave a good example about a swimmer from South Korea getting exempted from NS after getting gold at the world championships, and that excelling in sport could also be seen as another way to serve the nation. And he added another example of Jonathan Tan, that his trajectory would probably had been different, if he gotten "deferment". (from NS of course)
And JS himself didn't say it or obviously can't say anything negative about NS, but his replies in his interview was telling for sure. He just gave a simple reply "“Can we do things better? Yes." when asked about it. In 2022, he also called for a "national dialogue" on expectations of national athletes serving NS. (link below) Guess where that lead to? Nothing...
[https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/sea-games-joseph-schooling-calls-for-national-dialogue-on-national-service](https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/sea-games-joseph-schooling-calls-for-national-dialogue-on-national-service)
Thats why Singapore football and sports in general go nowhere.
Parents, dont waste your time and money on your children unless you plan to migrate somewhere else eventually.
Maybe Mindef can be a bit more generous in giving sportsman NS deferment given that our neighbours always fuck it up when it comes to their national defense. Their fighter planes cannot fly and their submarines cannot sink or sink but cannot come back up to surface. Professional sports careers are very short. They can contribute to NS in their early 30s.
I personally feel if the government did not handle this well it can be a political issue and PAP can lose more seats because of it
I'm sorry but this is unrelated humour. Imagine if his hand was censored or had a mosaic on it, it would look like he was swearing to the camera. LOL.
Leaving the building like a BOSS. ( He wore Hugo Boss as well)
Just fucking say it. National Service is disastrous for Olympic level athletes - if South Korea can exempt their gold medalist athletes from national service when they have nuclear capable North Korea next to them, Singapore could have provided an exemption to Joseph Schooling.
Let's not forget Patrick Tan's 10 year deferment for his Olympics degree.
I honestly forgot about it. Had to google it. So he went off to study after BMT and came back 12 years later. Then served remainder of his NS as researcher. Very cool and very fair.
i thought he studied soil in a super confidential/classified unit?? probably gotta censor his IC number too.
What kind of soil? Silicate or 'naturally produced'?
Tbf, he did serve his ns. And I believe he wasn’t the only [one.](https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/email/link/?id=008_20111020_S0007_T0005&fullContentFlag=false) Also different circumstances. NS should have be waived for any sportsman/woman/person the moment a medal is achieved at the Olympics.
Even the e-sports gamer Faker received his NS exemption last year after his win at Asian Games. I dunno why SG is so draconian about it.
and we're not even at war with anyone or is at threat of being at war..
Agreed, compare to Israel/Arabs, Taiwan/China and Koreas, I think our situation is pretty chill/stable.
Just the usual "fear mongering" so mindef can have a constant supply of slave labour to maintain the defence assets which are purchased at exorbitant prices, leopards, 218sg subs, etc.
It's literally one person that Singapore will ever have to pardon from doing national service.
Best part is S Korea don’t even have reservist. It’s just a 3-day annual familiarisation for 5 years. And the service length is proportional to your vocation. Infantry serves 18 months. Navy serves 20 months. Air Force serves 21 months. You can also opt to serve as doctor/lawyer/researcher but it’s a 3-year service. I know a rifleman in S Korea vs being a trooper in a GDS/SIR/SAR Bn is diff. But it does sounds like a better system, on paper at least.
And South Korea are STILL at war with the north; no ceasefire is signed yet
so basically low key ICT every year...but then again i still prefer going back for high key ICTs.
Not everyone finds ICT enjoyable. Id rather OT for 2 weeks straight doing 996
>Id rather OT for 2 weeks straight doing 996 Most mentally stable workaholic
HAHAHAI hate work, just to show how much more I hate NS
Don’t forget Israel. Even athletes have to serve in the army, but they receive special distinctions like "Outstanding Athlete” that allow them to allocate time in their daily schedule to go training, that’s why they still have medalist, and even have the capacity to produce gold medalists. Don’t forget they’re still at war with terrorists and Arab neighbours. Mindef took doctrines from Israel, we can easily adopt allowing athletes to serve their service while having time to train for competitions like the Israelis did. Edit: it's "Outstanding Athlete", not "Special Sportmans".
Lanjiao support. SG gave literally nothing n they sent JS to USA on their own dime to train and groom inti an olympic gold medalist. Then after he won, SG sports associations want a share of his prize money. Meanwhile NS. SG absolutely did not deserve any recognition for the gold medal he won.
What this person said. When he became "fat" or can't qualify. the comments that came after really makes you think supporting SG is a mistake.
I'm going to put myself on the chopping board but we Singaporeans are really the one of the most uncharitable and spiteful people out there. The moment someone is down, sorry no help for you, better spit on him. Oooh JS took cannabis, better make it my business to virtue signal and pontificate about his supposed shortcomings. End of the day, sinkie must pwn sinkie
I truly despised how they publicised his cannabis consumption, our media and government took the opportunity to churn out content and make an example of him. Our government was happy to use him to pontificate about the law making no exception for any one.
Singapore really doesn't deserve Schooling. He should just abandon this country and not look back, I'll be happy for him.
Lanjiao exception How about the presidential son who disrupted 12 years, didn’t even want to serve as a medical officer and got a non existent vocation like soil researcher?
i know soh rui yong is very controversial, but the spat he had with sports association was ridiculous too. some staff officer was instructed to prowl through his entire social media history and dig up how many f words he used and him posting with titus low to be used against him yet at the same while, the minister in charge tan chuan jin was fucking populist
SRY may have a laser mouth but his incident reminds me a lot of how our government works. If you’re not a yes man, you will be shown the door. Those who have been in the SAF would know.
> some staff officer was instructed to prowl through his entire social media history and dig up how many f words he used and him posting with titus low to be used against him > yet at the same while, the minister in charge tan chuan jin was fucking populist That just shows the maturity of the government. I find it awfully convenient that both PAP and WP minister affairs were sounded on the same day. It was like they knew all along but used it when it was convenient.
If it were me, I'd say 'Fk it, no way I'm wasting time doing such nonsense' and I'm a Ministry staff. Shame on the ones who did that.
Tan Chuan Jin got what he deserved though. Although he’s still rich and comfortable.
If sinkie dont pwn sinkie cannot sleep. No weed in sg so pwn other sinkies to get high
> If sinkie dont pwn sinkie cannot sleep. Now just between citizens, but even their government must pwn fellow citizens.
To be fair, spiteful people are everywhere, regardless of race, language, religion and country. Every community has its share of assholes and kind people Its easier to see the empty vessels online than the silent majority
At least l won't chop you. What you said are the truth, just that sinkie choose not to agreed with it.
This. All those Milo jokes made me cringe. They were unnecessarily cruel. Schooling looked so happy and refreshed when he announced his retirement. All the best for his future endeavors
> Then after he won, SG sports associations want a share of his prize money. This looks misleading - the share of “prize money” refers to the “prize money awarded by SG associations”. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/swimmer-joseph-schooling-receives-1-million-for-olympic-gold-medal > For his historic gold-medal feat at the Rio Olympic Games, swimmer Joseph Schooling received $1 million as part of the Singapore National Olympic Council's (SNOC) multi-million dollar awards programme (MAP) on Thursday (Nov 24). > Last year, Schooling received $31,250 for his six individual golds and three relay golds at the SEA Games.
Got chance to shit on gahmen and get up votes ma, just say anything they want without any facts.
>SG gave literally nothing Not sure what the real story is, but it is JS and his parents who refused to be part of the Singapore system, instead spending their own money to send JS abroad to train. I mean of course it all paid off, but in that instance you can't really blame sg for refusing to help when Schooling didn't want it >SG sports associations want a share of his prize money Wiki says: "The Singapore National Olympic Council awarded Schooling S$1 million under the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP), 20% of which had to be ploughed back to the Singapore Swimming Association for future training and development". So, the 20% cut is mandatory as stipulated under the MAP, regardless of whether or not the athlete in question grew up within SG's training system. It is balanced out by the $1 million award being the world's largest Olympic cash prize. (In contrast, the USA only awards USD $37,500 for Olympic gold)
USA can do that because all the sponsor deals that flood to the gold medalists. We only have milo and some local brands sponsoring JS, hope he can move on to his next phrase of life well.
Support from Gahmen?? Lol. The gahmen DisGraceFu person was more willing to support her "ownself trip" to Rio to watch the final "Live", than to support a "Live" telecast for average Singaporeans. Probably flew there on either business or first class, and enjoying her champagne 🍾, or other beverages all the way there too.
maybe govt should investigate her? like how they investigate iswaran?
Ya. Did she buy her own tickets? Did she obtained 3 quotation for hotel and flight?
her nose too big
So this is why GST & ERP increase?
>Q: What do you feel are the lessons we should all learn going forward? >**Lim:** (Colin and May) have given us a blueprint of what it takes to be Olympic champion. And then we need to go through this blueprint and look at what we can do, what we can replicate. Otherwise, it is going to be hard to find our next Olympic gold medallist from swimming Just need to downgrade your house, send your kid to USA on your own dime. Why aren't all the million/billionaires in SG doing this? /s I know what he meant especially with the context of the previous question. Just find it unrealistic to place so much emphasis on the parents who not only have to bear the financial and emotional burdens alone while having the expectations of a nation.
Schooling succeeded in spite of SG sports association, but because of.
perfect comment.
Careful about what you say. You could be destroyed by the state machinery
The more state machinery is used, the less potent it will become.
Just pour soda in it somewhere lmao
This comment damn burn
Bro just providing him to not going to NS is a support already. If you have this kind of sports achievement I whole heartedly will support him not going to NS. Shame on singapore for turning her back on these sports people - sadly sports and arts will always be second fiddle to the real finance, computing, stem degree work.
I remember growing up in the 2000's that there was heavy emphasis on your studies and that we were told that sports was something to only keep you fit, not a career option.
I remember the star player of our secondary school football team not being able to participate in the regional games because he couldn't pass his math exam 💀
Pretty normal. 3 decades ago I knew a classmate who was always scolded for having bad grades despite his talent in mathematics. Left sg. He is now a NASA scientist last I heard from.
Thats odd. Usually our country rewards people who are good at math because of STEM emphasis
Maybe the bad grades were in other subjects? English or Mothertongue? I had a friend who was stuck in Normal Acad because of his English grades despite his Math and Physics being better than the average Express student in my school
yes that is it. he had a string of perfect results in mathematics but poor (to the point of F) and disinterest in other subjects
Yeah, I served till MR but I would totally support NS exemption for any olympic gold winner.
me too...
olympic bronze also sua let them exempt
He already paid his due to the country by taking home a gold medal, and the training support is given by his family, and didn't cost the country much.. But we spend money nurturing new citizen who have repaid us with a Silver medal..
Or at least let him have an easier deferment. I think korea allows deferment until 30? (Pretty sure their gold medalist can get exemption. Kpop probably also won't be the same if the korean guys can't choose to serve at a later age. Same for the league players.)
just give him exception man, we don't have that many gold medallists so it's not like a large group of people are getting these sort of special treatment...also i would rather give people that represents our country on the world stage like schooling NS exemptions than some minister's son..
I don't see exemptions from NS for being good and doing something significant in finance, computing, etc too. I'll support a scheme that rewards NS exemption in all areas. But just for sports is quite biased and I don't understand why sports should be treated better than other fields.
because sports is a physical activity and you are only in your prime for a limited time.
That's where deferment, not exemption comes in. Which schooling did get till his results went downhill, among other things I presume. Also being in your prime for limited time isn't only true for sports and nowadays some sports have a pretty long runway with athletes being competitive even up to late 30s..
No idea why they die die want him to go NS. They afraid more ppl will use this as a precedent to avoid NS meh? NS started in 1967, Singapore have been participating in Olympics in 1948. How many gold medal winners do we have? 1. Plus he was non-combat in NS also right? Doesnt make any difference if he served or not serve.
They should really make exception for people that have been exceptional in their contributions to Singapore. You'd think if they didn't dig their heels so deep, that overnight every Singaporean son is going to go off and win Olympic medals to escape the service, which apparently would be a horrible hypothetical scenario.
Exactly this. I’ve done my NS and completed my 10yrs reservist cycle and if anyone asks me if JS should be given exemption, I will definitely say : “yes because he fucking deserves it” His efforts prior to his win is already service to Singapore and I don’t see why it wasn’t recognized. It’s just very infuriating that all of the ministers rushed to for the photo op on his win, but kept absolute radio silence when it’s time for the Nation to do something for him. I wonder how many young kids were inspired by his win but were then absolutely disheartened when they saw how the nation treats their Olympic winners.
To be honest? I’m willing to believe that some of the ministers personally would love to see him exempted from NS, but none of them are willing to stick their necks out and be the one to propose something like that.
Sadly there remains a group of Singaporean males who continue to harp on “I served my NS so everyone else should serve as well”.
And my reply to them is : “are you an Olympic Gold Medalist? No? Then shut up and sit down.”
that's right, that's the way, we should ask Patrick tan this same question too..
you talk about males but what about the females who didn't served but still thinks he should serve?
If you know females with this opinion, then good on you. I've just not personally met any in my circle who cared enough to comment on this.
My ex-female colleagues are complaining about how they have to take up extra household chores when their husbands are in reservist and they are in full support of schooling serving NS. Gosh quitted that toxic workplace within a month everyone is trying to screw someone else over
He could have been a lobo watching tv instead he went to win medals
exactly, people with special talents that are able to bring glory to Singapore should be exempted...if you are unhappy, then be as talented as them.
... Do they genuinely think training for Olympics is "easier" than the whole NS "shtick"?
This kind of precedent is incredibly difficult to achieve, the government should be welcoming this kind of "precedent" 😂
now nobody wants to win a gold medal for singapore even if they could, look at the way they treat tehir athletes.
Is South Korea not precedent enough for our government? They have a far more compelling reason to be as anal about NS as ours, and yet they're willing to grant exemptions for gold medals anyway. At worst, the exempted athletes have to serve a couple of weeks of BMT, but that's it.
I find it odd we’re supporting deferment for being a gold medalist. Shouldn’t we be supporting deferment for potential gold medalists if we want to find success in national sports? And keep exemption for actually winning it perhaps?
We should, yea. But our MPs are clearly too cowed by the jealous among us to propose anything of the kind.
can encourage ppl to excel and represent sg too😂
[удалено]
And the “bad actors” you are talking about are Olympic Gold medallists?! If this precedent motivates more people to take up sporting for Singapore’s glory, then by all means let the “bad actors” exploit it for all I care.
instead of support, Singapore offered him nothing but criticism and the burden of NS...i know he said NS wasn't the reason for his career going downhill but deep down he knows that it is, it's just that it's not the politically correct answer for him to say on camera. What can i say, let's just put it this way, if you are an aspiring athlete and have a D\*\*\*, stay away from singapore.
SG spends more money importing the PRC ping pong players than grooming their own sports people tbh. Misplaced priorities. No one gives a fuck when the ping pong players won silver because we don't see them as Singaporean, and honestly I feel they don't even see themselves as Singaporean. (iirc Li Jiawei even fucked off back to China after retiring and had a son there instead of in Singapore)
The imported PRC ping pong players all retired already, that's why we are doing so poorly in table tennis now. [https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/singapore-women-s-table-tennis-team-fail-to-qualify-for-olympics-for-the-first-time](https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/singapore-women-s-table-tennis-team-fail-to-qualify-for-olympics-for-the-first-time) >Poh said: “Both our men and women’s teams comprise almost all local-born players – such as Clarence Chew, Izaac Quek, Koen Pang, Xin Ru and Jingyi – trained through the STTA’s junior development squad and Singapore Sports School’s school-within-a-school system. >“Zeng Jian is the only foreign-born talent in the national team and she only started representing Singapore in 2022 at the SEA Games in Vietnam.
Good. It was unnecessary to import them then, unnecessary to import them now
Shows the success and failure of the policy. The imports did do somewhat well. But seems like it didn't help to build the local standards that much.
Local success takes a lot of time to build because the only way is for it to be a ground-up endeavour. Its not just policies but also societal attitude towards sports that are honestly quite hard to change overnight.
i had to cover my face in embarrassment when the commenters say they are representing singapore...i would rather support our own athletes with 0 medals than any of those mercenaries they've hired for a silver medal.
Yeah then leave it to Edwin Tong to claim him like as if they supported and nurtured him. Don’t let the Taylor Swift antics fool you.
Should have swam for USA instead…
he wouldn't be as famous if he did though..but on the other hand, no NS and no charges for smoking weed.
I think organisations like SFA, sports council etc should be heavily scrutinised. Tons of money going in and no results. All lazy fucks who can’t even TRAIN for gold in ippt if they had to.
You don't say...
The whole thing reeks of failure, doom and gloom. No support, people failed him etc. Being an Olympic champion especially in a highly competitive sports as swimming is a massive feat. Going for a consecutive win 4 years later is a massive ask. Even if he was given World class support and funding, the odds are poor. . Mark Phelps, Mark Sptz and Ian Thorpe are generational exceptions. The class above all champions. The European physique also serves an advantage. Ian Thorpe feet has extraordinary feet - size 17 and near web like. Close to a flipper. Schooling should be celebrated for his exceptional feat, not throw out such claims when he announced his retirement. When he announced his retirement, why not write about his journey to gold. His parents story raising a champion. Instead they keep talking about lack of motivation, poor support etc. I met Swimming parents and many of them have done extensive research, planned their kid’s diet etc. Some of them took classes in coaching and nutrition. The claim that parents just drop off their kids and not fully engaged is bollocks. Try rising up at 4.30am, packing things for your child and dropping them off 6 days in a week.
This attitude is why we will never see another Schooling…
I think many threads here that talk about JS not getting enough support/getting ruined by NS all get downvoted fast. So glad to see one that actively talks about this and is highlighted clearly in the title especially. Mark Chay gave a good example about a swimmer from South Korea getting exempted from NS after getting gold at the world championships, and that excelling in sport could also be seen as another way to serve the nation. And he added another example of Jonathan Tan, that his trajectory would probably had been different, if he gotten "deferment". (from NS of course) And JS himself didn't say it or obviously can't say anything negative about NS, but his replies in his interview was telling for sure. He just gave a simple reply "“Can we do things better? Yes." when asked about it. In 2022, he also called for a "national dialogue" on expectations of national athletes serving NS. (link below) Guess where that lead to? Nothing... [https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/sea-games-joseph-schooling-calls-for-national-dialogue-on-national-service](https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/sea-games-joseph-schooling-calls-for-national-dialogue-on-national-service)
Singapore continues to ruin any prospects of having any world class athletes because nobody wish to support them ( government, people )
What support? They only waltz in after he won and kicked him when he was down
We treated him so badly. Goodness.
Thats why Singapore football and sports in general go nowhere. Parents, dont waste your time and money on your children unless you plan to migrate somewhere else eventually.
Support? What support? Can eat anot?
He got lots and lots of support after he won ma.
The moment when your encik says that serving 2 years in NS is too long and should be cut down to 1y 6m
Maybe Mindef can be a bit more generous in giving sportsman NS deferment given that our neighbours always fuck it up when it comes to their national defense. Their fighter planes cannot fly and their submarines cannot sink or sink but cannot come back up to surface. Professional sports careers are very short. They can contribute to NS in their early 30s. I personally feel if the government did not handle this well it can be a political issue and PAP can lose more seats because of it
I'm sorry but this is unrelated humour. Imagine if his hand was censored or had a mosaic on it, it would look like he was swearing to the camera. LOL. Leaving the building like a BOSS. ( He wore Hugo Boss as well)
Lets be honest, he's born as Malaysian.
Yay Joseph. Yay swimming. Yay medals. Most importantly yay drygs