hello all. i'm new to soft. have read many threads in the forum and i cannot help but say a few things about this particular topic.
i think that singaporeans shouldn't put down the foreign athletes that have joined our national team. regardless of where they were born or raised, most importantly, they are now singaporean and their glory is ours. i can empathise with why some might feel that these "foreign imports" potentially thwart the chances of singaporeans born and bred here to participate in international sporting meets. this is similar to the whole debacle about companies in singapore hiring foreigners for top positions. i think that singaporeans are far too picky and pampered (and this is coming from a singaporean born and bred here her whole life). this point has been raised by other members before me - singaporeans basically are reluctant to give up other career options to pursue one in sports. why swim when you can become an engineer with a stable income? why play table tennis 24/7 and risk not winning any medals when you can become a successful entrepreneur? perhaps picky and pampered are the wrong words to use - more apt ones would perhaps be risk-averse and practical.
if importing foreign talent is the way to go NOW for singaporean to become noticed in the international sporting world, why not? i agree with many of the respondees before me that they actually up the game of singaporeans. instead of puting them down, we should look up to them because right now, they are the best at what they do in singapore. singapore would not be what we are today without ANYTHING foreign. the Economic Development Board spend millions every year to entice foreign companies to set up shop in SG. these foreign companies create jobs for locals. they have ventures with local companies, which result in those companies becoming more successful as they learn from the technically competent foreign company. of course i'm not implying that all foreign companies trump the local ones. This is just an example i'm citing. it's all a cycle imo. and both singapore and the foreign party stand to gain. everyone has something to learn from one another and without foreigners venturing into our shores (and singaporeans venturing overseas), we most probably wouldn't be getting that couple of hundred dollars each everytime lee hsien loong announces the budget.
if you watched the table tennis match between singapore and korea, or the finals against china, you should be able to see that Li Jia Wei and team have put in their very best for singapore. their elation and tears of joy speak a lot about their loyalty and passion for this country, as much as any of us. i congratulate and thank them for their great concerted effort and am extremely proud of them.
i think that singaporeans shouldn't put down the foreign athletes that have joined our national team. regardless of where they were born or raised, most importantly, they are now singaporean and their glory is ours. i can empathise with why some might feel that these "foreign imports" potentially thwart the chances of singaporeans born and bred here to participate in international sporting meets. this is similar to the whole debacle about companies in singapore hiring foreigners for top positions. i think that singaporeans are far too picky and pampered (and this is coming from a singaporean born and bred here her whole life). this point has been raised by other members before me - singaporeans basically are reluctant to give up other career options to pursue one in sports. why swim when you can become an engineer with a stable income? why play table tennis 24/7 and risk not winning any medals when you can become a successful entrepreneur? perhaps picky and pampered are the wrong words to use - more apt ones would perhaps be risk-averse and practical.
if importing foreign talent is the way to go NOW for singaporean to become noticed in the international sporting world, why not? i agree with many of the respondees before me that they actually up the game of singaporeans. instead of puting them down, we should look up to them because right now, they are the best at what they do in singapore. singapore would not be what we are today without ANYTHING foreign. the Economic Development Board spend millions every year to entice foreign companies to set up shop in SG. these foreign companies create jobs for locals. they have ventures with local companies, which result in those companies becoming more successful as they learn from the technically competent foreign company. of course i'm not implying that all foreign companies trump the local ones. This is just an example i'm citing. it's all a cycle imo. and both singapore and the foreign party stand to gain. everyone has something to learn from one another and without foreigners venturing into our shores (and singaporeans venturing overseas), we most probably wouldn't be getting that couple of hundred dollars each everytime lee hsien loong announces the budget.
if you watched the table tennis match between singapore and korea, or the finals against china, you should be able to see that Li Jia Wei and team have put in their very best for singapore. their elation and tears of joy speak a lot about their loyalty and passion for this country, as much as any of us. i congratulate and thank them for their great concerted effort and am extremely proud of them.
We have handful of sportsmen who moved on to become national sportsmen after they graduate. 
)
