Good evening.
| 1. |
On behalf of the Singapore National Olympic Council
and the Singapore Sports Council I extend a warm welcome to
all of you to the Singapore Sports Awards 2004. I am also delighted
to welcome our Guests-of-Honour Prime Minister Goh and Mrs Goh.
|
| 2. |
We are hounoured that the Prime Minister is able to join us
this evening. Prime Minister Goh has been a staunch supporter
of Sports Excellence and Sports Development. You will recall
that it was the Prime Minister who issued the challenge to football,
badminton and sailing to aim for the 2010 World Cup Final, the
2012 Thomas Cup Final and the 2008 Olympic gold medal respectively.
More importantly, it was through Prime Minister Goh that the
importance of Sports was recognised through the appointment
of a Minister and a Ministry with specific responsibilities
for Sports – the Ministry of Community Development and
Sports. The Prime Minister also recently inaugurated the Sports
School as part of the long term Sports Development program to
groom local elite athletes for the future. Thank you Prime Minister
and Mrs Goh for gracing this occasion. The award winners and
the sports fraternity are thrilled that you are here with us
tonight. |
| 3. |
If you recall, the sporting fraternity had a very successful
2002. We had our best medal haul for the 17th Commonwealth Games
and the 14th Asian Games. We followed this up with an equally
impressive showing by our athletes, both young and the not so
young, at the 22nd SEA Games in 2003. It was a good all round
performance with 19 of the 23 sports represented delivering
a bronze medal or more as promised. Our final medal tally of
116 medals has only been bettered on three other occasions when
we competed away, out of the 22 editions of the SEA Games. How
can we forget the turn around performance by Archery, Women’s
Basketball, Women’s Gymnastics and Women’s Badminton.
These are sports that had not won a medal for a long time, or
had never achieved more than a bronze medal in the SEA Games.
And of course our stalwart SEA Games Gold medalists were there
when we counted on them: Joscelin Yeo, Lee Wung Yew, James Wong
and the Waterpolo Team. They have delivered their Gold medals
SEA Games after SEA Games, that sometimes we take their effort
for granted. |
| 4. |
Competitions like the SEA Games and the other Games are important
not just to the athletes and the sporting fraternity, but also
to the man in the street who roots for Team Singapore and the
nation as a whole. Sports strengthens and nourishes the spirit
of the nation. It brings people from different backgrounds closer
together, it.makes us tougher, urges us to play as a team, to
cheer each other on, to strive to be the best, to learn to take
victory and defeat in our stride, to be neither too full with
ourselves in victory, nor downhearted in defeat; but to always
be ready to try again, and to do better, and even better the
next time. This is the power of sports. |
| 5. |
Our award winners tonight exemplify this. Sportsgirl gymnast
Low Sanmay lost out on her first bronze medal by 0.076 of a
point at the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. She came back resolute
for the 2003 SEA Games and won not just her bronze medal, but
two silvers medals as well. Sportsboy shooter Ong Ju Hong, 15,
had to battle a high fever during his competition in what was
his first SEA Games. Yet he held his own to win a silver medal
just behind the world record holder from Thailand. |
| 6. |
Sportswoman Li Jia Wei, a team player in every sense of the
word, anchored the Gold medal winning women’s doubles,
mixed doubles and the women’s team for the Games. Despite
the exacting demands as she competed in a multitude of events,
she stayed focused to also take the coveted singles Gold medal.
Sportsman James Wong had to battle with work, family commitments
and younger opponents to take his seventh consecutive SEA Games
Gold medal. |
| 7. |
Special Award winner, the Waterpolo Teams from 1965 to 2003
with their 20 consecutive SEA Games Gold medals, have shown
the ability to renew themselves to win again and again. Victory
was never assured, and is never assured. They know they had
to strive even harder in each successive Games as the competition
got even tougher. |
| 8. |
These are what champions are made of. While most look up and
admire the stars, these champions have climbed the mountain
to grab their stars. I salute all the winners tonight for not
only are you all great role models, you epitomize what Olympism
and the Olympic spirit is all about. |
| 9. |
On the eve of the Athens Olympic Games I am happy to report
that we have 13 athletes who have qualified so far. And hopefully
a few more will come from the sailors, swimmers and track and
field athletes. Congratulations to those who have qualified,
the nation will be rooting for you. I just want to say that
you should treasure the entire journey and not just the moment
of defeat or victory. Remember the Olympic Creed: “The
most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but
to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not
the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to
have conquered but to have fought well”. We wish you all
the best at the Games. |
| 10. |
It leaves me now to thank the Organizing Committee from SNOC,
SSC and Team Singapore for putting up this event tonight, and
the sponsors for the event Tiger Beer, Link-Op, Singapore Airlines
and Singapore Pools. And to thank our Guest-of-Honour and Mrs
Goh again for being here this evening, and for all Prime Minister
Goh has done for sports. |
| 11. |
I wish everyone an enjoyable evening. Thank you. |
