Foreign Sports Talent scheme: Time for review?

I AM writing in response to the news about the departure of table-tennis player Zhang Xueling, a China-born Singapore citizen.

Zhang obtained her Singapore citizenship in 2001, was groomed to be a top player and had beaten other international top players during the Athens Olympics in 2004, but chose to leave Singapore for China to be with her husband. All this within a short span of five years.

Although Zhang has promised that she will represent Singapore if given the opportunity, her departure leaves Singapore sports fans with many unanswered questions.

If she is really keen to represent Singapore or help Singapore groom the younger generation, the Singapore Table Tennis Association could have given her more time to prove herself and take up the role of coach.

Another China-born former Singaporean table-tennis player, Xu Yan, has also left our country, for Germany.

This situation has been replayed many times in other sports as well. In recent years, the Singapore Athletic Association dropped two China-born throwers - Zhang Guirong and Du Xianhui - for under-performing after both obtained their Singapore citizenship.

The Singapore Hockey Federation also had not had much success with six China-born players in 1998 after they obtained their Singapore citizenship. It was last reported that a few of them had returned to China.

Every athlete will have his high points and low points. No athlete is immune to the common 'athlete's fatigue'. For example, Singapore-born bowler Remy Ong had to endure a few years of lacklustre performance after winning gold at the Busan Asian Games in 2002. Ong finally proved himself in the 2006 Asian Games by taking a silver in the men's final.

Even swimmer Joscelin Yeo is not immune to athlete's fatigue.

However, they did not give up and persevered over the years. It is to the credit of their sports bodies that they believed in them and did not ask them to leave.

Sports clubs in Singapore need to consider the following questions before they import another foreign-born player:

What happens if the player under-performs?

Will the under-performing player be dropped and asked to leave Singapore, even though he has obtained Singapore citizenship?

How much tolerance will there be for athlete's fatigue?



Edmund Lin Weixiong