Speech by Tan Eng Liang, Chairman, Singapore Sports
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Ace. No. NARC SPEECHBY TAN ENGLIANG, CHAIRMAN,SINGAPORE SPORTS COUNCIL, AT THE CHEQUEPRESENTATION OF THEF & N BADMINTONTRAINING SCHEME AT THE NATIONALSTADIUM THEATRETTEON 28 FEBRUARY1981 AT 11.00 AM The F & N Badminton Training Schemewill be 10 years old this year. It has the distinction of pioneering the sport training scheme concept. Today, there are eight other schemes administered by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), patterned on the training format first a used by badminton. What has the F & N Schemecontributed to badminton? Has the Scheme attained its objectives? These questions and others have often been asked by players and officials, alike. I think that it is natural for anyone, concerned with the growth of badminton in Singapore, to come up with such questions. After all, not only huge sums of money have been invested in the scheme, but much time and effort have been spent in its organisation. Also, coaches end trainees have sacrificed a lot of their leisure time to be involved in the scheme. Without having to go into details, I can say without any reservation here that the badminton contribution of the F & N Schemehas been immense. For one thing, the schemehas consistently fed the national and youth training squads of the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) with promising end skilled players- For another, the overall quality of young players in the Republic has improved since the scheme's inception, although none of the players has yet to make the inter- national grade. 2/... 2 Recently, an article in the NewNation painted a gloomy picture of the F & N Schemeand suggested that the schemewas "entrenched in a scrap heap". In my opinion, the article was anegative piece of journalism. The writer of that article has based his writing on a foundation of rumours. The objective of the F & N Schemehas never changed: It has always been to provide a nursery of young talents to the national squad. Contrary to what the press stated, the main centre has not been disbanded. There is no truth whatsoever about coaches selfishly retaining the best players from their own group and not channelling the deserving ones to the main centre. The coaches servicing the F & N Scheme work as a unit. They have regular meetings and their views are always taken into consideration by the Advisory-Committee. And when their proposals are found workable, they are always accepted and implemented. It is not necessarily en unhealthy sign that there is a difference of opinion among them from time to time. But surely, these small differences do not justify the scrapping of the whole scheme as was suggested by the newspaper article. A look at the composition of this year's national men's and ladies* squads will give you a good picture of the present status of the F & N Scheme. Out of the 10 male end six female trainees, only two players are not "greduates" of the scheme. Players like WongShoon Keat, Robert Lim, Bernard Tan and Tan Eng Han and girls like Cindy Cheong, Tay Hoe See, Judy Ong end Corrine Chia, have all made their mark in local tournaments. Besides, F & N trainees such as Patrick Tan, Low Hai Swee, Foo Khian Jin, WongShoon Soo, Ho Kam Meng and Jenny Tan are presently under attachment with the national squad. That our best trainees have yet to reach their full potential keeps our hopes alive of their becoming international calibre players one day. Their future is bright as there will be opportunities open for them to further their badminton career. A Badminton Training Fund jointly started by the F & N, SEA end SSChas already been put to work. Up to-’ date, four players have been sent for training at the Ragunan School, Indonesia. Following this, in December last year, two players WongShoon l Keat and Robert Lim were entered for the invitation tournament in Bangkok. The sending of Singapore badminton players to Indonesia for advanced training is an example of "transfer of technique” in sport. WhenIndonesia first entered the international arena in 1953, it was Singapore who welcomed Indonesian players for the purpose of gaining skill and experience from world class Singaporeans. Also, history tells us that it was Singaporeens like WongPeng Soon, Ong Poh Lim and Ismail Marjan who were the top player of our Republic to demonstrate the game of badminton in Indonesia. It was these badminton exposures which created an impact on the Indonesians who improved on the "Transferred technique" of the Singapore masters and eventually reached the top in the badminton world today. This so-called "Transfer of technique has evolved a full ‘circle with the original donor, Singapore, now playing the role of recipient. I am happy to note that the elder Indonesian officials end former players have not forgotten, and that countries in .Asean are always willing to cooperate in the sharing of badminton knowledge among players and officials. 4 I am also happy to read that differences between the International Badminton Federation end the World Badminton international badminton, there will be more opportunities for Singapore badminton players to participate in sanctioned tournaments without any restriction, fear or favour. Hopefully, there will be one world controlling body end officials, especially in Singapore, can concentrate on the job of improving the lot of badminton players, rather than expending their energy in badminton politics I thank F & N for continuing to support the training scheme. Their consistent end enduring commitment to the scheme deserves our highest praiser I also wish to thank the SBA for their role in the Committee, and the coaches and membersof the Advisory Committee for their dedication over the years. DO/11c .