The SEA Games are over!
It has been nice to have this kind of multi-sport international (okay lah, regional) sporting meet in Singapore. In many ways it feels nicer to have the SEA Games in Singapore than the Youth Olympic Games five years ago. Of course, the YOG is the one with the prestige – its the one with the most recognisable five-rings in the world. But the SEA Games are special because unlike the YOG, there are so many Singaporean athletes – and medals won – at this Games compared to the YOG, where we see ang mohs and Chinese/Japanese clean sweeping every event.
There also seems to be an increased sense of people caring about the SEA Games compared to the YOG. I can’t say for sure because I was doing my NS during the YOG days but looking at the numbers of Singaporeans and supporters from around the region flood the venues during the weekend evenings and the weekends really add to the atmosphere of the Games. No need to bring in students to boost support – there’s enough support already. When I watched the track events at the National Stadium last Thursday evening, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of supporters there (free admission helps of course). I watched the tennis finals on Sunday with Chelsea and her parents – it was nearly full house. And the fans were passionate – making every event a joy to watch, both online and in real life. (I can still remember the roar from the crowd after the netball finals where Singapore won Malaysia – it was scarily good even though I was watching from my computer)
And one big factor is of course Singapore’s record-breaking medal haul, with a total of 259 medals – 84 of them gold medals. I remember chuckling when I saw the Straits Times’ prediction of 80 golds, but clearly the ST Sports team knew what they were predicting. My siblings and I were particularly interested in checking how the medal count increased over the days. Medals from the expected places – like the pool – to the unexpected, like the track, squash court and in gymnastics. I remember this line said by someone when I was in NS: People like to support a winning team. And this time we were winning quite a bit.
Well, the standard of the SEA Games is much lower, which helps in the medal haul. We see athletes like Joseph Schooling who are way above the regional standard win convincingly and break countless records. But we also see surprise wins like those by Shanti Pereira who broke Singapore’s gold medal drought on the track.
But ultimately does that matter? I think the timing of the Games were very deliberate. While Singapore gave up the opportunity in 2013 due to the delayed Sports Hub, I think the government scored a coup by having this event in 2015. There’s no better opportunity to commemorate SG50 than having a winning Team Singapore represent the country on home ground, with many passionate supporters (also provided courtesy of the Sports School) waving the national flag. It builds up national pride.
I got reminded once again of the sporting culture in the United States universities, and how I was proud to be a Tar Heel when I was in UNC. UNC’s track record in basketball played a big part, as you see almost everyone else support your team. Sport does help to build a sense of identity and pride, and I see something similar forming in Singapore after these SEA Games.
Hopefully it persists. As a relatively young nation there are few things that can help form our collective identity. One is through tough times and crises – SARS comes to mind. Another is through the bad times and collective loss – the recent Sabah earthquake and Lee Kuan Yew’s passing. But there’s also collective triumph and celebration that can help us forge our common identity.
As the SEA Games end tonight, hopefully our sense of pride for our Team SG athletes will not extinguish.
Swee Life 