S'pore to play spoiler role in SEA Games

S'pore to play spoiler role in SEA Games

As part of our coverage of the SEA Games, The Jakarta
Post is running a profile of each of the 10 participating
countries. The story below is sixth in the series.

JAKARTA (JP): The catchphrase for the Singapore contingent
here for the 19th SEA Games is probably "be realistic".

With a population of under three million, the small island
state knows it cannot hope to compete for overall supremacy with
the likes of Indonesia and Thailand.

For the last seven SEA Games, it has maintained a steady
ranking of fifth.

It achieved a praiseworthy fourth place overall when it hosted
the games in 1983 and 1993, and in 1989 in Malaysia.

Realistically Singapore will likely play a spoiler role in the
rivalry of the big four -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines
and Thailand.

The number one asset of this country has always been the
persistence, dedication and drive of its people, and these
characteristics will most likely be the driving force behind
another decent Singapore showing from its contingent of 434
athletes in 30 events.

The Singapore government has invested heavily in the
development of its athletes.

Three years ago it launched a long-term sports development
program called Sports Excellence 2000, popularly dubbed Spex
2000.

The Singapore Sports Council has poured millions into training
potential athletes. First class sports centers are also
available, such as those in Kallang and Toa Payoh.

Whether these investments will start to pay off at the coming
SEA Games remains to be seen.

At the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Singapore's winnings
dropped significantly from a record 50 gold medals two years
earlier to just 26.

Such a decline indicated that the success of winning 50 gold
medals in the 1993 Games was probably sparked more by the huge
home-fan support, a one time incidental leap rather than a long
term resurgence of sporting prowess.

Swimming

Singapore can easily be discounted in the race for grand
champion, but it cannot be overlooked in several individual
events, namely swimming, wushu, sailing and bodybuilding.

The star of the Singapore contingent at these games will
probably be swimming queen Joscelin Yeo Ning. With over half a
dozen gold medals in the trophy cabinet already, Joscelin, 18, is
again expected to win her fare share here.

Singapore's swimmers are expected to mine at least eight gold
medals.

Gerald Koh, 19, and May Ooi, 21, are two other names which
Singapore hopes will follow in Joscelin's footsteps to the medals
podium.

Koh's performances this season in the 200-meters individual
medley could point the way to gold.

Ooi has improved much in the past three years and could be a
gold medal contender in the 100m and 200m breaststroke as well as
the 200m individual medley.

The Singapore Yachting Association has set a target of reaping
four of the 15 gold medals on offer this year.

The association is pumping in an annual one million dollars
for its athletes, with the ultimate plan of winning two medals in
the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Despite being severely punished recently by its own national
Olympic committee, the Singapore Bodybuilders Federation (SBBF)
looks confident of dominating the event in Jakarta.

The SBBF was punished in 1993 when it was deemed to have
neglected to report the use of anabolic steroids by one of its
athletes who was nominated as Singapore's athlete of the year.

The SBBF comes to Jakarta with a mission: to redeem itself by
winning at least four of the eight gold medals up for grabs.

Another primary goldmine for Singapore is likely to be the
traditional Chinese sport of wushu.

With world champion Picasso Tan Yeow Kuan, 24, listed among
its 13 wushu athletes, Singapore is expected to haul in most of
the 19 gold medals.

Also watch out for Chiew Hui Yan and Tan Mui Buay to help
conquer this event.

Track and field, the Games' blue riband event, looks to hold
little for Singapore.

Internal bickering, coaching problems and a lack of overall
first-rate athletes all leave Singapore with little chance of
winning many of the 44 gold medals available.

Singapore's strongest race will likely be the women's 4x100m
relay.

The team will likely comprise of school teacher Mona Kunalan,
25, and three leading teenagers -- Norfazilah Zila, 19, Nurulaini
Arifin, 18, and Hiranisha Rasimudin, 17. (mds)