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)