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Malaysian media mix-up tickles Schooling

KUALA LUMPUR — Such is the draw of Olympic champion Joseph Schooling that members of the Malaysian media turned up at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last Sunday (Aug 13) morning to interview Singapore’s swimming sensation. The only problem? They were five days too early.

Joseph Schooling fielding questions from Singapore and Malaysia media after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on August 18, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah

Joseph Schooling fielding questions from Singapore and Malaysia media after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on August 18, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah

KUALA LUMPUR — Such is the draw of Olympic champion Joseph Schooling that members of the Malaysian media turned up at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last Sunday (Aug 13) morning to interview Singapore’s swimming sensation. The only problem? They were five days too early.

The mix-up took an even more amusing turn when Malaysian news wire agency Bernama mistook Singapore’s waterpolo players for the swim team, and reported that Schooling had left reporters disappointed as he had failed to show up at the airport. The news was subsequently published by some local publications and website, including the Malay Mail and Astro.

Singapore’s swimming hero finally arrived at the KLIA with the Singapore swimmers on Friday (Aug 18) evening, where he was greeted with a big hug from his mother, May Schooling, before facing a media scrum comprising mainly Malaysian reporters,

While wrongly accused of standing up the Malaysian reporters, Schooling found humour in the kerfuffle, as he said: “That was fine. I thought it was pretty funny, but mix-ups happen sometimes. The most important thing is we’re all here safe and ready to compete.”

Schooling will be competing in his third SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, where he is penciled in for three individual events (50m and 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle) and three relay events in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle, and 4x100m medley.

While the Olympic 100m butterfly gold medallist is expected to light up the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil when the swimming programme kicks off on Monday, Schooling could face a hostile reception from the local fans.

Arriving home in Singapore after the Fina World Championships in Budapest, Schooling said in media interviews that “it would be nice to go to Malaysia’s backyard and teach them a thing or two”. His comments sparked off a furore across the Causeway with netizens criticising him for his arrogance.

Schooling subsequently clarified that he had not meant to criticise Malaysia as his comments were taken out of context — he was referring to teaching Singapore’s younger swimmers about competing at the Games. Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia’s sports minister, also came to Schooling’s defence, as he urged fans not to boo the Singaporean during the SEA Games as his mother is Malaysian.

When pressed again on the issue by the Malaysian media, Schooling said on Friday: “I’m here to swim, if I offended someone or anyone, I apologise, that wasn’t my intention.

“I’m definitely sorry for my comments, but I definitely didn’t mean that, or mean it that way. I’m here to swim, not here to make any other comments outside of swimming. I’m one of the co-captains; I’m here to help the rookies as much as I can and do my best for my country.”

The swimmer added: “Minister Khairy, he was awesome to say that, we didn’t ask him to defend me but he came out on his own accord to do so and that goes to show how great of a guy he is and how much support he has for the SEA Games and his Singapore counterpart. I’m here to swim and not worry about any of those comments.”

While the SEA Games may be on a much smaller scale and stature compared to the Olympics — where he beat American swimmer Michael Phelps to win Singapore’s first-ever Olympic gold — Schooling is not about to take his assignment, and his third SEA Games, lightly.

Throwing his head back in laughter when asked if the SEA Games was going to be a “training session” for him, the Singaporean added: “No, no, it’s definitely not like training for me, every race my dad likes to say ‘race fast’.

“That actually holds a lot of ground, I’m here to do the best for my country, obviously there are a lot of good swimmers from Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia and so on. I can expect to have my hands full and I got to be the best I can be to win my events.

“I’m here to swim the SEA Games not worried about what I achieved a year ago, a month, or even a day ago, I’m looking forward to competing on Monday and I’m going to give 100 per cent from Monday to Sunday, and that’s all I care about.”

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