Singapore eye minimum fifth spot at SEA Games

SINGAPORE — Reports of poor telecommunications and underdeveloped infrastructure may have raised concerns for Singapore’s 300-odd athlete contingent heading to Myanmar for the Dec 11-22 South-east Asian (SEA) Games.

But chef-de-mission Annabel Pennefather is not letting these issues detract from the mission of at least matching Singapore’s performance from the last SEA Games in Indonesia two years ago, where they finished fifth with 42 gold, 45 silver and 73 bronze medals in the 11-nation biennial event.

“The main concern is the communications problem as it is not so well developed there ... travel is also a challenge with the events in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Ngwe Saung as there are not many internal flights and they have to go by the roads,” said Pennefather at the Official Flag Presentation Ceremony for the 1st Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games, SEA Games and 7th ASEAN PARA Games at the ITE College Central yesterday.

“(But) our team who visited Myanmar found them ready for the Games ... for them to host the Games after such a long time (since 1969), they have done well. Myanmar is just opening up and some areas might not be so well-equipped and developed, but we just have to manage the situation.

“There are fewer events this time around (compared to Indonesia). We must be realistic in our rankings as our best performance of 50 gold medals (Singapore, 1993) put us at fourth and we’ve varied between fifth and sixth since. We want to maintain that position ... if we maintain it that would be a satisfying result.”

Singapore’s athletes will compete across 25 sports at next month’s SEA Games, which will be held in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, Mandalay and Ngwe Saung and feature more than 5,000 athletes in 33 sports.

With Singapore hosting the next SEA Games in 2015, the Myanmar Games will hold added significance.

“This will be a useful gauge for 2015, especially for the younger ones to measure themselves. This is a special Games as we have some prominence at the closing ceremony. Singapore will definitely be at the forefront,” said Pennefather.

Teenage paddler Isabelle Li, a silver medallist in the women’s singles at the last SEA Games, will be gunning for gold when she plays on home soil in two years’ time.

“This SEA Games will be my second and will give me more confidence for 2015 ... It’s not an issue of whether it will be easier or tougher, but playing at home will keep me very motivated especially with the support from the crowd,” she said.

Close to 500 athletes and officials were present at yesterday’s event, which was the first time a tri-contingent ceremony had been held for the 1st Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games in Australia (Dec 1-7), SEA Games and PARA Games in Myanmar from Jan 14 to 20. The PARA Games is also expected to see the debut of Navy serviceman Jason Chee — he was severely injured in a shipboard accident last year — after he qualified for the table tennis team.

“What we are counting on is getting Singapore to support Team Singapore regardless of ability and that’s something we would like to encourage,” said Singapore National Olympic Council member Tan Chuan-Jin. “There will be a lot of build-up opportunities leading up to the 2015 (SEA Games) and we want to make sure we fall in behind the team and cheer them on all the way.”