Aishah and Aisyah ready for success

SINGAPORE — Their well-known names are separated by a single consonant, though there is no difference in their desire to gain glory for the nation in their respective sports.

Rower Saiyidah Aisyah Mohd Rafa’ee gets her chance next June when Singapore hosts the 28th SEA Games, where the 26-year-old is aiming for two gold medals in the lightweight single sculls.

For para-shooter Aishah Samad, her chance for glory will happen next year when the 8th ASEAN Para Games are hosted here. The 41-year-old mother of two will aim to be the first Singaporean SEA Games medallist to also win as a para-athlete.

A quadruple amputee following a serious bacterial infection in 2012, Aishah, who won a bronze medal in the 50m small-bore rifle at the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam, is aiming for the podium in the air pistol and small-bore rifle events next December.

Now fitted with bionic limbs, she is well aware of the difficulties she faces — as a para-athlete and in life — and is ready for anything.

Yesterday at the Singapore Muslim Women’s Association Student Care Centre in Bedok, she told a rapt audience of about 30 children aged eight to 14: “I persevered. I fought the odds and, for me, giving up was never in my dictionary. In fact, at the Incheon Asian Para Games in October, the organisers ruled that I had to remove my bionic arms to be eligible to take part. So I improvised and still managed to compete.”

Said Aishah, who is training at SAFRA Tampines and intends to get into full swing next month: “I am a fighter. I am determined to succeed. You can, too.”

For rower Aisyah, her story was about the determination to succeed, no matter what it took. It was about waking up in the early hours to train, then leaving for work at Ngee Ann Polytechnic as a student development manager, then back to training — day in, day out.

“It’s all about setting goals and staying disciplined. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for me to stay in the sport,” she told the audience.

A three-time SEA Games bronze medallist since the 2009 Games, Aisyah finally tasted gold — and fame — last year and is keen for a repeat performance when the Games come home after 22 years. She will not be able to defend her 2,000m lightweight single sculls gold, as the Marina Bay venue is not long enough to host the distance, but she will be aiming to win the 500m and 1,000m single sculls events instead.

“The Sea Games will be on home soil this time ... and if I can win gold, it will be a terrific achievement, something I am looking forward to,” Aisyah said. DAN GUEN CHIN