"Hi Limpeh, who are you supporting at the Olympics? Do you still support team Singapore? Or just team GB? Or do you even feel a bit of ethnic affiliation to the Chinese as you are still Chinese to some degree? Who will you be cheering on?"
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| I am not that fond of this logo... |
Well I am not going to give you a simple answer. Firstly, the one person I am supporting is Lim Heem Wei of Singapore - the first Singaporean gymnast to take part in the Olympics. I remember her from my time in Singapore - we trained at the same gym years ago and yeah, we've been talking a lot in the run up to this Olympics! Actually, she knows my sister really well (long story, NYP connection). I am so happy for her - she managed to archive what so many other Singaporean gymnasts of past generations (like myself) have no managed to do. She has no chance of winning any medals, but just her being here in an important milestone for Singapore gymnastics. I have front role seats to see her compete this Sunday 29th July and am looking forward to it. I have managed to track down a handful of Singaporean gymnasts and supporters who have made the trip to London to support Heem Wei and together we'll be screaming out hearts out to support her.
The thing is I will be shouting "Heem Wei jiayou!" rather than "Singapore jiayou" or "come on Singapore" or any other line containing the word 'Singapore'. It's all about Heem Wei - my friend. Her nationality is irrelevant. I guess it's different for people from other countries. The battle cry for the Romanians is "Hai Romania" or "Haide Romania" (which translates to 'come on Romania') whilst a very familiar chant for the PRCs is "中国队加油" (which translates to 'China team come on'). The Americans just chat, "U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!" But no, in Heem Wei's case, I am cheering for her specifically, not her country per se.
Secondly, as for whether I suppose Great Britain or China... Hmmm. Not really is the answer - I support individuals, rather nations. This is because the one sport I am in love with and have many tickets for is gymnastics and despite there being team medals at stake, it is very much an individual event. So there are individual gymnasts whom I am very excited about and quite frankly, I couldn't care less about their nationalities - I am far more interested in their individual skills, their original routines and how their personalities shine through in their performances.
I remember when I was a child watching the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics in Singapore - my dad always supported China. Why? There were so few Singaporeans taking part back then anyway and they had no hope in hell of winning a medal. Furthermore, my dad actually identified with the Chinese in a way I simply don't and never will - and I guess that was his way of getting involved, he had to support somebody and he chose the Chinese. I remember the 1984 Olympics - that was the first Olympics etched in my memory and I was just 8 then, but I do remember my dad being unhappy when a Chinese gymnast Ma Yanhong tied for a gold medal with American gymnast Julianne McNamara and I couldn't understand why my dad was so keen on the Chinese denying the Americans the gold. I was like, so they tied, they both got the gold medal - why are you still unhappy?
I remember when I was a child watching the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics in Singapore - my dad always supported China. Why? There were so few Singaporeans taking part back then anyway and they had no hope in hell of winning a medal. Furthermore, my dad actually identified with the Chinese in a way I simply don't and never will - and I guess that was his way of getting involved, he had to support somebody and he chose the Chinese. I remember the 1984 Olympics - that was the first Olympics etched in my memory and I was just 8 then, but I do remember my dad being unhappy when a Chinese gymnast Ma Yanhong tied for a gold medal with American gymnast Julianne McNamara and I couldn't understand why my dad was so keen on the Chinese denying the Americans the gold. I was like, so they tied, they both got the gold medal - why are you still unhappy?
Here's someone I support from China - He Kexin, she won the uneven bars event finals gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by a sliver and is back in 2012 to defend her title. Why do I like her and support her? Simple - her Li Ya-Jaeger combination in her uneven bars routine is extremely risky, breathtaking and despite the fact that He Kexin started performing this combination around 2007, no one else has managed to perform that same combination in the last 5 years as it is simply too difficult. You have got to respect the gymnast who comes up with something like that and that's why I support her - her nationality is irrelevant, her gymnastics speaks for itself.
Likewise, there's the amazing story of Oksana Chusovitina. She took part in her first Olympics in 1992 with the CIS team, winning one gold medal then. She then represented Uzbekistan for the next 3 Olympics before moving to Germany to seek medical treatment for her son who had leukaemia. In order to repay the Germans for treating her son's illness, she competed for Germany at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, winning them a silver medal. She is coming back for her sixth Olympics in 2012 and is in contention for more medals in London. I adore this woman - I met her in 2006 in the German city of Cottbus and we chatted in a mix of German and Russian. She is such a legend! Who cares what country she represents? She is unique, she is an inspiration, she commands respect and I shall be cheering for her at the Olympics.
As for myself, I was born and raised in Singapore, my father is from Malaysia, my mother is from Singapore but I hold a British passport today (and I am Malay-speaking unlike the majority of Chinese-Singaporeans). Oh and in case you were wondering, yes I may have a hanyupinyin surname - but no I am not PRC. As far as I can trace, my grandparents on my dad's side were born in the state of Johor in Malaysia and my maternal grandparents were both born in Singapore. There is a very long story as to why I have a hanyupinyin surname, I'll save that for another day. My coaches were from Canada and China, I competed for Singapore in the 1990s and I officially retired from the sport in 2000 when I graduated and got very injured at the same time that year. My left knee and both my ankles took a lot of punishment from gymnastics over the years.
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| Limpeh at the Olympic Village in Stratford, East London |
Could I have tried for the 1996 or 2000 Olympics? Nah, I was never really that good. The timing was bad in any case. I was serving NS in 1996 and whilst I was allowed to compete in some regional competitions then, it was at the discretion of a senior officer in my unit to decide if he was going to allow me to do so. There was no official policy in the SAF when it came to allowing athletes time off to train and go compete in sports - they didn't really care that much about sports then. And in 2000, I was in my final year at university - I had chosen to spend most of my final year in Paris on exchange anyway and sports was far from my mind. My knees and ankles were already very damaged at that point and my retirement from the sport was imminent. I was in no condition to train seriously that year. Besides, it was my final year at university and I was far more worried about trying to find a job after graduation - that was my primary concern.
So there you go - having been there and done that, trained and competed as a gymnast internationally, I appreciate what these athletes have to do to get to that kind of standard. I know it sounds like an incredibly PC statement here, but I really don't think nationality matters at the Olympics. I support everyone who is here in London to compete and wish them all the best. That's my rather PC answer for you. Mind you, I would've loved to have volunteered in some meaningful capacity but hey, you know that story already.
PS. Did you guys like the opening ceremony? I actually have many friends who performed in it! It was actually much better than I had expected, I loved the Mr Bean segment the most! Rowan Atkinson rocks!!
I enjoyed the show, except for the music/rock segment about the adventures of a teenage daughter of an ordinary family -- not that it wasn't good, just that it's not the type of music I like. In addition, I liked how many of the themes focus on the lives of "ordinary folks", even sacrifice of ordinary folks to host the Olympic Games under bad economic times and the negative impact of the industrial revolution on the lives of ordinary workers were noted (I forgot the exact words used). The long segment about the GOSH, NHS and Britain's famous children's stories were pretty touching, especially since I was a paeds nurse. Btw, I wonder if Beckham "donated" a big sum to get to ferry the Olympics fire down the Thames, haha. The creative design of the Olympics cauldron was fantastic. In addition, I liked how the green hill platform (that held the international flags) evokes the hills and dales of UK.
ReplyDeleteMy PRC landlord was particularly impressed with the fun and relaxed atmosphere of the London ceremony. He felt that China's 2008 Olympics ceremony was too much about lecturing the world-wide audience on the greatness of China and its inventions. In particular, he liked that the fire ("passion") was symbolically passed on from the Olympians to some youths who had the honour of lighting the cauldron despite not having any Olympic medals to their name yet. He felt that it would spur the UK youths (in general) to attain greatness.
As for supporting which country's team, I am not particularly nationalistic, just enjoy watching the performances. That said, I felt excited watching the Canada and the Singapore contingents marching out. However, to be honest, when the commenter talked about how all eyes will be on the Singapore table-tennis team which won Silver at the last Olympics, all I could think of was that wasn't Singapore that won -- at best, Singapore spent a lot of money buying an Olympic medal -- it was China's "B team" that won. Not that I am against foreign talent. E.g. If Olympian Ronald Susilo were to win, I would consider that a Singapore win. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel that Ronald has integrated into the Singapore society and become one of us, but his ex-wife Li Jiawei (and I suspect her other ex-PRC/now-Singapore-citizen team-mates) are merely mercenary Olympians "selling their medals" to the highest bidding country. Sorry, I know it is not fair of me to prejudge others whom I do not know personally, but that's how I honestly feel.
Well, I am less fussed about the issue of the Singaporean athletes having Chinese coaches - nothing is new. I was born in KK Hospital and grew up in Singapore yet from a young age, as soon as I was identified as a possible talent in gymnastics, I was given the privilege to train with the PRC coaches.
DeleteIt was pretty straight forward really - train with a Singaporean coach and you will get absolutely no where. If you want to win, you need a PRC (or foreign) coach. That was why I absolutely HAD to train with the PRC coaches as they would push you really really hard and demand PRC standards - whilst the local coaches would be like, "oh you have a test tomorrow? OK we finish early so you can go home to revise." The PRC coaches don't give a damn what's going on in your life - all they care about is your performance and that was what I wanted.
Lim Heem Wei has trained under 2 former Chinese national team members and they demanded PRC standards of her. Yuan lao shi is really, really strict and demands v high standards and that got Heem Wei to the Olympics.
Where do you draw the line then? If you don't like Li Jiawei competing for Singapore, what about people like Heem Wei who depends on PRC coaches?
Let's draw a hypothetical analogy with academic/research performance. Imagine that the Singapore government sets up a million-dollar reward for any Singapore-citizen who wins a Nobel prize.
DeleteExample 1: Imagine that a Singapore-citizen student, who grew up in Singapore, goes to an Ivy-league or Oxbridge university to do research with the best minds in the world. Within a few years, he/she wins a Nobel prize and the Singapore government's reward as a result. (Ok, I know that is stretching the possibility, but please bear with it for the sake of the illustration.) In my mind, he/she is a Singapore-citizen who achieved greatness -- through a combination of excellent foreign guidance and his own efforts.
Example 2: Imagine that a Swedish-citizen accepts a scholarship from the Singapore government to go to an Ivy-league or Oxbridge university to do research with the best minds in the world. But as a condition of the scholarship, the Swedish must surrender his/her Swedish-citizenship for a Singaporean one. The Swedish agreed to become a Singapore citizen, but made no attempt to integrate into the Singapore society. Within a few years, he/she wins a Nobel prize and the Singapore government's reward as a result. When interviewed by the Swedish media, he/she says [in Swedish], "自己是个斯德哥爾摩人, 又是瑞典人。 我希望能在自己的本土， 自己的地盘上， 能够取得一枚諾貝爾獎牌 。" ["I am a Stockholm native, also a Swedish. I hope that I can in my own country, on my home turf, win a Nobel prize."] Can he/she be considered a Singapore-citizen who achieved greatness? Technically speaking "yes", since he/she holds the Singapore passport now. But would the regular Singapore citizens consider him/her a fellow Singapore citizen, especially after what he/she said to the Swedish media?
See the url below for what Li Jiawei told China's media back in 2008. A Freudian slip, perhaps?
http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2008/08/quips-from-the.html
So in conclusion, I don't care if the Olympian was originally born outside of Singapore and/or if he/she trained overseas and/or if he/she had foreign coaches. I think if the Olympian managed to somehow integrate into the Singapore society and identifies himself/herself as a Singapore-citizen publicly (over-and-above that of his country of origin), then yes, I will support him/her to compete for Singapore.
Another example for reference, LIFT. If Singapore hosts an Olympic games and UK paid for your full-time training so that you would represent UK for gymnastics in the Singapore Olympics. Would you tell the Singapore media that you are a Singaporean and want to win a medal on your home grounds? How would the Brits feel if you did that?
Thanks for your reply WD. I am 36 and retired from competitive gymnastics at the age of 24 (due to injury) - that was 12 years ago when I last competed properly. But yes I know what you mean. I see there's a lot of outrage about the fact that S'pore's flagbearer at the opening ceremonies is in fact a PRC.
DeleteHi LIFT,
DeleteHaha, I was expecting that the Singaporeans would be outraged that the flag bearer is a PRC, given the strong anti-PRC sentiments in Singapore right now. However, I would like to suggest a different (rather Canadian) way of looking at the flag bearer selection.
Carrying a flag well is a strenuous task. If there is no wind, a good flag bearer would wave that pole to create some breeze to display the flag. If there is wind, the flag bearer would have to carry the pole against the resistance of the flag lapping in the breeze. Either way, carrying a flag requires much strength and uses up much energy. Therefore in Canada, the flag bearer role is seen as a "dirty job" -- for which only the Olympian deemed "sacrificable" would be "arrowed" to do.
Cheers, WD.
Update: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/a-singaporean-gymnast-at-2012-olympics.html
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