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Grace Fu: ‘No Discrimination In Helping Para-Athletes Excel’

Instead of focusing on post-podium rewards for national athletes, the Government’s focus remains on helping all athletes get to the podium, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu.

To this end, there will be no discrimination on the support extended to para-athletes, Ms Fu stressed.

Ms Fu was responding to questions on whether the Government will consider offering equal rewards to Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists.

Para-swimmer Yip Pin Xiu will receive $400,000 for the two gold medals she won at the recent Rio Paralympics, while swimmer Joseph Schooling received $1 million for winning a gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

The rewards medal-winning athletes receive are decided by the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC), Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and their sponsors.

“This is in line with the general convention that monetary rewards for competitions in sport are largely funded by private means through sponsorships, donations and product endorsements,” said Ms Fu.

“I encourage the SNOC and SNPC to review the schemes with their sponsors, and for more corporations to step forward to support SNOC and SNPC on the awards.”

What can make a difference to the national athletes is the combined assistance they receive from family, the community, corporations, the public and the Government, Ms Fu said.

She said: “Instead of a one-off cash prize, athletes would also welcome career opportunities that can accommodate their sporting commitments and provide greater security and dignity when they retire from their sporting career.

“To enable this, SportSG has the spexBusiness Network.”

There is also no discrimination. For instance, the monthly payments under the spexScholarship scheme for all athletes are the same.

And sports medicine and sports science specialists, psychologists and trainers under SportSG offer the same support to both able-bodied and para-athletes.

Source: The New Paper

October 12, 2016
Father’s Last Embrace Saves Girl In China Building Collapse

A little girl protected by the embrace of her dead father was the last survivor pulled out of the rubble of collapsed multi-storey buildings in China, reports said on Tuesday (Oct 11).

She was found deep in the debris of four six-storey residential buildings more than 12 hours after they crumbled in Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, killing at least 22 people, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Three-year-old Wu Ningxi survived with only minor injuries thanks to the protection offered by her young father, who was found dead after shielding her from falling rubble, it added.

“The child was able to survive entirely thanks to the fact that her dad used his own flesh and blood to prop up a life-saving space for his daughter,” a rescuer told the China Youth Daily.

The 26-year-old shoe factory worker was found under a thick cement pillar, draped over his daughter.

The family had been buried alive in their living room and the body of Wu’s mother was discovered not far from the pair.

Photos showed hard-hatted rescuers lifting the girl’s half-naked body from the mess of cement and fallen bricks late Monday, her hair matted with dust as they carried her out and gingerly placed her onto a stretcher.

The search through the three-storey-high debris concluded early Tuesday, the Lucheng district government said at a press conference, with 22 confirmed dead and only five survivors other than the girl rescued.

The cause of the disaster was still under investigation, CCTV said.

Recent heavy rainfall combined with the poor quality of construction and age of the buildings, built by the villagers themselves, were probable contributing factors, it cited a preliminary analysis as saying.

Neighbouring buildings constructed in the 1970s were being demolished to prevent further collapses, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The buildings had been packed with migrant workers, among them Wu’s parents, hundreds of millions of whom have moved from China’s countryside to its towns and cities in recent decades, their labour fuelling the country’s economic boom.

Many remain poorly paid and face restrictions on buying homes in the areas where they work.

China has seen several building collapses in recent years, with some blamed on low-quality construction.

In May 16 people were reported dead after a residential building in Guizhou province in the southwest collapsed due to landslides.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

October 12, 2016
11-Year-Old Boy Dies From Dengue In Singapore

An 11-year-old Singaporean boy died from dengue on Aug 30, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) announced on Tuesday (Oct 11).

He died the same day he was admitted to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, they said in a joint news release. MOH said it was informed of the cause of death in a coroner’s report on Tuesday.

The patient lived at Woodleigh Close, an active two-case dengue cluster, which was reported on Sep 6, but no mosquito breeding was detected there, NEA said. The cluster was closed on Sep 14.

This is the eighth fatality from dengue in Singapore this year.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

October 12, 2016
Anda Kenal Nur Sarah Syafiqah Binte Shahrizal? Sila Bantu Pihak Polis

Pihak polis meminta orang ramai supaya tampil ke hadapan untuk memberi maklumat tentang lokasi remaja berusia 13 tahun, Nur Sarah Syafiqah Binte Shahrizal.

Kali terakhir Nur Sarah Syafiqah dilihat adalah di Blok 12A Marsiling Lane sekitar 6.45 pagi pada 7 Oktober 2016.

Pada ketika itu, Nur Sarah Syafiqah memakai jersi berwarna merah dan seluar pendek berwarna biru.

Sesiapa yang mempunyai maklumat diminta menghubungi talian Hotline Polis 1800-255-0000 atau secara online di www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

Semua maklumat yang diterima akan dirahsiakan.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

October 12, 2016
Local Teen Footballer Marc Embarks On England Stint

He first came to prominence as one of the stars of the 2014 Gothia Cup — regarded as the world’s largest youth tournament — as he helped Singapore’s F-17 academy achieve a third-place finish out of 120 teams in the Under-11 category.

And last November, Marc Ryan Tan, the son of Singapore’s Malaysia Cup hero Steven Tan, made his mark again during a local training camp conducted by West Ham’s academy coaches.

The 14-year-old made such a positive impression on the visiting coaches that he was invited to train with the English Premier League outfit’s academy in London this week.

The West Ham academy, which has produced players such as Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard, has been given a Category One status under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), which puts them among the top 20 academies in England.

While in England, Marc will also train at three other English academies – Wolverhampton Wanderers (Category One), Stoke City (Category One) and Charlton Athletic (Category Two) – during the 10-day training tour, which is organised by United States-based sports management company Global Image Sports (GIS).

The teenager, who can play as a forward or on the wings, is the only local player out of four others from the F-17 academy who was shortlisted for this tour.

Speaking to TODAY ahead of the training tour, Marc said that he hopes to use this opportunity to improve himself as a player.

In addition, he hopes to impress the coaches, and any watching scouts, as he works towards his dream of earning a professional contract with a top European team in future.

“I want to go there to learn how the English kids play because I’ve never played with the European kids before,” said the Secondary 2 student at the Singapore Sports School (SSP). “It’ll be interesting to see their style of play, observe how they train and find out why they’re so good at football.

“Hopefully I can go there, improve myself and bring something back with me so that I can share my experience with my SSP team-mates and make the team stronger.

“I’m very excited for this tour and I’m confident of making an impact there. After all, my dream is to one day playing for a top European team so this will be a great chance for me to get clubs to notice me.”

His dad Steven, affectionately known as “Super Sub” when he was part of Lions’ famous 1994 Malaysia Cup-winning team, said this tour will give Marc an indication of where he stands against some of the top young talents in the world.

“At this stage of his career, it’s good for him to know where he stands at an international level,” said Steven, who is now a coach at the ActiveSg Football Academy. “He can only do that by going up against players of a higher standard. In England, the level of football there is very high.

“So I want him to go there and test himself against those boys. Hopefully, he can rise up to the challenge and meet the standard that they’re looking for.”

Steven added that he will not hesitate to send Marc overseas for the long-term if the right opportunity comes knocking.

This mirrors what fellow local football icon Fandi Ahmad has done for his sons Irfan, Ikhsan and Ilhan – the former two trained in Chile for over two years, while Ilhan is expected to head to England this week.

“Of course, I would love for Marc to train in England for the long-term, and get a school to study there as well, because it will help his football development immensely,” said Steven.

“But it’s not easy to get a permit to play in the UK, so we have to see if the F-17 or GIS can help us with the procedure and see how we can work around it.

“Unlike in my time (as players), the kids now have more opportunities to play overseas, and so we must expose them as much as we can. Going to Europe, there’ll be more people watching Marc play, so we need him to take this step and get out of his comfort zone and see how far he can develop as a player.”

Marc, accompanied by his father, departed for England on Monday (Oct 10) night. The expenses of the trip for Marc, which is expected to reach up to S$7,000, will largely be borne by the F-17 Academy.

Source: TODAY Online

October 11, 2016