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Tag: NS deferment

  • Singapore Teen Ben Davis Chasing EPL Dream Hopeful Of NS Deferment

    Singapore Teen Ben Davis Chasing EPL Dream Hopeful Of NS Deferment

    Davis has been made rapid progress since signing with second-tier Fulham on a two-year scholarship in July, getting involved in a few pre-season friendlies for their academy and scoring two goals in the process.

    Fulham’s academy is rated as one of the 24 Category One academies in England and compete in the Premier League Under-18 South League along with other London clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

    While it may be exciting times for Davis, a shadow looms large over his development as he is expected to serve National Service (NS) for two years between the age of 18 to 21.

    The midfielder flew back to Singapore specially to undergo his pre-NS enlistment medical check-up on Monday afternoon before returning to England on the same night.

    With that process completed, Davis will be now able to apply for NS deferment.

    FourFourTwo understands that the Football Association of Singapore will render help for his application, where it will be assessed by Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) before reaching the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

    It looks like a long road ahead as no Singapore footballer has ever been able to defer NS, however talented they might be.

    Nonetheless Davis’ father, Harvey Davis hopes that a precedent can be set for his talented son so that his career does not get disrupted at this crucial juncture.

    “Ben’s now at the stage and level where he can go on to achieve his dream, hopefully the authorities can set in place some procedure or criteria for football or team (for NS deferment),” said Harvey, who is the managing director for JSSL Singapore.

    “I hope that Ben’s case will be the right case to push it forward. We’re keeping our hopes up and are remaining positive for Ben’s application, because we have faith that the system will eventually come through for our talented sportsmen and women.”

    As for Davis himself, he is trying to put all those distractions and uncertainties aside as he focuses his effort on flying the Singapore flag high in England.

    “It was difficult at the start for me, but I got used to it and improved a lot in a short time,” said the 16-year-old, who turns 17 in November. “It’s quite different how they use physicality to win the ball and that takes some getting used to. I’m spending more time at the gym to build muscles.

    “The training’s much more intense in Fulham as compared to Singapore (in the Sports School). I want to improve further, maybe by shooting more, scoring more goals and taking more risks.

    “No one looks down on me just because I’m Singaporean, but I’m really motivated to be better than the people in my age group because I know they won’t slow down. The goal for me now is to earn a pro contract for next season.

    “In five years’ time, I hope to be representing Singapore and playing in one of the English Championship clubs, or in the Under-23 teams of the Premier League clubs.”

     

     

    Source: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/

  • Quah Zheng Wen Delighted To Be Granted Extension Of NS Deferment

    Quah Zheng Wen Delighted To Be Granted Extension Of NS Deferment

    National swimmer Quah Zheng Wen’s dream of winning a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has been handed a boost after the 19-year-old was granted an extension of his National Service (NS) deferment by the Ministry of Defence (Mindef).

    Mindef announced on Thursday (Sept 22) that the Armed Forces Council had approved Quah’s application for extended deferment this month, noting that “deferment may be granted to exceptional cases of individual sportsmen who are assessed to be potential medal winners at international competitions like the Olympic Games.”

    Quah, who was delighted to hear the good news on Thursday, said: “I would like to thank Mindef, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Sport Singapore (SportSG), the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) for their continuous support.

    “I’m deeply appreciative of the opportunity to be able to train full-time and dedicate myself to doing my best and making our nation proud. With the extended deferment, it gives me the peace of mind to continue to train hard and work towards my goal of Tokyo 2020.

    “Since the Rio 2016 Olympics, I’ve been very touched by the support received and would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support.”

    Quah declined to reveal the plans for his next four-year Olympic campaign. However, he is believed to be considering two options. The first would be to remain in Singapore and continue training with the National Training Centre (NTC) squad under current national assistant coach Gary Tan and high-performance manager Sonya Porter.

    The alternative would be to follow in the footsteps of national team-mate and newly minted Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, who is a University of Texas student, and head abroad to train and study in an overseas university.

    Quah is understood to be weighing up the possibility of joining former Singapore swimming head coach Sergio Lopez at the Auburn University in the United States, with the two having developed a strong bond over the course of the Spaniard’s two-year stint in the Republic.

    When asked, coach Tan said the SSA would meet Quah over the next few days to discuss the best course of action for the young swimmer.

    “We will be sitting down with Zheng Wen properly following this announcement to discuss our plans,” Tan told TODAY.

    “We need to discuss with various parties to make sure that we have the best system and support in place for Zheng Wen, who has proved with his performances that he has so much potential to go even further.”

    Quah’s deferment comes just a month after Schooling was granted fresh deferment till the 2020 Games. Quah was initially granted long-term deferment in July 2015 to train for the 2016 Rio Games, where he qualified for the semi-finals of the men’s 100m and 200m butterfly with new personal best (PB) times of 52.08s and 1min 56.01s respectively. He finished 15th and 10th overall, respectively.

    Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen said in his Facebook post on Thursday: “For the first time ever, we now have two Olympics medal prospects ­— Zheng Wen and Joseph Schooling — who are exceptional sportsmen and meet all the existing criteria for deferment. This speaks well of our sporting talent in our younger generation. I hope their achievements will encourage many more sportsmen and women to excel.

    “I spoke to Zheng Wen and his father. I thanked them for their commitment to excellence, the many hours of training Zheng Wen has put in and many more needed for the next four years, for him to win in Tokyo 2020. I wished Zheng Wen the very best in his training and his ambition to win glory for Singapore.”

    SSA secretary-general Oon Jin Teik said in a statement: “We are deeply grateful for the continuous support from Mindef, MCCY, SportSG, SNOC and our various partners, who have continued to support us in the journey to becoming a world-class aquatics nation.

    “We will be working closely with … the relevant parties to develop the future plans to help Zheng Wen achieve his goals for Tokyo 2020.”

     

    Source: TODAY Online

  • mrbrown To Lee Bee Wah: Want To Claim Credit? Detail How You Secured NS Deferment For Joseph Schooling

    mrbrown To Lee Bee Wah: Want To Claim Credit? Detail How You Secured NS Deferment For Joseph Schooling

    Lee Bee Wah, please share with us a detailed breakdown of how you secured NS deferment for Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen, since you seem very convinced about your monumental contribution.

    Because my understanding is that their parents negotiated with Mindef at a personal level.

    But hey, you seem to be claiming credit too, so we would love to hear how much you did for them.

     

    Source: mrbrown