Hosts Singapore crashed out of the football competition at the 28th SEA Games after losing to Indonesia in Group A on Thursday (Jun 11).
After a goalless first half, the breakthrough came in the 47th minute when Evan Dimas Darmono scored with a stunning shot from inside the penalty box.
Sahil Suhaimi almost equalised for Singapore a minute later when his header was palmed away by the Indonesian keeper after a curling cross from the left.
Both teams kept up the tempo with chances at both ends. Indonesia almost doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Ahmad Nufiandani’s shot forced Singapore goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari into a reflex save.
To make matters worse for the hosts, Ho Wai Loon was sent off in the 64th minute for a second yellow card.
Singapore coach Aide Iskandar resigned after the team’s failure but paid tribute to his charges. “I’m very proud of my boys, they gave their best and we pushed to get a goal or an equaliser even though we were one man down, that’s something that is really rare to see for a Singaporean side.”
He added: “I appreciate all the support, even though some sections of fans were abusing us, some fans thanked the players during the game and even after the game. We showed a lot of unity and solidarity.”
When asked why key players like Faris Ramli and Irfan Fandi Ahmad were left on the bench at the start of the game, he said that they were “not fully fit” and had to be dropped from the starting line-up.
Aide’s Indonesian counterpart said although Singapore are a good side, their weaknesses were apparent. “We knew their weakness was distributing the ball,” said Santoso. “Singapore’s central defenders were a little bit slow, so I asked my players to make runs behind them.”
He added: “A couple of players picked up injuries, but I hope they will be fine by tomorrow.”
Indonesia will now play Thailand in the second semi-final on Saturday at 8.30pm. Vietnam and Myanmar kick-off at 2pm the same day. Both matches are at the National Stadium.
Like the previous three SEA Games matches, Aide Iskandar arrived at the post-match press conference late. But the writing was on the wall last night when the Young Lions coach arrived teary-eyed and sniffling after Singapore lost 1-0 to Indonesia and were booted out of the Games football competition.
In what was expected, the 40-year-old announced he was not only resigning as coach of Singapore’s under-23 squad, but quitting the Football Association of Singapore. He delivered a short speech thanking the FAS for their trust when they hired him in 2013 to take charge of the side preparing for the SEA Games in Singapore.
But it has been a painful campaign for Aide, wrought by a lucklustre 1-0 win over the Philippines on June 1, a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Myanmar three days later, and struggling to keep their hopes alive with a 3-1 win over Cambodia on Monday (June 9).
A week before the start of the competition, he controversially dropped forward Iqbal Hussain, who had been a key figure in the under-23 side.
Summarising his two-year tenure, Aide said he tried to build a team for the Games but faced a lot of challenges along the way, including the loss of key players in striker Shahfiq Ghani and defender Ammirul Adli.
Thanking everyone who had supported him and the Young Lions, including Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong, the FAS, Sports Singapore and the fans despite not posting “the best of results”.
Added Aide: “I am very proud of my boys, they gave their best and pushed to get the goal and equaliser even though we were a man down. This is something rare to see from a Singapore side.
“For your information, I just resigned and I have informed the players and told them the journey still has to go on for them as they are still young and they can only get better. I’ve also told them that failures can only make them stronger.
He ended the press conference saying that he had to go back to his family who “has been waiting for me for a very long time. I think it is best that I have to go back to them”.
Aide refused to take questions and left abruptly, leaving more questions about the state of football in Singapore.
This is not the first time he has quit a national post. In 2007, he resigned suddenly as captain of the national team before the start of Singapore’s crucial World Cup qualifying tie against Tajikistan. He was unhappy for being dropped from then coach Raddy Avramovic’s starting line-up in a previous match against Palestine.
Last night’s drama came after Singapore’s game was marred by the same issues that have been plaguing them: Mindless passes, silly tackles and shots that went everywhere but at goal.
The comedy of errors reached a climax in the 84th minute when Suria Prakash and Adam Swandi were floored after clashing with one another in an attempt to control a loose ball on the edge of the Indonesian 12-yard box.
The game was all but over for them a minute after the break when Indonesian playmaker Evan Diman Darmono sent a scorcher into the roof of the Singapore goal.
The dagger was plunged deeper 20 minutes later when Ho Wai Loon was sent off by South Korean referee Kim Kee-gon for a second bookable offence. It was an inept performance by a Singapore side that never had the quality to go far in the Games.
FAS president Zainudin Nordin issued a statement that read: “I can understand why Aide has made this decision at this point of time. Hopefully, after a few days’ rest, we can have a discussion with him and persuade him to change his mind.
“Regardless of how we have fared at the SEA Games, Aide is a good coach and has a long and bright future ahead of him.”
Team Singapore’s swimmers continued their gold mining of the pool on the final of day of the event competition at the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games on Thursday (Jun 11).
Singapore added four more gold medals to the haul to finish with a national record of 23. That is more than double the 11 gold they got in the Myanmar SEA Games in 2013. Vietnam were next best with 10 gold – eight of those won by dynamo Nguyen Thi Ahn Vien. The 18-year-old added yet another gold to her name by claiming victory in the 200m breaststroke, and then saluted cheekily to the cameras for the last time as she left the pool after a remarkable 12 events.
Singapore’s Quah Zheng Wen was just as busy. He won his 11th medal of the SEA Games by taking the 50m backstroke in a new record time of 25.27 seconds, ahead of reigning champion Indonesia’s I Gede Siman Sudartawa (25.34s).
Singapore swimmer Quah Zheng Wen (Photo: Jack Board)
Earlier, Indonesia won its first gold of a disappointing swimming campaign courtesy of a powerful swim from Indra Gunawan (28,27s) in the 50m breaststroke.
But this was, once again, a night that belonged to Singapore. Amanda Lim set the tone in the night’s second race by winning the women’s 50m freestyle for the fourth consecutive time in 25.59s just one hundredth of a second in front of teammate Quah Ting Wen.
Singapore’s Quah Ting Wen and Amanda Lim with their medals from the 50m freestyle. (Photo: Jack Board)
Tao Li after winning the 100m butterfly (Photo: Jack Board)
Tao Li made it 22 after winning the women’s 100m butterfly in 59.79s, prompting a ceremonial bell ringing on the pool deck by swimming legend Ang Peng Siong, one for each gold won. Tao was visibly pumped up by the victory as she slapped the water with vigour and waved enthusiastically to the full house in the stands. She won five gold in total, winning every event she entered. Quah Ting Wen was right behind her with a time of 1:00.30.
“I did it, I proved to myself that I’m still there and in the butterfly no-one can touch me in Southeast Asia,” she said. “I did what I aimed for.
“There’s been no one (SEA Games) like this before, the home crowd cheering for us, that’s a big thing for the swimmers,” she added.
And to ensure a clean sweep of the relays it was left to four men accustomed to success this SEA Games – Quah, Joseph Schooling, Clement Lim and Lionel Khoo – to wrap things up in the 4x100m medley relay.
Singapore’s Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling, Clement Lim and Lionel Khoo win the gold in the 4x100m medley relay. (Photo: Jack Board)
They did it in style, breaking a Games record in the process with a time of 3:38.25, the 29th overall, and notably giving Schooling his ninth gold medal. That is nine gold out of nine events, for Singapore’s swim king.
“I’m very happy with myself but I’m more happy for the relay. I don’t think we’d won since ’91 and that’s the perfect way to finish the meet,” the 19-year-old said. “I think we’ve just got a lot of talent. The result speaks for itself, we’re better than the previous teams and I think that’s really positive for Singapore swimming teams moving forward.”
Joseph Schooling. (Photo: Goh Chiew Tong)
“I get to let the diet go,” joked Quah when asked what celebrations he had planned.
Indonesia and Thailand’s men were right behind Singapore’s 4x100m medley relay team, clocking 3:42.10 and 3:45.67 respectively for silver and bronze.
Singapore’s national coach Sergio Lopez said before the Games that he would be happy with 12 gold from the team. The smile on his face after six days that saw his team nearly double that goal was deservedly jubilant.
Pink Dot, the annual gay celebratory event of “the freedom to love”, will take place this Saturday at Hong Lim Park for the seventh time since its inauguration in 2009.
Each year, the event is headlined by celebrities and has attracted global brands as sponsors. It has also seen an increasing number of people turning up to give it support. Last year’s event reportedly attracted 25,000 people.
“Pink is the colour of our ICs,” the group’s Facebook page says. “It is also the colour when you mix red and white – the colours of our national flag. Pink Dot stands for an open, inclusive society within our Red Dot, where sexual orientation represents a feature, not a barrier.”
An inclusive society is also the aim of the Lee Hsien Loong Government which has repeatedly urged Singaporeans to see one another as one people, and has boasted of its inclusive policies.
Mr Lee, however, raised recently some ire among those in the gay community for comments he made about same-sex marriage and the gay community.
In an interview with ASEAN journalists in Singapore earlier in June, he said Singapore society “is still conservative although it is changing gradually” and that it is “not ready” for same-sex marriage, as the Straits Times reported.
But, Mr Lee said, the gay community have the space to live their lives in Singapore.
“We do not harass them or discriminate against them,” he explained.
This seemingly more conciliatory position of the Government first came into the spotlight in 2003, when then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong caused a bit of an uproar among conservative circles when he said the government was employing openly gay people in the civil service.
Mr Goh famously said then: “In the past, if we know you’re gay, we would not employ you. But we just changed this quietly.”
Critics, however, point to the presence and retention of Singapore’s anti-gay law, section 377a of the Penal Code. The law criminalises sex between adult males.
Mr Lee said that the gay community “should not push the agenda too hard because if they push the agenda too hard, there will be a very strong pushback.”
“And this is not an issue where there is a possibility that the two sides can discuss and eventually come to a consensus. Now, these are very entrenched views and the more you discuss, the angrier people get,” he said.
Pink Dot, in response to Mr Lee’s remarks, said that while it acknowledged Mr Lee’s concerns – given Singapore’s unique position as a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious society, there will be a plurality of viewpoints, some deeply entrenched – it nonetheless feels that “it is not a topic that can be swept under the carpet and allowed to fester.”
Lee
“We firmly believe that dialogue is our best way forward,” Pink Dot said. “As such, we would like to invite Prime Minister Lee to join us in celebrating the Freedom to Love, this Saturday, June 13, at Hong Lim Park, and meet with the individuals, families, and loving couples who form a vibrant part of Singapore’s social fabric.”
Mr Lee’s office has not responded to the invitation publicly.
Pink Dot also noted that racial and religious minorities are protected under the constitution.
“Whether Singapore will eventually abolish Section 377a and create a society truly based on justice and equality, that values all contributing citizens regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity; a lot will depend on fostering goodwill and encouraging respect among groups and individuals.”
Will Mr Lee accept Pink Dot’s invitation and turn up at Hong Lim Park on Saturday, in the name of inclusiveness or fostering an inclusive society? Should he?
Well, if we go by what his government itself has said – that it wants to build an inclusive society – and what is declared in our National Pledge – that we “pledge ourselves as one united people… to build a democratic society based on justice and equality” – then there is no reason for Mr Lee to decline the invitation.
But of course if Mr Lee accepts the invite, it will be seen by the conservatives as a sign of support, or at least of tacit endorsement of the gay community.
Indeed, Pink Dot’s invitation could also be seen as putting Mr Lee on the spot, perhaps nudging him to take a stand, instead of the fence-sitting one he currently adopts when it comes to gay issues.
Whatever it is, it will an interesting Saturday indeed.
A regular swimmer was worried when he spotted holes on the walls of the cubicles of Woodlands Swimming Complex, which looked like they have been drilled in by someone.
After a swim session just last Saturday (Jul 12), Stomper Richard noticed a hole on the wall of the showering cubicles of the men’s toilet .
Upon closer look, he realised three of the cubicles had the same hole and that one could peek through them.
He wrote:
“I am a regular swimmer in Woodlands Swimming Complex and my son also attends swimming lessons regularly in the same pool. There are times he will attend the lessons by himself because we are staying opposite the swimming complex.
“When I was showering in one of the cubicles at the male changing room that is furthest from the exit, I noticed some greyish spots on the cubicle wall.
“I took a closer look and realised it is a small hole that one could peek through to the adjacent cubicle. The greyish spots looks like cement that had been used to cover the hole but was dug out again.
“The location of the peek hole is purposely positioned at the crotch level and one can only imagine the “uses” for this hole.
“I checked the walls of other cubicles and was shocked to discover the other cubicles walls all had similar peek holes.
“As a father, how can I let my primary school age son use the shower facilities in the men’s toilet with a peace of mind when there are potential sick perverts peeking at their private parts? Our children’s modesty is at stake.”
