Paralympic Achievements 2016

Madam, we are here to celebrate the abilities of some of the most special athletes from our land. Thank you for the privilege of honouring the stellar achievements of all 13 Paralympians who represented Singapore in the 2016 Rio Games. The Paralympic Games is the highest level global competition for our athletes. I also wish to honour other athletes who trained hard but for some reason, did not make it to Rio.

When Theresa Goh won her bronze in Rio, her good friend and fellow medallist, Yip Pin Xiu, embraced and told her that nobody will know what they have gone through these 17 years. Indeed, many of us can only read about it but never really know the terrain of the arduous road to Rio – the gruelling trainings and the sacrifices behind a sporting career on the world stage. Take the feat of Norsilawati who trained six times a week while working as a freelance web designer; who entered the Rio games at the age of 39, undaunted. Or archery athlete Nur Syahidah, born with cerebral palsy, who similarly trained six days a week and spent most of her non-working days on practice. These stories are not uncommon amongst the rest of the athletes, Nurul, Sze Ning, Suhairi, Muhammad Diroy, Maximillian, Laurentia, Gemma, Jovin, Qian Yin, Pin Xiu and Theresa.

Hence, to the Paralympians, thank you for showing us the power of the human spirit. Like the proverbial bumblebee which aerodynamically is not supposed to be able to fly, but it flies anyway. You are not disabled athletes. You are our very own Singaporean athletes with disabilities – disabilities which instead of tripping you, have helped the rest of Singapore, open their eyes and see your true and powerful abilities. You face greater challenges than typical athletes and deserve recognition similar to or even beyond them. We salute all of you. From you, we learnt the lessons of mental toughness, true grit, optimism and self-control.

I pray that you will guard sacredly this privileged leadership position or in space that you occupy. I know that many of you do not want to be defined by your disability and want to be seen first as athletes. But it is the unique identity that packaged that you come in, abilities and disabilities combined, that enrich, humble and inspire the rest of us Singaporeans. If you can do it, then perhaps the rest of us can rise above our daily ailments, grievances and complaints and take on life the way you do, against the odds; making lemonades of the lemons we are handed in life.

So, Paralympians, I urge you to be the evangelists for a better world – encourage others to do sports on a daily level; tell them how not to let what you cannot do prevent you from what you can; and how not to let failures deter you for longer than they should.

Next, to the usually unsung heroes behind our athletes. I believe in the life-view that in life, that everything we achieve in life, somebody helped us. It is thus also my privilege to congratulate and thank the people who have been supporting the Paralympians.

First, the family members who had raised these young people and cheered them on in life, medals or not. I believe that no child with special needs, comes to a family by accident – no child anyway. It takes a special kind of human spirit to embrace a child with special needs in the family, give him space to pursue his passion whilst worrying about his future. Families of our special athletes, too, deserve a medal, in my book.

Next, lest we forget, the supporting teams from the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNOC) – the then Chairman Dr Teo-Koh Sock Miang; Mr Ho Cheng Kwee, who is not able to come today, Chef-de-Mission of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, the Singapore Disability Sports Council, the Singapore National Olympic Council, Sports Singapore and the Singapore Sports Institute. Many are the unsung heroes who worked tirelessly behind the scene to make the road to Rio possible. Thank you all.

To the rest of Singapore, I ask you to continue to look beyond the disabilities and celebrate the abilities of our Paralympians and other athletes and the rest of the special needs community. Last weekend, despite the rain, we had about 10,000 Singaporean residents from all abilities, all walks of life, join us in the city district to support inclusion and celebrate abilities in a movement known as The Purple Parade – a ground-up movement that gained the support of many, including our top country leaders.

But beyond the carnival and celebrations, what the organisers deeply yearn for is a transformed society that truly embraces persons with special needs in every aspect of Singapore life. Is there enough support, beyond awareness, to cause a change in our behaviours towards those who are different? Do we know persons with special needs only when they become celebrated Paralympians? Do we, in our social network, have any true friends with special needs? Do we, at our workplace, treat those with special needs with dignity and not pity?

In many ways, people with special needs are like you and I, with similar needs and aspirations. Theresa told me she is a spice girl club fan. She and Pin Xiu just travelled to Europe, London, Burmingham, on their own, public transport, without any special help from the State. Many of them simply want to have access to opportunities in life, like the rest of us. So, let us go beyond compassion and adjust our lenses and behaviours to create schools, workplaces, public places of interest where persons with special needs are not just talked about, but seen, heard and their presence felt daily.

On that note, I want to salute again the Paralympians and all those who stood and are still standing behind you. You are some of our most important torchbearers for a better world. Congratulations.