December 18, 09:00 AM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 National swimmer Joseph Schooling, 18, is likely to be the most bemedalled athlete in this year's 27th South-east Asia Games.
The swimming star won five golds, one gold shy of his six-gold target.
His only silver came at the 4X100m medley, where Team Singapore finished 1.97 secs behind the Indonesian team.
It's not for a lack of effort on Schooling's part, who put in a monster swim in the butterfly leg to cut Indonesia's lead by nearly two seconds.
Schooling was in the news recently, when he was granted a deferment from national service next year to pursue his goal of winning an Olympic medal.
Here are 5 reasons why our "Singapore Fish" (The Flying Dutchman's nickname for Schooling) deserves to be deferred from NS for a while longer:
1. With 5 gold medals, Schooling won as many swimming gold medals as the whole Indonesian swimming team.
Joseph Schooling (5 Golds, 1 Silver) vs Indonesia Team (5 Golds, 6 Silvers and 4 Bronzes).
" height="393" width="700" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0">
Look at how he won the 100m men's Butterfly in style - another new SEA games record.
2. He is a patriot
"I know how much doing well at the SEA Games mean to the country, and it means a lot to me as well." (The New Paper, 17 Dec)
On his deferment: “I’m not in the right position to make that call... But I’m doing this because I love my country. I want to bring pride and glory to my country.” (Yahoo News, 2 Dec)
3. He praises his female fans.
"I guess girls do help (to keep me focused, believe it or not). I'm not the type to put restrictions on myself. It's natural for us guys to go out with girls." (The New Paper, 18 Dec)
Source: Joseph Schooling Twitter
Source: Joseph Schooling Twitter
Charming them with his Mandarin too.
4. Jo's best friends with the men on the street.
Uncle Ah Hua wanted him to win more medals.
Source: Youtube
Uncle Maheyndran will name a dish after Joseph Schooling if he wins four or six Golds.
Samy's Fish Head Curry will be renamed Samy Schooling Head Curry.
5. He does market visits better than the politicians.
Source: Youtube
Other articles you may like:
How to defer your National Service obligation? Be Joseph Schooling
S'pore Sports Council, you've got some explaining to do
5 sure-win sports that will fire Singapore to the top of the medal tally
Top photo from Youtube.
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.