Here is a realisation that will slowly but surely sink in over the next few days as the euphoria wears off: There is no guaranteed way the private or public sector, or both acting as one, can replicate Joseph Schooling's Olympic medal success with another individual from Singapore, any time in the future, near or far.

By now, the Joseph Schooling story should be well-known and it does not need re-telling.

All you need to know is that his parents had to put everything on the line to roll the dice with their only son, sending him overseas to pursue his passion and fulfill his dreams, because essentially, he couldn't do it in Singapore.

A confluence of chance, natural talent, dedicated parenting, having fungible resources to boot, trusting their foresight and instinct, and nurturing the gumption to stand toe-to-toe with a government hell-bent on conscripting all able-bodied Singaporean Sons as a matter of policy and principle, plus a host of other variables, made Joseph Schooling the Olympic Gold medallist possible.

The odds from the start were simply too small, the chances too uncertain to contemplate.

Regular Singaporeans get it though

However, the observations made by regular people from Singapore regarding the circumstances that culminated in a historic Olympic victory shows that folks are cognisant of what is really needed.

It is, first and foremost, the recognition that there can be many potential Joseph Schoolings in our midst who have yet to or never will actualise or come to pass, because the pieces just have not, will not and did not fall into place.

One Daryl Sng wrote:

"The reason Singapore doesn't have a lot of parents like the Schoolings isn't primarily because the government didn't support the Schoolings enough. The government might or might not have, but changing that won't drastically shift the equation. How many parents of means in Singapore would act like the Schoolings did? How do employers in Singapore react to seeing a resume that shows the focus and dedication needed to be a sports champion, if it comes at the cost of some academic grades? All of these are questions of Singapore culture and what the society values, of which the government is only one part, not the whole thing."

Another Mark Lin posted:

"... one big part of the reason why this miracle happened is because the family pursue decisions that are completely Un-Singaporean (the other major contributor is that they had some resources/network to work with). Had they ‘just follow lor’ or if Joseph happened to be born in a different family – no amount of hard work alone can produce such a miracle."

What are the odds? Very slim.

In other words, if Joseph Schooling was born in a different family, he might not have made it.

If the Schoolings were a tad less well-off, their son might have just enrolled into, say, Med School locally and given up on going overseas.

If the Schoolings were more pragmatic and living in an HDB flat, their son might have become a fully-certified swimming coach in Singapore instead.

And if Joseph Schooling was born with a tinier hand, he might not have hit the wall first.

Looking at these conditional probabilities, it is obvious that there was no precedent prior to what the Schoolings were embarking on but have now achieved.

But even when they have set the standards and shown that Olympic success is possible, isn't it not difficult to see that these practices cannot possibly be institutionalised nor transformed into a viable blueprint for success that can be replicated?

Which stakeholders in the private or public sector can even go out on a limb to make the initial investment on another untested individual who only has the potential to make it?

Therefore, we can conclude, Joseph Schooling is an outlier. And will remain as one for quite a while.

Ironically, Singapore is also an outlier.

Just that now it has become more obvious that the outlier nation needs to start putting into practice non-traditional ways to produce outlier countrymen and countrywomen given the Joseph Schooling mould.

Going forward, this would mean bending time-honoured traditions, slaying some sacred cows and employing methods that are drastically different from what has been practiced -- because what got us here won't necessarily get us there.

Which also means having to stray into territory that feels vastly unsafe and, you know, being more un-Singaporean.

Top photo via Joseph Isaac Schooling