December 18, 12:45 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 *[Update: Dec. 19, 2pm] Saiyidah Aisyah had since clarified on her FB about Singapore Sports Council's support. She said that while "it is true that I do not get paid to row for the country, SSC has provided me with other benefits in other aspects like medical, athlete-career support, nutrition and recently, they have given me a bit of allowance to cover for the loss of wages that I am experiencing by putting my job on hold". She added that she was grateful to SSC for their support.
It is understood that Saiyidah was also congratulated on the day of her win, through the Team Singapore Facebook page.
It’s been one full day since Saiyidah Aisyah, 25, won the SEA Games gold medal in the 2,000m women’s lightweight single sculls in 8min 8.94sec — Singapore’s first ever individual gold in rowing at the games.
The even bigger story, though, is how Saiyidah single-handedly pulled off this victory -- without any funding from the Singapore Sports Council.
Since 2011, she has been financing her own training and competition expenses and has practiced solo.
On top of that, participating in this sport meant that she had to take no-pay leave from her day job as a student development manager at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
This revelation has led to the SSC to become Public Enemy No. 1 -- because everyone is wondering why isn't the SSC funding Singapore's very own young sporting talent?
Reactions online have been telling.
Commenters on Yahoo! News have been nothing short of congratulatory -- and accusatory.
Saiyidah's self-starter, never-say-die attitude has won her kudos from the usually harsh online crowd...
... who are reserving their strong words for the SSC:
The Straits Times, in its coverage of Saiyidah's victory, devoted a spread to the gold medal win -- but conspicuously left out the point about SSC's lack of funding.
But where is the Singapore Sports Council in all of this?
Their conspicuous silence is deafening. Just check their FB page or website.
A word of congratulations isn't too much to ask for at a time like this.*
Or how about explaining themselves?
Other articles you may like:
5 reasons why Joseph Schooling deserves to defer his National Service obligation forever
10 things you wouldn't want to miss during this year’s SEA Games
5 sure-win sports that will fire Singapore to the top of the medal tally
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.