Colin Schooling left behind a gift for all S’pore fathers: Veteran journalist

A heartfelt obituary.

Mothership | November 25, 2021, 10:08 AM

Condolences have poured in since news of Colin Schooling's death was announced. The father of 26-year-old Olympic champion Joseph Schooling passed away on Nov. 18 at the age of 73.

Veteran journalist PN Balji penned a heartfelt obituary titled "In death, Schooling leaves behind a gift for fathers", writing about the "gift" that Schooling has left behind for all fathers who struggle to balance work, leisure and family.

"As the Singapore family faces pushes and pulls of modern life, Colin can stand as a beacon on how to manoeuvre the potential minefields. Colin has left behind a gift for all us. Let us unwrap this gift and savour his tireless effort as a father to bring glory to his son and Singapore."

It was first published as a Facebook post on The New Singapore.


By PN Balji

During a chance encounter with former Foreign Minister George Yeo, a proud Colin Schooling said of his Olympic champion son: “This is my gift to Singapore.”

Before you jump to any conclusion that Colin was being imprudent, Yeo dashed that thought when he recounted to Today in 2016: “There was no conceit…”

And if you go away thinking that the gift was the historic Olympic gold medal feat by his son, Joseph Schooling, in Rio in 2016, then you are doing a great injustice to the 73-year-old who passed away on Nov 18 after he lost his fight against cancer.

The gift was for all fathers, many of whom struggle daily to balance work, leisure and family.

Colin is an extraordinary father who did everything – yes, everything – to make sure his only child won big at the Rio Olympics.

Colin’s passion – call it obsession, if you want – came to light the way he prepared meticulously and doggedly to crack Singapore’s toughest nut, Mindef, to get NS deferment for his son. I interviewed him for The Independent Singapore soon after that victory five years ago. The father’s commitment, tenacity and attention to detail – nearly every detail of his son’s training regime, exploits in the pool and discipline – shone through in his presentation to Mindef.

He said: “Every swim competition from 2000 (the day he started to race) at five years old till 2009 (the time he left for the US to study and train at age 13) was documented and monitored... Joseph’s successes and present status were not a flash-in-the-pan story but many years of hard work.

“Neary every local and international event Joseph took part in was documented. May (his wife) and I would have our worksheets ready to monitor his reaction times off the block, split times, stroke counts and strike rates. We did this so that we could be constructive in our opinions and advice to our son. We could not just rely on his coaches totally because they were busy with others under their charge.”

Not to forget the swimming aids like tailor-made goggles and a drag chute attached to the waist to build the swimmer’s strength and endurance through resistance. Nothing was left to chance. Everything was planned to precision and recorded.

Armed with the all the details, the parents presented their voluminous report to Mindef. It was difficult for the Ministry to say no and thus Joseph became the first youth to get deferment.

The parents did not stop there.

They wanted to learn all aspects of swimming, especially the technical aspects. So they built an extensive swim library at home, took the swimming association officials’ credential tests, attended many courses and lectures conducted by experts, served as honorary treasurers in the swimming association for two years. “We played hosts to many visiting Olympic swim teams from the US, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, France, Italy…”

Colin knew that money would be an issue as the government’s track record in this area was nothing to crow about. The parents decided to go it alone to pay for their son’s education and training in the U.S. They sold their property in Australia and ended part of their insurance endowment to finance his son’s journey to become a champ.

You can see what an exceptional dad Colin was. As I reread the interview I did with him, the question I asked myself again and again was this: How many such dads, including myself, are there here. Zilch, I would dare to say.

If we dads can do even 10 per cent of what Colin had done for his son, we will go some way to being good parents. As the Singapore family faces pushes and pulls of modern life, Colin can stand as a beacon on how to manoeuvre the potential minefields.

Colin has left behind a gift for all us. Let us unwrap this gift and savour his tireless effort as a father to bring glory to his son and Singapore. Colin Isaac Schooling is the true son of Singapore and a true father of the Singapore family.

Top photo via Joseph Schooling/Instagram, May Yim/FB.