Singapore received a smashing year-end gift in December 2021 when badminton player Loh Kean Yew clinched the top prize at the BWF World Championships final.

But Loh's crowning as the world champion was overshadowed a wee bit by the news that he wouldn't receive any prize money for his achievement — neither from the event organiser nor the Singapore government.

In case you're wondering, the BWF World Championships does not issue prize money for its awards.

But what about the Singapore government? If it can pay Joseph Schooling S$1 million for an Olympic gold medal, surely it can pay a Singaporean World Champion something?

Possibly.

However, that premise is flawed because the S$1 million award for the Olympic gold medal is paid out under the Major Games Award Programme which is a private scheme administered by the Singapore National Olympic Council, and not the government — although some will point out that the primary sponsor of the awards under the Major Games Award Programme is the Tote Board, a statutory board.

But at the heart of it, it is not about whether an athlete receives prize money. The real issue at hand is this: Does the Singapore government support our athletes financially and should it do more?

It's an age-old issue that comes to the fore whenever Singapore's athletes get into the news cycle. Loh's recent achievement on the world stage has reignited public attention. Subsequently, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Edwin Tong, decided to lay out in Parliament the range of measures that the Singapore government provides to back its athletes.

A summary of government support for sports & athletes

For those who prefer not to plough through Tong's lengthy Parliamentary speech, here's a summary:

The government takes a two-prong approach to "identify, nurture and develop Team Singapore athletes" — provide quality sporting infrastructure so that sports is accessible for those with an interest, and provide holistic support for talented athletes to maximise their potential.

Concerning support for talented athletes, which is more central to the discussion of the day, Tong gave the example of the High Performance Sport (HPS) system.

The HPS system is administered by the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI) and the National Youth Sport Institute (NYSI) and comprises all kinds of support in areas such as sports science and sports medicine, coaching, and counselling.

What does it look like?

Tong gave the example of champion para-swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, whose training is bolstered by  sports experts. Sports biomechanists analyse her swim timings, while sports physiologists monitor her body conditions and calibrate her training accordingly with Yip's coach.

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The minister also devoted a significant chunk of his speech to talk about how the government extends "substantial grants" for hiring top coaches.

According to Tong, the benefits of hiring top coaches extend beyond just quality training for athletes. It also helps grow Singapore's pool of coaches when they transfer their know-how.

And since money talks, there were numbers which Tong — very helpfully — provided in his speech.

Over the last three years, the Singapore government invested an average of almost S$90 million each year to develop and operate sporting infrastructure like stadiums, swimming pools, and running tracks for the general public.

The government also pours around S$70 million each year into the HPS system.

Tong also brought up the Sports Excellence (spex) framework, which aims to help athletes balance their commitments in both sporting and non-sporting arenas.

Under the spex framework, athletes have access to support such as the spexEducation scheme which has benefited over 500 student-athletes and the spexBusiness network which helps athletes pursue their career goals while balancing sporting commitments.

Kayaker Stephenie Chen: Constant support better than one time reward

"Of course, who doesn't want to receive prize money, right? It's great...it's like receiving a bonus. It's always a plus."

This was from Team Singapore kayaker Stephenie Chen. Chen is a recipient of the spexScholarship and has been one for "quite a long time now" since 2014.

"But no one sees the salary that is paid out every month," she continued, drawing a parallel to sports — people often applaud athletes when they reach the podium as a world or Olympic champion, but the same fervour and attention is hardly paid to the hard work that spans years.

"I think it's definitely better to have constant support rather than a one-time thing that is 100 per cent dependent on your results, which is very stressful as an athlete. I mean, it basically means that if you don't perform, you don't get any money."

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In addition, there are non-tangible benefits that come from a steady source of funding and support for her craft.

Because she is under the spexScholarship, she does not need to worry about having access to the range of professional amenities, like those listed above, that is made available to talented athletes.

Having a constant paycheque, courtesy of the scholarship, also takes a weight off her shoulders because it allows her to focus on her training.

Focusing on monetary reward makes it "very trivial": SSI Chief

If you read through the litany of government support in the area of sports (courtesy of Tong) you might have noticed that there is zero mention of the awarding of prize money.

Some time back, I sat down with Su Chun Wei, Chief of SSI, and Richard Gordon, Senior Director & Head of High Performance & Athlete Life, SSI to find out why.

"I don't think we want to go down [the route of debating] whether we reward or not reward," said Su, adding that it's "too easy to make it very trivial" when one focuses on prize money.

Su wants Singaporeans to focus instead on the support (both financial and non-financial) that is rendered to local athletes throughout their sporting careers.

The work involved in preparing an athlete to compete on the world stage is intensive and — as seen above — involves the proverbial "village" of experts.

"If we do not invest in the journey of 12 to 16 years, would we have what we enjoy today — the success of our Team Singapore athletes?" Su asked (rhetorically) before pointing out that there are non-tangible benefits from such long-term support for athletes too.

For instance, they are inculcated with life values like pride, perseverance, performance for the country, and service to the community which — in Su's words — makes them a "unique, complete individual" and a "very sought after asset even after they retire".

One thing that Gordon said stood out: For every athlete who takes to the podium, many others don't.

"Most athletes will lose more often than they win — way more often than they win — because that's part and parcel of their learning."

And so the Singapore government's stance is to support those with the potential and desire to thrive in the sporting arena by giving them the opportunity to do so, instead of rewarding those who can get a medal.

But reward and support don't have to be painted in terms of a zero-sum game. Yes, money is finite but support and reward aren't mutually exclusive; is it impossible to support and reward Singapore's athletes at the same time?

While Su declined to provide actual numbers (including our request for a ballpark estimate of the amount of money that has been funnelled into Loh's training), he threw down the gauntlet to another party: the private sector.

"We believe the private sector can contribute more...and y'know whoever they see reach the summit and resonate with that, I think they can rally Singaporeans and celebrate..."

Time for private sector and private citizens to step up?

It is then a "partnership" of sorts that Su and Gordon envision: The government identifying and grooming athletes while the private sector and the public show their support in other ways, including chipping in for monetary rewards, for example.

Chen qualified though that the private sector has, in recent years, been stepping up to show their support for local athletes (she name-dropped DBS Bank which has committed to co-sponsoring cash awards for medals won at the 2020 and 2024 Paralympic Games).

But, as with many other things, more can be done.

Chen pointed out that the way that the public rallied around Loh to raise more than S$400,000 has been very encouraging. In a way, it gives us a glimpse of what a true sporting nation might look like.

What might that look like? Perhaps Denmark might offer some inspiration.

From Chen:

"I've trained with kayakers in Denmark. Kayaking is not a big thing in Denmark but most of the national athletes that I know are able to find sponsorships from all kinds of companies, so like construction companies, like clothing companies. And they sponsor cash, not products."

This is not the case in Singapore. Most companies are more comfortable sponsoring products, which, honestly, is not what athletes need, according to Chen.

"Sorry for sounding 'realistic' but what a lot of athletes need — to not worry and just train — is money."

The private sector and private citizens can also support team sports that don't see as much financial support from the public as individual sports.

At the end of the day, it's about having the will to back our local athletes, bolstering them in a multitude of ways so that they compete on the world stage knowing that they are backed by the collective will of Singaporeans, not just the Singapore government.

After all, if we're so concerned about whether our athletes are being supported financially, shouldn't we walk (or is it run?) the talk?

Top image via Sport Singapore/Facebook.