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In the blink of an eye, the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) has ended on May 17, 2023.

Total medal tally: 158

The biennial event, which was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, kicked off on May 5, 2023.

From tales of sportsmanship to perseverance, and martial arts disputes, actual brawls to cheating allegations, this year's SEA Games was eventful, to say the least.

Amidst all this, how did Singapore fare in this SEA Games?

Well, the contingent clinched a total of 158 medals.

To be exact, Singapore walked away with 51 golds, 43 silvers and 64 bronzes.

On the overall medal table, Singapore finished sixth place as Vietnam leads the ranking with 355 medals, followed by Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

Six fewer medals than 2021

The 2023 tally is a mere six medals fewer than the 164 total medal haul in the 2021 SEA Games held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Singapore emerged with 47 golds, 46 silvers and 71 bronzes then.

But there might just be an explanation for Singapore's showing at the 2023 SEA Games.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong wrote in a May 17, 2023 Facebook post that the 2023 SEA Games did not include the full complement of sports in usual major games.

The event was planned to feature 40 sports, but this number was ultimately whittled down to 37 sports.

This was fewer than the 40, 56 and 38 sports during the 2021, 2019 and 2017 SEA Games respectively.

It is worth noting that the 2019 SEA Games, which was held in the Philippines, featured the largest number of sports in the history of the games.

The competition venues were located in 23 cities across the country, making it the first major decentralisation in the history of the games, which are usually held in one city.

Singapore swimming team's dominance

Tong wrote that the Singapore contingent's medal tally at the 2023 SEA Games is the third-best away performance, behind the 191 and 167 medals won in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

He added that Singapore had broken eight games records, 17 national records, and 40 personal best performances.

Jonathan Tan

Singapore swimmer Jonathan Tan, 21, not only smashed all three records during his 50m freestyle heats on May 7, but also met the qualifying time for the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the first Singaporean to do so.

He clocked a time of 21.91 seconds, which is a cut above the 21.96 seconds required to qualify for the Olympics "A" cut.

Tan is definitely one to look out for.

Women's relay team won Singapore's 1,000th SEA Games gold medal

It is also worth mentioning that Singapore clinched its 1,000th gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games on May 6, 2023.

The 4x100m freestyle relay team, comprising Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Amanda Lim and Nur Marina Chan, brought it home with a time of 3:44.29.

On the whole, the Singapore swim team recorded its best medal haul at the 2023 SEA Games, dominating the pool with a whopping 47 medals -- 22 gold, 15 silver, 10 bronze.

Men's water polo team

After suffering a historic defeat in 2019, the Singapore men's water polo team relinquished their 54-year grip on the crown.

They had to wait four long years to win back their title as water polo was omitted from the 2021 SEA Games.

But the wait was well worth it as the team took back their crown at the 2023 SEA Games, thrashing their Malaysian opponents with a 14-1 win on May 13.

Singapore's sprint queen Shanti Pereira

Outside of the pool, Singapore's sprint queen Shanti Pereira hit gold in both the 100m and 200m races, making her the first Singaporean woman to achieve the sprint double at the SEA Games – winning gold medals for both the 100m and 200m races.

That was her first SEA Games gold in the 100m category, and her second in the 200m category.

E-sports team

The Singapore debutante e-sports team, comprising Tidus “STYRON” Goh, Ingram “FREY” Tan, Chun Ting “Divine” Yeoh, Rodman “vera” Yap, Marcus “nephh” Tan, also bagged Singapore's first gold, or a joint-gold to be exact, in the Valorant event.

This was despite the cheating allegations that their Indonesian counterparts lobbed at them.

This was not the only controversy at the 2023 SEA Games.

Ang Chen Xiang

Singaporean hurdler Ang Chen Xiang, 28, was awarded a joint-gold with Thailand’s Natthaphon Dansungnoen in the 110m hurdles event after an appeal and three hours of deliberation.

He was initially judged to have narrowly missed out on the gold medal by two-thousandths of a second, or 0.002s, but the decision was overturned after the judges ruled that the difference in timing between the two contestants was too close to call.

The updated result showed that Ang and Dangsunoen clocked in at identical timings of 13.831 sec.

This was Singapore's first gold medal in the event in 56 years.

Monetary award for gold medals

According to the Singapore National Olympic Youth Council, individuals can receive S$10,000 for their first gold medal, and S$5,000 for their second and third consecutive gold medals.

Not to be left out, athletes in team events and team sports can receive S$15,000 and S$30,000 if they clinch a gold medal.

Silver and bronze medal winners do not receive a monetary award.

Singapore to host SEA Games in 2029

The next SEA Games will be held next in Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla, Thailand in 2025, then in Malaysia in 2027, before returning to home turf in 2029.

Until then, you can find a recap of moments from the games below.

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