Sunday, August 14, 2016

Joseph Schooling and National Service

When Joseph Schooling won the Olympic Gold for Singapore at the age of 21, this question came to my mind - Did he have to serve his full time National Service?

I read that his mother had to ask SAF to allow Joseph to complete his basic training plus three months, so that he can continue to train for this sport.

I do not know if this request was granted. I hoped that it was - and that would demonstrate that the SAF is flexible.

It is a miracle that the first Olympic Gold for Singapore came from a local born citizen, and not a foreign import.

We will never know how many Olympic medals were lost in past years when National Service disrupted their sports training and the young boys did not have parents who fought hard for them to be given "some flexibility".

Congratulations to the Schooling family. Well done. You have made us proud!

1 comment:

Yujuan said...

If President TT's son could serve his NS obligations in a Lab, new citizen MP Janil Puthu something considered his in the hospital clinic as serving NS also, dun see why Joseph could not serve his in the swimming pool, training to gain Olympic glory for Singapore is also NS what.

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