SINGAPORE – As veteran sports administrators, Jessie Phua and Ng Ser Miang are used to handing out medals and awards to deserving athletes.
They were on the other end for a change on Feb 6 as they received their Singapore Sport Hall of Fame honours from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Phua, the first Singaporean to head an international sports federation and first woman elected to head the International Bowling Federation, admitted to being a bundle of nerves before the ceremony at the Istana.
After turning Singapore Bowling around in an almost 20-year stint before she handed over to Valerie Teo in 2021, she said: “It is a strange but lovely feeling. It is a wonderful move to include sports leaders, and although the backbenchers didn’t volunteer themselves to get recognised, it is very uplifting to know that our hard work has not gone unnoticed.”
The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) vice-president added: “I’m so very proud of Valerie and her team, who did not miss a beat and hit the ground running after taking over from me to continue producing world-beaters. If I may say, they have done even better than me and I’m so proud and happy for that.”
While Ng also does not believe officials strive for recognition, he hopes more will step up to support local sports in a variety of ways.
The 74-year-old former sailor, whose involvement with the Olympic movement began when he was an SNOC vice-president in 1990, said: “There are many things sports leaders do to support athletes, from setting strategies and policies to mobilising and utilising different resources to develop athletes and help them train and compete.
“I hope we can encourage more Singaporeans to take up roles to support athletes and build up national federations, and for those who have the resources to be involved in international sports organisations to build our base, our influence and credentials throughout the world, and I believe this is something that is happening now.”
Besides the pair, the late Tan Eng Liang, who was a former national water polo player and SNOC vice-president, Singapore National Paralympic Council president Teo-Koh Sock Miang, and former national water polo captain and coach Kenneth Kee were also inducted on Feb 6.
They are the first sports leaders to make the list after it was refreshed in 2023 to recognise individuals who have contributed to the overall development of Singapore sports.
The revised criteria for athletes now recognise those who have sustained contributions to the sport or community after retirement, and a new category for sports leaders honours those behind the scenes, including administrators, coaches and scientists.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said: “These are sometimes under-appreciated roles, but I think they are so critical and instrumental for the progress and advancement of our sporting success.
“What you do off the pitch, off the field, off the track, is sometimes critical for that little bit of mileage on the field of play. So these changes will greatly strengthen and make more explicit the institutional role of the Singapore Sport Hall of Fame.
“We want to do this as a strategy to identify role models in our sports sector and more importantly to engender in our Team Singapore athletes the spirit of giving back to the community.”
