Jason Ong was awarded the Meritorious Award at The Singapore Sports Awards.
THE NEW PAPER ON SUNDAY, 23 May 2005
Article Written by: Leonard Lim
 A CHANGE in perceptions: that is what taekwondo in Singapore needs for it to develop further. Taekwondo here is commonly seen as a rough contact sport in which people who take it up get injuries easily.Once people’s mindsets change and they do not see it as a dangerous sport, everything will fall into place,’ said Lim Teong Chin, general manager of the Singapore Taekwondo Federation (STF)Lim, 57, has been involved in the local taekwondo scene for almost 40 years, both as a player and with the STF.He emphasised that taekwondo is a very safe sport, contrary to public opinion. Mandatory safety equipment is used, and there are safety rules where only certain parts of the body can be hit,’ said Lim. In addition, these parts of the body, such as the head, chest and groin, are heavily padded for the exponent’s protection. He cited an example of how the STF cannot win both ways in their bid to woo more youngsters to take up the sport because of past perceptions. They recently did a demonstration of the sport in schools here, and the feedback received by parents was that taekwondo was too dangerous for their children. But when they tweaked the demonstration to make it less aggressive, the children found it boring. Echoing the view that mindset changes were important was Lim’s wife, national coach Wong Liang Ming. The four-time SEA Games gold medallist feels that parental support and encouragement would be a big boost to the development of taekwondo among the young in Singapore. People, especially parents, must understand and appreciate the sport. We do lose good players because parents discourage their children for fear of them getting injuries through taekwondo,’ said Wong, 42. Another way to bring up local taekwondo would be to organise a world championship in Singapore, according to Lim. Such a tournament would bring together as many as 2,000 exponents from 120 countries, and could serve two purposes. One, it would put taekwondo in the local spotlight and make people take notice. |
Two, it would expose local taekwondo exponents to the standards of their fellow competitors from around the world and prepare them for tournaments such as the SEA Games.
‘Seeing the standard of world-class players and sparring against them will definitely help develop local talent,’ said Lim. A third boost to the sport, according to Wong, would be for it to be accepted as an official Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) in schools here. Currently, the Co-Curricular Activities Branch (CCAB) of the Ministry of Education, who oversee CCAs in schools here, allow schools to have it as a CCA for students But, there is no inter-school competition for taekwondo. She also commended him for his personal drive and determination, giving the example of how he participated and won a silver medal in the 9th Asian Cities Gold Cup in Hong Kong in February despite having a fractured left hand. ‘His exemplary conduct at trainings is a good example for the youngsters,’ she said. One major reason for this is the already packed school sports calender. ‘We already have 25 sports in the inter-school sports calender, which runs from January to July,’ said Henry Tan, 60, assistant director for sports at CCAB. The schedule is already very tight, and it is very hard for us to add another sport. ——————————————-  TNP, Main, pg 977, 20 May 2005 IN ACTION: Merit Award winner Ong Koon Yew, 17, with his coach, Wong Liang Ming, 42, a four-time SEA games gold medellist and national coach. EVERY sportsperson has to make personal sacrifices. In the case of national taekwondo trainee Ong Koon Yew, 17, he has turned down numerous requests from girls in his school to go out for movie dates because of his training schedule. ‘My female class-mates ask me out for movies sometimes, but I usually can’t make it because of my tight schedule,’ the good-looking Chai Chee Secondary School student said. |
He also does not have time for a girlfriend because of his heavy commitments to taekwondo.
‘It is hard to balance sports and studies,’ he added. ‘For me, planning my time is very important.’ The teenager will be receiving his first Meritorious Award (Individual) at the Singapore Sports Awards on Wednesday. This is the first time a taekwondo exponent will be receiving a Merit Award at the Junior Level. Ong said that he was ‘quite surprised’ when he found out he was receiving the award. ‘I didn’t know I was nominated by my coach until she told me on the morning the winners were announced (21 April),’ he said. On winning the award, Ong gave credit to his coach, Wong Liang Ming, and the encouragement he got from his parents. ‘He has a lot of potential for his age. His best asset is his speed and intensity,’ commented national coach Wong, who has been coaching the teenager for two years. She also commended him for his personal drive and determination, giving the example of how he participated and won a silver medal in the 9th Asian Cities Gold Cup in Hong Kong in February despite having a fractured left hand. ‘His exemplary conduct at trainings is a good example for the youngsters,’ she said. Ong’s ultimate dream is to get a medal in the SEA Games or Asian Games and go on to represent Singapore in the Olympics one day.  TNP, Main, pg 977, 20 May 2005 |
