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drought.
Whilst he would not be drawn on making
specific predictions for London 2012, he
said that there was a “good chance for us
to get medals”, and added, with a smile,
“We are a small nation but we have some
talent.”
When questioned about his background
and his experience, Mr Oon volunteers
that he is a chemical engineer by trade.
However, more probing questions lead Mr
Oon tomodestly reveal that he participated
for Singapore as one of five athletes
attending the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
He and his younger brother competed in
the swimming 4 x 100 m freestyle and
the 4 x 100m medley relays. He
recalls one of the highlights as
swimming against the American
Steve Lundquist, who went on
to win two Olympic gold medals
that year. The other significant
memory was of “an unbelievable
Olympic village experience. The
Opening Ceremony was like
a Hollywood production... an
amazing experience.”
Mr Oon and his team are working hard to
make sure that other Singaporeans can
share in the Olympic experience in the
future. It would appear that the future
of sport in Singapore is very bright with
someone with the drive, dedication and
determination of Mr Oon at its helm and
the vision of Singapore as a major sports
hub is much closer to becoming reality.
Interview by Steve Boucher,
editor of Touchline.
Mr Oon cited the most popular sports in
Singapore for individuals as running and
swimming and for teams as soccer for
men and netball for women.
Funding for sport
The SSC is also responsible for delivering
strategic national sports objectives
through its key channel partners - the
64 National Sports Associations (NSAs)
which represent the various sports in
Singapore. Each NSA has an executive
committee and several full time staff.
SSC disburses funds to the NSAs to build
their internal capabilities and grow their
sport in Singapore.
Mr Oon highlights the importance
of the role of the NSAs in
delivering the desired results
“Our strategy has always focused
on building the NSAs’ capabilities
so that they can perform at
the optimum level to meet
Singapore’s sporting objectives
and priorities.”
The source of funding for sport mainly
comes from the Ministry of Community
Development, Youth & Sports (parent
ministry overseeing SSC) and the Tote
Board (Singapore Totalisator Board),
although there is a small amount of private
funding. Mr Oon states that the way that
funds are allocated has “been changing
over last few years to make funding
more effective. Funds are distributed
according to performance, future plans
and management competency.”
This year the SSC is channelling Sing
$58.8 million in grants to the NSAs.
Funding to NSAs has gone up despite the
economic downturn so the SSC needs to
be even more prudent and ensure that the
NSA grant proposals are cost-effective.
Key outcomes expected from the NSAs
for 2009 include achieving continued
success at major international games
and competitions such as the 2009 Asian
Youth Games in Singapore and 2009 SEA
Games in Laos; improving the quality
of sports participation programmes;
continued emphasis on youth participation
for the majority of NSAs’ programmes
and events; as well as a greater level of
organisational excellence.
Achievements
Apart from securing the staging of major
events and generating significantly
increased participation by the population,
there have been other major successes.
In 2006, Singapore qualified more
athletes in more events and won more
medals than ever before in regional and
international arenas. These achievements
are a direct result of the integrated work
done by the SSC, the NSAs, the coaches
and the athletes through integrated
systems and programmes, and targeted
financial support.
Whilst Mr Oon is at pains to point out that
“not everything is focussed on medals,”
he does mention that Singapore won
a silver medal in Beijing after a 48 year
Above:
An artist’s impression of the Sports Hub
Previous Page:
Mr Oon Jin Teik, CEO of Singapore Sports Council.
“Our strategy has always focused on
building the NSAs’ capabilities so that
they can perform at the optimum level to
meet Singapore’s sporting objectives and
priorities.”
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