Singapore’s Ping Pong saga appears in The Star Malaysia
Singapore may have won its first silver medal for table tennis (ping pong) during the recent Olympics 2008 but the post focus is on the sudden dismissal of the table tennis team manager.
The sacking of the team manager was said to be a result of Singapore’s only male representative in the same contest not having a coach by his during his match. The male player eventually lost to an unknown player from Croatia.
Seah Chiang Nee, a columnist for The Star, wrote of the saga that resulted in fierce debate on both the online forums and coffee shop talk.
Wrote Seah,
The fiasco started when a livid People’s Action Party MP chastised and sacked the team manager over national television without holding an inquiry.
She not only fired the manager, Anthony Lee, without telling him but also hinted that the future status of the popular head coach was being considered.
Many Singaporeans reacted angrily while players were upset – not by the idea of disciplining wrongdoers – but by the summary, arrogant way it was done.
The column included a link to another MP whose daughter caused controversy over the topic of “elitism”. Coincidentally, both MPs are part of the Singapore Prime Minister’s Ang Mo Kio group constituency.
Seah has written a column on Little Speck of the International Table Tennis Association’s decision to restrict imported ping pong players in the Olympics.
