Singapore emerges victorious in World Table-Tennis Championships

The news was all over the world. In the net,on television and published in the newspaper. Our home team had won a gold medal in the World Table-Tennis Championship. The competition which was held in Russia, Moscow was the finale and showdown between the two remaining teams, Republic of China and our very own Singapore. After a gruelling duel, Singapore was declared the winner due to the teams' skills and accuracy.

However, that was where the problem stemmed from. The trio who made this victory possible are permenant residents living in Singapore but were however born in China. Hence, this caused an outrage and upset many Singaporeans who believe this win can only be accepted if the trio were Singaporeans and not foreigners. According to this group of people, its like this foreigners are parasites, coming to Singapore to enjoy the benefits and later steal oppurtunities from the local talents. Besides that, for them, winning this title is equivalent to China winning the championship since the players are of Chinese origins.

Our people also see this win as something with no value and to take pride in. Afterall all the credits still goes to China since the winners are from China and in the end,it would be China that has all the talents. This news also set netizens questioning as to what happened to our locally bred talents. A netizen even commented that even if Singapore won the title wouldn't it still be China that won in the end?

I had a hard time deciding on which side I am, the non-supporters or the supporters. However, in the end I clearly decided to disagree with the latter's train of thoughts and go with the supporters. It would make no sense to put down this trio who have left their homeland to come here. Not only have they shed sweat and tears for this outcome but they have also left behind their family just to come here and slog for our country's victory.

On top of that, the three of them sang our national anthem, carried our flag and represented us with honour. Hence, I beg to differ with the view that the Chinese do not deserve the credit just because of where they were born. Nationality is not an issue when it comes down to who they finally fought for. The ones who brought us this title fought a battle against their own country because they really wanted to this win for our country.

Such people are WAY BETTER than those Singaporeans who commit crimes and other shameless acts disgracing our country. Also, when we look back at Singapore's history and lineage, most of our ancestors were foreigners who migrated to Singapore for a higher standard of life. So instead of lamenting on how this champions do not deserve merit due to their nationality, we should warmly welcome them for choosing Singapore to represent and live in.

Yours truly,

Pavitra S.