Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today the citizens of the island of Singapore appear to be going bonkers over the Olympic swimming gold medal in Rio for a so-called 21 year old Singaporean, Joseph Schooling. The islanders are hysterical over what they have been told by their government, the so far unthinkable victory for one of them at nothing short of the Olympics. But was it really a victory for a Singaporean or was it really a victory for an American, a Texan to be more exact.
From the evidence we know this much. Joseph Schooling is 21. Except for the fact that he was born in Singapore, in effect he is virtually an American. At the age of 14 his family sends him to Texas, USA where he attends swim school, subsequently American High School, then University of Texas where he is now and where he swims since the age of 14.
From the age of 14, he has never lived in Singapore. Except for short visits he doesn't know Singapore at all. He speaks English with an American accent, his teachers are all American, his friends are all American and his home is in America. So for the Singapore government in their state controlled press to tout him as a native is simply nonsensical and anyone with a head should realize this. In fact there is as much similarity between Joseph Schooling and Singapore as there is between an African bushman and an Eskimo!
Young Joseph Schooling is not the product of Singapore, he is the product of the University of Texas and the excellent coaches for their creation. If Singapore wants to claim Joseph Schooling, it is not enough to say that he was born in the island. He should have swam in Singapore, not Texas.. He should have been trained by the local ethnic Singaporean Chinaman in the island, not American coaches. He should have lived in Singapore and not permanently moved to America. He should have gone to study at the local university and be part of the Singaporean university swim team, not University of Texas.
The Singapore government is a disgraceful shameless government that tries to steal the glory of the United States for creating Joseph Schooling. The local ethnic Chinese government of the island of Singapore has had no part to play in it. If Schooling had been trained by these local Singaporeans, he would not have even passed the heats of any Olympic competition, let alone Olympic gold.
It is the same pattern of deception that Singapore island practices to promote itself. In fact they are good for nothing, they cannot win anything themselves. In the past at the London Olympics, they paid millions of dollars to Communist Chinese ping pong players to wear Singapore colors at the London games. The money was all wasted. They didn't win any medals but got the millions in dollars anyway that Singapore paid them, and once the games were over, threw their medals and their Singapore passports back at them and left for China permanently. So who were the suckers, the Chinese ping pong players or the hapless Singapore government?
This time they have done the same disgraceful pretense but differently. Instead of importing some Communist Chinese swimmer, they get someone born in Singapore, sent him off to the US at a tender age and pay for his training by the best American coaches, train him there for years and if he does win a medal, claim that he is Singaporean!
Joseph Schooling except for his passport is not Singapore. He is as much a Texan as John Wayne. And sadly for Singapore anyone with eyes can see that too. So they are not fooling anyone.
And why may I ask is this Singapore island incapable of producing any brilliance and is capable only of mediocrity? United State, Australia , New Zealand, Europe produce great universities, great athletes, and great coaches. But Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore produces nothing, even though they claim to have money to build swimming pools or pay foreign athletes to fake Singaporean identity at international games.
United States have great coaches and great swimming. Even Australia a country not much bigger than Singapore population wise has great swimming programs. Australians don't send their young men to the US to be trained in swimming, they train them in Australia because Australia have great coaches. The only reason I find for Singapore's abject incompetence and failure, is the general fear prevalent in the entire island for their government. Singapore is a dictatorship. As in all dictatorships, there is no incentive in excelling in anything. The only incentive is to lick of the boots of the former dictator of the island Lee Kuan Yew or his son now whom his father placed as Prime Minister. In Singapore island it does not matter who you are, swim coach or professor, you are all the time licking the boots of your masters to be able to survive. Any attempt to have independent thinking will result in your destruction. In such a intellectually sterile atmosphere, you cannot produce swim coaches, you cannot produce great professors, you can't produce nothing. It is like in the former Soviet Union, everyone does as he is told and hopefully stays out of trouble.
Unlike the pathetic average Singaporean living in the dictatorship, I have moved to the Unites States. I don't have to lick anyone's boots here and I can think and say what I want. My 3 children live here too. They too can think and say what they want. And they can be anyone they want to be, something which they could never aspire in Singapore, unless of course you are prepared to lick boots and just survive.
And let me make one prediction although Joseph Schooling may deny it. I can assure you within years if not months, Joseph Schooling will emigrate to the United States and leave Singapore forever. There is a visa category for men such as these. It is an automatic immediate path to Green Card for men with extraordinary ability, which is what an Olympic medal means. Schooling is already very much at home in the US, and staying here is just a continuation of his life. He has far greater opportunity to advance his career in swimming here than that island of Singapore run by the Lee family. There is no way , Schooling would want to live for any length of time in an island such as Singapore run by the Lees as their private fiefdom.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
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