Laurentia Tan for Sportsperson of Year 2012 !

Laurentia has made many Singaporeans proud of her dedication and tenacity

          Tonight, 2 momentous events will take place.One is for sporting excellence for the last year, the Sportsperson of the Year 2012 will be decided. The other is the Punggol East by-election.

           First the Punggol East by-election, will the groundswell of support for the strongest Opposition party,Workers' Party translate into winning votes or will the ruling People's Action Party still hold dominant ? Personally I like both candidates, as they have a very willing heart to serve, Dr. Koh or Lee Li Lian are both worthy candidates to be MP. Its up to the voters to decide. 

        For the Sportsperson of the year, I am rooting for the equestrian rider, Ms. Laurentia Tan. Born with cerebral palsy and deaf, she communicates by sign language and words she learnt through early childhood special teachers.Since she was 3 years old when the family moved to UK based on her father's work posting, she has managed to develop into a fine athlete and a world class equestian rider. 

        Laurentia has a degree in Hospitality Management from Oxford Brookes University and has also swum for Singapore at the national level at other Para meets. She is living proof that anyone with the will and vision can and will achieve the highest aspirations in life. Coupled with the wonderful support she must have had from her family to meet both her financial and training needs, which would run into the millions, she has overcome tremendous obstacles to be where she is today.

       For someone who has overcome her congenital difficulties and become a national athlete is already very impressive, for her to win multiple Para Olympic medals (silver and bronze) is really outstanding. She and her family must have made tremendous sacrifices as well as gathered around her, a multitude of opportunities and financial and moral support for her talent to flourish.She has lived in England for close to 20 years, and has made many Singaporeans, including this blogger, proud to be a citizen of this Little Red Dot. (Cue from the World Map, Singapore is so small, it only shows up as a little red dot).

       I am doubtful that in Singapore such an educational,physical and supportive, ecosystem could have made her what she is today. There is still alot of ground to cover for us to really 'level up' all sections of our society.

      For the other Sportsmen and women, well, they have had tremendous assistance from the various Sports Association (NSA) as well as funding, structured training and financial support, so I think, in essence, the comparison is not a fair one. Laurentia did the impossible all on her own, in a counrty far away from all our NSAs, so her achievement of 1 silver, 1 bronze in London's ParaOlympics 2012, and 1 bronze in 2008 is really incredible.

      Laurentia is my choice for the Sportsperson of the Year 2012.