Online petition calls for STTA president's removal over coach saga
By Patwant Singh, Channel NewsAsia/Geraldine Soh, 938LIVE | Posted: 13 May 2009 2314 hrs
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SINGAPORE: An online petition has surfaced, calling for the removal of Lee Bee Wah as president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA).
This comes amid public debate over the association's latest decision not to nominate former table tennis coach Liu Guodong for the Coach of the Year award.
Liu had led the Singapore women's team to win a silver medal at last year's Beijing Games, ending the republic's 48-year Olympic medal drought.
Ms Lee said Liu's integrity and professionalism was in question and this led to the decision not to nominate him for the award. The decision did not go down well with Liu, who is currently in China, and the public.
Some netizens have started a petition asking for the removal of Ms Lee as STTA president.
When contacted, the association's honorary secretary Soon Min Sin said it is standing firm, both in its decision not to nominate Liu for the award as well as support of Ms Lee as president.
One key factor, though not the only one, that led to Ms Lee being elected as president last July was her passion for the sport, said Mr Soon.
So it did not matter that she was not actively involved in the association before being elected or that veterans like Mr Soon, who has been there for 16 years, did not know her very well.
She showed that she cared, and had some understanding of the sport as an ex-captain of the Nanyang Technological University team - that was what won over the majority of the "30 to 40" representatives at the Annual General Meeting that day, according to Mr Soon.
And nine months later, she has the results to show for it.
"I think she has gelled the national team together. The players, the coaches are now a lot more cohesive than before. Even when players fall sick, she goes to the hospital to visit them. These are all behind the scenes."
Mr Soon added that since the start of this year, Ms Lee has also been pushing for kindergarten kids to take up the sport and the association is now in discussion with 20 PCF kindergartens to do so.
To be sure, Mr Soon said the association did not get to where it is today based on Ms Lee's efforts alone, but she has certainly played a part.
As for the decision not to nominate former coach Liu for the award, Mr Soon said it is not just about the results although winning the Olympic silver medal is highly commendable.
He said: "(If) you don't nominate someone to be the best teacher, (it) doesn't mean he's a lousy teacher. Why is it that people can't accept this? To be the best coach of Singapore, I think, we also want to look at various criteria.
"If we're to mention all the areas and examples, it can be perceived as a personal attack. The reason that SNOC (Singapore National Olympic Council) left it to the association to nominate must be that the association knows its people, not everything the public will know.
"If the public wants to start a petition, they've every right to do so. But what's important is to ask ourselves 'what is the role of STTA and are we doing our job?'"
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports Teo Ser Luck feels that choices have been made and they should be respected.
"They must have their reasons and we'll just have to abide by what they've decided. There're different views now, so personally I'll just have to see what happens," he said.
Liu said he is not too concerned about the award. But he is not happy with the accusations levelled against him.
He said: "The least you can do is to not attack me through the press, or to comment that I have moral issues. If it was said on a personal level, I would have dismissed it. But the comments were published in the papers, so you can imagine the harm done to me.
"You, as part of the higher management, cannot irresponsibly comment about someone. I do not know you, neither do you know me. You cannot base your comments on hearsay.
"I've already left the association for half a year. If such problems arise, it shows that the table tennis association is still picking on me. Actually, I was forced to leave Singapore, so I feel I should be allowed to participate in the competition."
Liu is returning to Singapore early Thursday morning. He told the media that he plans to meet Ms Lee and get her to clarify the comments she made about him.
The recent controversy involving Liu is not new. Before this, he had been accused of neglecting one of the male players during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
- CNA/938LIVE/ir
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