Ms Lee Bee Wah, single handedly offended a whole nation with her words and actions.
Not an easy feat!
That Ms Lee was just too emotional and over-reacted. To disastrous consequences.
Frankly, I cannot remember another person who has the ability. The other person who comes close is Chee Soon Juan. But people mostly can't be bothered with him.
Watch as the table tennis saga unfolds. I am sure more drama is coming.
So exciting! A whole country united against just one woman.
Awesome!
--------------------------
The Straits Times
25 Aug 2008
Untimely and ungracious
Furious Singaporeans react to table tennis association chief's surprise decision
By Terrence Voon & Lin Xinyi
FURIOUS Singaporeans lambasted the shock decision by table tennis president Lee Bee Wah to remove team manager Antony Lee and to refer the fate of Liu Guodong, the team's head coach, to a coaching committee.
By 8pm yesterday, The Straits Times received nearly 200 e-mails and letters from readers - almost all of whom voiced disbelief and outrage. Many more flamed Ms Lee in Internet blogs and postings. Most of them took issue with the timing of the news, which came just before Singapore's Olympic paddlers were due for a victorious homecoming this afternoon.
'This sudden announcement has certainly cast a dark cloud over the shining achievements of the table tennis team,' banker David Chee lamented. 'Just as people should be given time to mourn their loss, they should also be given time to celebrate their achievements. Anything short of this is just plain disrespectful.'
Mr Lee was held responsible for Gao Ning's third-round defeat in the men's singles at the Games. Gao, the Republic's top male paddler, had to play without a coach by his side.
Housewife Monica Chow, 46, felt that the punishment did not fit the crime. 'This incident is just an oversight and is due to a hiccup in time management,' she argued, referring to the absence of Gao's coach Zu Haining during the paddler's match.
Zu was called away to watch over another player, Yang Zi, because Yang's coach Chen Jian had fallen ill.
Some MPs also spoke out on the matter, including Mr Zainudin Nordin, mayor of the Central Singapore District and deputy president of the Football Association of Singapore. 'The timing is a bit unfortunate,' he noted. 'I think we could have celebrated it first, and then found ways to resolve the issue.'
Mr Teo Chong Tee, ex-MP for Changi and a former president of the Football Association of Singapore, added that Ms Lee's actions were 'unnecessary' and 'demoralising'. He wrote in an e-mail to ST: 'She could have been more encouraging and supportive instead of giving an outburst without first checking her facts. 'Anything that is unfavourable should have been said behind closed doors.'
Many readers, as well as netizens on Internet forums, said Ms Lee had acted ungraciously and should step down.
Said reader Daniel Tay: 'Is this the kind of message we want to send out to the younger generation of sportsmen and women or even aspiring managers: that...you cannot make mistakes?'
Some members of the table tennis fraternity expressed disbelief of another sort: That Gao Ning was overlooked by his coaches during his hour of need.
Former national paddlers Tan Paey Fern and Jing Junhong told The Straits Times that they sympathised with Gao. 'The absence of a coach shows that their focus is not on him,' said Tan. 'The last four years he spent training has gone to waste. If that had happened to me, I would be very disappointed.'
Reader Miranda Eu, one of the few who applauded Ms Lee's decision, agreed that Mr Lee and head coach Liu should be censured. She said: 'If Mr Lee and Mr Liu cannot see that the fault lies with them, then Singapore has no use for them.'
But Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, cautioned against drawing any conclusions until more facts emerge. She said: 'I think it is premature for us to comment at this point in time.
'But I think many Singaporeans are taken by surprise and I suppose at the right time the management committee of the Singapore Table Tennis Association will come out and give the clarification and I think Singaporeans will look forward to that.'
-----------------------------
The Straits Times
25 Aug 2008
Why now? ask officials
Holding inquiry first would have been decent thing to do, says chef de mission of S'pore team
By Marc Lim , Peh Shing Huei
BEIJING: Earning the players' trust and support may have been her main aim.
But in wanting to be the 'players' president', Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) president Lee Bee Wah has inadvertently put a dampener on what should have been one of Singapore sport's finest occasions.
Team Singapore officials in Beijing told The Straits Times that while Ms Lee may have had the interests of the players at heart, they questioned the timing of her revelation that team manager Antony Lee's services were no longer required by the STTA.
Mr Lee and head coach Liu Guodong, whose future is also under a cloud, had helped the team win a silver at the Beijing Olympics, Singapore's first Olympic medal since weightlifter Tan Howe Liang's silver at the 1960 Rome Games.
Mr Lee, Mr Liu and the rest of the table tennis team were part of Singapore's contingent at yesterday's closing ceremony. The team will arrive home this afternoon and are scheduled to go on an open-top bus ride through Singapore's heartlands before stopping for a reception at Raffles City Shopping Centre.
Said Singapore chef de mission to the Beijing Games Dr Tan Eng Liang yesterday: 'I'm really disappointed with the timing. Any bad news could have waited until after the celebrations.'
Mr Lee drew criticism from Ms Lee after a coaching fiasco involving Singapore's top men's player Gao Ning.
Dr Tan added: 'When the incident happened on Thursday, I issued a statement to say the matter was closed. I had accepted the team manager's explanation and felt that it was just an unfortunate incident.
'If the STTA president wanted to act further, the decent thing to do would have been to conduct an inquiry.
'It would have been the proper thing to do, given that she has been in the sport for only over a month, with an inexperienced committee.'
However, when asked by The Sunday Times if the Gao Ning incident had prompted the decision to let Mr Lee go, Ms Lee said no. The MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC added that since the association would be having a new CEO and technical director, selection of the team manager would be left to them. She also revealed that Mr Liu's future at the STTA would be left up to a 'coaching committee'.
Yesterday, media reports quoted Ms Lee as saying that the decision to let Mr Lee go had been made before the Olympics. When asked by The Straits Times to shed more light on this, she declined to comment.
Mr Lee, who is seconded from the Singapore Sports Council, said that no contract had been signed on his term of service with the STTA. It had been assumed that he would carry on after the Olympics.
An official, who asked not to be named, commended Ms Lee for looking out for the players' welfare, but still questioned the wisdom of revealing such a major shake-up so soon after the medal success. 'She is the president and it is her prerogative to make decisions she thinks will benefit the sport,' said the official.
'But surely, she could have waited a week, a few more days even, before dropping this bombshell that the successful team will be disbanded.'
Other officials The Straits Times spoke to also wondered why a decision had to be made so soon about the team manager's future.
Even Singapore National Olympic Council president Teo Chee Hean was unsure about what prompted the chain of events in the last few days.
Said Mr Teo, who is also the Defence Minister, at the Safra Singapore Bay Run and Army Half-Marathon yesterday: 'I don't have possession of all the facts, so I won't be able to say very much about the decision of the president of the table tennis association.
'I assume that she has the facts of the situation to make the decision that she did.'
Not an easy feat!
That Ms Lee was just too emotional and over-reacted. To disastrous consequences.
Frankly, I cannot remember another person who has the ability. The other person who comes close is Chee Soon Juan. But people mostly can't be bothered with him.
Watch as the table tennis saga unfolds. I am sure more drama is coming.
So exciting! A whole country united against just one woman.
Awesome!
--------------------------
The Straits Times
25 Aug 2008
Untimely and ungracious
Furious Singaporeans react to table tennis association chief's surprise decision
By Terrence Voon & Lin Xinyi
FURIOUS Singaporeans lambasted the shock decision by table tennis president Lee Bee Wah to remove team manager Antony Lee and to refer the fate of Liu Guodong, the team's head coach, to a coaching committee.
By 8pm yesterday, The Straits Times received nearly 200 e-mails and letters from readers - almost all of whom voiced disbelief and outrage. Many more flamed Ms Lee in Internet blogs and postings. Most of them took issue with the timing of the news, which came just before Singapore's Olympic paddlers were due for a victorious homecoming this afternoon.
'This sudden announcement has certainly cast a dark cloud over the shining achievements of the table tennis team,' banker David Chee lamented. 'Just as people should be given time to mourn their loss, they should also be given time to celebrate their achievements. Anything short of this is just plain disrespectful.'
Mr Lee was held responsible for Gao Ning's third-round defeat in the men's singles at the Games. Gao, the Republic's top male paddler, had to play without a coach by his side.
Housewife Monica Chow, 46, felt that the punishment did not fit the crime. 'This incident is just an oversight and is due to a hiccup in time management,' she argued, referring to the absence of Gao's coach Zu Haining during the paddler's match.
Zu was called away to watch over another player, Yang Zi, because Yang's coach Chen Jian had fallen ill.
Some MPs also spoke out on the matter, including Mr Zainudin Nordin, mayor of the Central Singapore District and deputy president of the Football Association of Singapore. 'The timing is a bit unfortunate,' he noted. 'I think we could have celebrated it first, and then found ways to resolve the issue.'
Mr Teo Chong Tee, ex-MP for Changi and a former president of the Football Association of Singapore, added that Ms Lee's actions were 'unnecessary' and 'demoralising'. He wrote in an e-mail to ST: 'She could have been more encouraging and supportive instead of giving an outburst without first checking her facts. 'Anything that is unfavourable should have been said behind closed doors.'
Many readers, as well as netizens on Internet forums, said Ms Lee had acted ungraciously and should step down.
Said reader Daniel Tay: 'Is this the kind of message we want to send out to the younger generation of sportsmen and women or even aspiring managers: that...you cannot make mistakes?'
Some members of the table tennis fraternity expressed disbelief of another sort: That Gao Ning was overlooked by his coaches during his hour of need.
Former national paddlers Tan Paey Fern and Jing Junhong told The Straits Times that they sympathised with Gao. 'The absence of a coach shows that their focus is not on him,' said Tan. 'The last four years he spent training has gone to waste. If that had happened to me, I would be very disappointed.'
Reader Miranda Eu, one of the few who applauded Ms Lee's decision, agreed that Mr Lee and head coach Liu should be censured. She said: 'If Mr Lee and Mr Liu cannot see that the fault lies with them, then Singapore has no use for them.'
But Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, cautioned against drawing any conclusions until more facts emerge. She said: 'I think it is premature for us to comment at this point in time.
'But I think many Singaporeans are taken by surprise and I suppose at the right time the management committee of the Singapore Table Tennis Association will come out and give the clarification and I think Singaporeans will look forward to that.'
-----------------------------
The Straits Times
25 Aug 2008
Why now? ask officials
Holding inquiry first would have been decent thing to do, says chef de mission of S'pore team
By Marc Lim , Peh Shing Huei
BEIJING: Earning the players' trust and support may have been her main aim.
But in wanting to be the 'players' president', Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) president Lee Bee Wah has inadvertently put a dampener on what should have been one of Singapore sport's finest occasions.
Team Singapore officials in Beijing told The Straits Times that while Ms Lee may have had the interests of the players at heart, they questioned the timing of her revelation that team manager Antony Lee's services were no longer required by the STTA.
Mr Lee and head coach Liu Guodong, whose future is also under a cloud, had helped the team win a silver at the Beijing Olympics, Singapore's first Olympic medal since weightlifter Tan Howe Liang's silver at the 1960 Rome Games.
Mr Lee, Mr Liu and the rest of the table tennis team were part of Singapore's contingent at yesterday's closing ceremony. The team will arrive home this afternoon and are scheduled to go on an open-top bus ride through Singapore's heartlands before stopping for a reception at Raffles City Shopping Centre.
Said Singapore chef de mission to the Beijing Games Dr Tan Eng Liang yesterday: 'I'm really disappointed with the timing. Any bad news could have waited until after the celebrations.'
Mr Lee drew criticism from Ms Lee after a coaching fiasco involving Singapore's top men's player Gao Ning.
Dr Tan added: 'When the incident happened on Thursday, I issued a statement to say the matter was closed. I had accepted the team manager's explanation and felt that it was just an unfortunate incident.
'If the STTA president wanted to act further, the decent thing to do would have been to conduct an inquiry.
'It would have been the proper thing to do, given that she has been in the sport for only over a month, with an inexperienced committee.'
However, when asked by The Sunday Times if the Gao Ning incident had prompted the decision to let Mr Lee go, Ms Lee said no. The MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC added that since the association would be having a new CEO and technical director, selection of the team manager would be left to them. She also revealed that Mr Liu's future at the STTA would be left up to a 'coaching committee'.
Yesterday, media reports quoted Ms Lee as saying that the decision to let Mr Lee go had been made before the Olympics. When asked by The Straits Times to shed more light on this, she declined to comment.
Mr Lee, who is seconded from the Singapore Sports Council, said that no contract had been signed on his term of service with the STTA. It had been assumed that he would carry on after the Olympics.
An official, who asked not to be named, commended Ms Lee for looking out for the players' welfare, but still questioned the wisdom of revealing such a major shake-up so soon after the medal success. 'She is the president and it is her prerogative to make decisions she thinks will benefit the sport,' said the official.
'But surely, she could have waited a week, a few more days even, before dropping this bombshell that the successful team will be disbanded.'
Other officials The Straits Times spoke to also wondered why a decision had to be made so soon about the team manager's future.
Even Singapore National Olympic Council president Teo Chee Hean was unsure about what prompted the chain of events in the last few days.
Said Mr Teo, who is also the Defence Minister, at the Safra Singapore Bay Run and Army Half-Marathon yesterday: 'I don't have possession of all the facts, so I won't be able to say very much about the decision of the president of the table tennis association.
'I assume that she has the facts of the situation to make the decision that she did.'
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