The following is a Facebook post by blogger ‘Respect Singapore’.
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It may be satisfying to insult Joseph Isaac Schooling‘s detractors (or their parents). But their comments, however repulsive, require a more complete response.
You say Schooling has Caucasian blood and does not represent the majority genetic ability in Singapore.
Let’s leave aside the fact that he’s actually third-generation Singaporean and humor you for a bit.
Are you aware that Singapore is a country of immigrants made up of people from many different races? And that our country is not defined by one singular race, majority or otherwise?
Just because he’s not a member of the present ethnic majority of Singapore doesn’t make him any less Singaporean. Like how you being (presumably) Chinese and therefore part of the present ethnic majority of Singapore doesn’t make you any more Singaporean (and I would be quite ashamed, in fact, if I have to regard you as one).
You say Schooling’s competitive training is not done locally in Singapore, but in the US.
Many sporting nations conduct training overseas and employ foreign training methodologies. US football sends its players to top European football clubs to train. US women’s gymnastics is headed by a pair of Romanian defectors, the Karolyis, with a system imported from the former Eastern bloc. The list goes on.
This is common international practice. It simply recognizes that certain countries have a more developed and competitive system for nurturing talent in certain sports.
It does not dilute the nationality of the competitors. If US footballers or US women gymnasts aren’t any less American when they compete, why should Schooling be any less Singaporean when he competes just because he trains in the US?
Due credit of course needs to be given to his Texas collegiate swim program. But where he chooses to train does not strip him of his nationality or patriotism. Nor should it strip us of our pride in watching him succeed.
By your reasoning, the only way we can ever be happy if our local athletes attain glory is if they’re ethnic Chinese, lived in Singapore their entire life, and trained in Singapore their entire life.
What bs.
I sincerely hope the rest of us, as a nation, thoroughly reject your ignorant, xenophobic, dangerous, Trump-esque ideas.