Singapore ― Paralympic athlete Yip Pin Xiu will receive double the cash award for the two gold medals she won at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games after DBS Bank stepped in as a new sponsor.
The Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) announced on Saturday (Oct 16) that DBS will match the council’s Athletes Achievement Awards (AAA) – the cash incentive scheme given to Singaporean athletes who win medals at major para games.
“(DBS’) initial commitment will span two Paralympic Games cycles, until the Paralympic Games 2024 in Paris,” said SNPC.
It will also cover the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Para Games, Asian Para Games and the Commonwealth Games, SNPC added.
DBS will join Tote Board as a sponsor. Ms Yip originally received S$400,000 for the two gold medals from the women’s 50 m S2 and 100 m backstroke S2 at the Paralympic Games.
She was given two cheques amounting to S$800,000 during Saturday’s 2021 Athletes Achievement Awards and Appreciation Ceremony.
The issue of Paralympic athletes not receiving the same cash awards as others, such as Joseph Schooling, who received S$1 million for the gold medal he won during the 2016 Rio Games.
In September earlier this year, former diplomat Tommy Koh said that paying Paralympic and Olympic athletes different amounts was wrong, morally and legally.
“Like many Singaporeans, I was surprised to learn that winners of medals at the Paralympics are paid only 20 per cent of the amounts paid to winners of the same medals at the Olympics,” wrote Prof Koh.
He cited other countries like Malaysia, Australia and the United States, which pay the same amounts to their Paralympians and Olympians.
SNPC also took to Facebook on Saturday to thank Tote Board and DBS, as well as its Paralympic partners, “who have supported their journey to a more inclusive society.”
Ms Yip said she is glad that Singapore is taking “a step in the right direction” through the “active steps towards achieving parity for the cash quantum.”
“Representing Singapore at the highest level is a privilege and to have won two gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is a testament to the hard work that the team and I have put in,” she said, as quoted by Channel News Asia.
Regarding the sponsorship, DBS Singapore Group Executive and Country Head Shee Tse Koon said DBS “readily agreed” when SNPC approached the company.
“All of us can do our part to create a more inclusive Singapore. As a Singapore brand, we also believe in supporting and nurturing homegrown talent,” said Mr Shee.
Meanwhile, Ms Yip said she would “continue to train hard,” her eyes set on the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. /TISG
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Paying S’pore Paralympians only 20% as much as Olympians morally and legally wrong: Tommy Koh