Press Conference for 1st Singapore U23 / Open Track and Field Championships 2011

If you’ve missed out the recent press conference regarding SAA’s inaugural “Singapore U23 / Open Track and Field Championships 2011”, well below are the links to the media files.

Check out the links:

• YouTube video playlist
• Photos at FaceBook
• Register for 1st Singapore U23 / Open Track and Field Championships 2011

Also inserted in this article are the speeches by SAA President, Mr. Tang Weng Fei, and Sun Investment Development Pte Ltd, Mr. Sun Hui.

Mr. Tang Weng Fei

Good evening Mr. Sun, ladies and gentlemen, parents, athletes, coaches and friends from the media. It is of great pleasure for me to be here today, to announce a mile stone in our efforts to bring athletics in Singapore to the next level.

We have found a great alliance in Mr. SUN HUI of SUN INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT PTE LTD, he is a dear friend of mine who believes in our philosophy of investing in youth, groom and guide them to be the champions of tomorrow.

Mr. Sun has graciously pledged to sponsor $100,000 over 3 years for SAA to hold the Singapore Under 23 Championships starting from this year. For this year’s inaugural meet, we are expecting at least 300 competitors to register for this meet.

We are even attracting interests from our Malaysian counterparts that requests had come through via MAAU for their athletes to participate in this championship.

The aim of this Under 23 competition is to engage our young athletes, motivate them to keep themselves fit and healthy while we groom and monitor them to fully exploit their potentials in the sport.

The Association also intends to develop this competition to become a premiere competition for youths in Singapore, an event that is THE highlight in the calendar of competitions for youths every year. Through this competition, SAA will be able to keep a look out for new potential future champions and include them into our National Youth Squad.

However, SAA is not only concern about the athletes sporting ability.

In a competitive society like Singapore, we strongly encourage academic excellence as well. This is why, with the generosity from Mr. Sun and his company, we are offering cash prizes of $500 each as bursary for the best male and female performers in both the U23 and Open categories.

We also offer the top 3 relay teams in the primary schools relay competition prize money of $100, $80 and $60 respectively to help the athletes in their pursue of academic and sporting excellence.

This competition is one of the new initiatives that SAA is undertaking to revamp and revise Athletics in Singapore. With supporter like Mr Sun and his company, Sun Investment Development Pet Ltd, we will be able to produce athletes that can be competitive at international levels and bring glory to Singapore Athletics once again.

Lastly, I would again like to thank Mr. Sun Hui for his generous supports and his belief in us and SAA will certainly strive to justify his kindness by bringing our sports to the next level in the near future.

Thank you.

Mr. Sun Hui

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to be part of this historical event in Singapore’s athletics history.

I share the same belief as Mr. Tang in investing in youth so that we can reap the fruits in the future.

With my humble contribution, I hope it can start a movement to lift this sport to the next level.

Thank you Mr. Tang for allowing me to have this opportunity contribute to a worthy cause.