A Q&A with MCYS Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing on leadership and the role of sports in Singapore

Nelson Mandela, then-President of South Africa, had a tough road ahead of him. He was on a mission to abolish apartheid in South Africa; to change mindsets and unite a nation which had been divided by race for some 50 years.

While attempting to tackle the country’s problems, Mandela attended a game of the Springboks, the country’s rugby team. The Springboks was made up of whites and symbolised white supremacy. To the blacks, this represented apartheid, and they cheered against their home team.

Knowing that South Africa would host the upcoming 1995 Rugby World Cup, Mandela put into action a plan to bring together the nation. Together with the Springboks captain Francois Pienaar, he believed that they could use the event to unite and inspire South Africa.

Players interacted with the locals and Mandela, a black, showed his support for the Springboks. Through much efforts and faith, the Games grew in support, until one could see citizens of all races—both whites and blacks—attending the later games. Eventually, to the surprise of the nation, South Africa won an unexpected victory.

Who knew? Sports was key in pulling the nation of South Africa together in its time of need and great change.

How about Singapore? We joke about our soccer team and reliance on “foreign talent” to participate in Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games. But what purpose does it serve? It puts our name on the world stage, it brings out the Singapore brand and it challenges and inspires local talents to be better, to name a few.

“We joke about our soccer team and reliance on “foreign talent” to participate in Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games. But what purpose does it serve?”

The Committee on Sporting Singapore and Ministry of Community, Youth Development and Sports has put in effort to nurture young talent through, for one, the Singapore Sports School, which opened in 2004, and the Health Promotion Board encourages Singaporeans to develop a healthy lifestyle through sports.

What role does sports play in our nation? Mr Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, share why sports is important for a nation, the link between youth and sports, and sports and leadership:

Halogen360 (H360): How do you describe your leadership style?
Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing (CCS): I try to abide by three principles:

1. To Lead by Example: Not to do unto others what we do not want others to do unto us, and not to get people to do things which we ourselves will not do.
2. To Serve, not Be Served nor be Self Serving: To try to do good for the people around us and make life better for them.
3. To Be Part of the Solution and Not Part of the Problem: To do our best to improve things but not be an obstacle to others’ efforts to do better.

H360: Being the Acting Minister for youth and sports, do you see a common denominator between the two? What is your approach in handling these 2 areas?
CCS: Sports is a means to an end, where the end is having Singaporeans who are future-ready for tomorrow’s challenges. Youth are our nation’s saplings for a better tomorrow. How we invest in their development and what values we inculcate in them will determine their future and consequently, our future as a country.

At the individual level, we want our students to be resilient, worldly-wise and disciplined in their pursuits. At the community level, we want our youth to have a sense of national identity, care for their fellow men and desire to give back more to society over and above what they have benefitted from. Through sports, we can achieve all these and more.

H360: What qualities do you think our sports leaders should display? How do you nurture these qualities?
CCS: Sports leaders play a crucial role in developing and nurturing our young athletes, both in terms of sporting excellence and character building. Beyond technical proficiency, they must strive to embody sportsmanship, through behaviour such as emphasis on the team, respect for the opponent, perseverance, humility in victory and graciousness in defeat. They should be driven by the long-term development objectives of the athletes in mind, rather than meeting short-term agendas of winning.

Under Vision 2030, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) will be setting up a Coaching Academy and a Sports Academy, which will include a Sports Leadership and Development curriculum, to provide technical training and soft skill development so that our sports leaders will be able to perform both roles well.

H360: Our athletes are also leaders in their own right, as they are all role models, especially to Singaporeans. What lessons can they offer Singapore’s youth and how are they expected to be conduct themselves? What positive influence can they have on  our youth?
CCS: There is a story of passion, hard work, fighting spirit and teamwork behind every successful athlete. These are universal values for all of us, if we want to succeed in any endeavour. To be role models, our athletes must also conduct themselves as true sportsmen and women on and off the sporting arena, by showing respect for others, and being humble and gracious. That way, we hope that our athletes can inspire all Singaporeans, not just our youth, to dream big, work hard and achieve breakthrough performances in their own areas.