Singapore’s sporting culture : nationalism of sports from 1965-1985

• Main Author: Lee, Benedict Joseph Shern Mun
• Other Authors: Scott Michael Anthony
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Humanities::History
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137565
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Fitness has many advantages which could profit an individual, where the benefits stretches out to not only to the physical but also the mental aspect of daily living. When fitness routines are performed diligently, it boosts the health and resilience for those that partakes in sports and exercises. As a healthy person correlates to an individual that would be able to go about performing their daily tasks efficiently, there would no doubt be a reduced concern against any health ailments that might impeded an individual’s ability to function. This same concept was borrowed and implemented on a nationwide scale by the Singaporean government since independence. It was recognized among the pioneer leaders that as a nascent state which was extremely dependent on human resource, it had to forcibly maintain the health of its population through implementing measures that would encourage the population to exercise. As such, a healthy population was portrayed as a solution against an increasingly modernizing country that was politically and socially vulnerable. For many years, the Singapore government has been heavily involved in facilitating the growth of its sporting culture, and this has led to the prevalence of fitness and sports in the country. While there are many instances which pointed to Singapore being heavily invested in sports, there is a nagging reality that sports as a whole was still lacking behind. Singapore’s sporting culture was built as part of a mass physical-culture movement by its pioneer leaders, which was facilitated in order to inculcate Singaporeans with values such as resilience and ruggedness. However, Singapore quickly progressed and established its status as a first world nation, and the emphasis on reinforcing a sporting culture was shifted as other national priorities were established. As such, this paper will seek to find out why Singapore is in danger of losing its sporting identity by delving into the different aspects of its sporting culture. Singapore’s sporting culture post-independence has developed as Singapore industrialized and progressed as a nation, primarily as a result of a push from the government for Singaporeans to keep fit. However, despite the rise in government funding, national fitness programs, as well as an increase in sponsorships of nationwide-sporting events from private corporations, there is currently a risk in the decline of Singapore’s sporting culture. This was the by-product of the nationalising of sports, which created a pseudo response among many Singaporeans.