Marking a milestone: (Front row, from left) Toh and Yip with Sportsboy of the Year Aloysius Gan and Sportsgirl of the Year Janelle Tong at the awards ceremony. — The Straits Times/ANN
Disability sport in the island republic is set for a multimillion-dollar boost from 2025, with a new Enabling Sports Fund to be launched to encourage impactful community-initiated disability sport initiatives.
The fund is part of the Disability Sports Master Plan (DSMP) 2024 and the target is to raise at least S$10mil (RM33.3mil) through corporate and private donors by 2030.
Donations will be matched dollar for dollar by the government, and this fund could cover areas such as the purchase of sport equipment, transport support for programme participants and coaching fees.
The Enabling Sports Fund is one of 10 strategic moves under the DSMP 2024, which Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong announced on the sidelines of the Singapore Disability Sports Awards at the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel here on Nov 20.
He said, “This DSMP 2024 is not only about increasing opportunities for persons with disabilities to do sports, but also about including the wider community to learn about diversity and for them to, in turn, embrace acceptance, fostering closer and deeper partnerships in the disability space.
“We have heard our disability community’s feedback and we know the needs are diverse, we know the experiences are different and to different extents, some more acute than others.
“So, we have done our best to ensure that these 10 strategic moves are broad and, as far as possible, all encompassing. It helps us to shape mindsets rather than be prescriptive about steps to take and they are not meant only for specific disability types, but to cater to the varied needs across the spectrum, so that we can meet the needs of as many persons with disabilities as possible and make a wider impact on society.”
Stakeholders, who included new Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) patron, Temasek Trust chairwoman Ho Ching, had gathered to celebrate the inspirational stories and remarkable achievements of the Republic’s para-athletes at the awards, which saw a record-breaking 90 nominees in two categories – community, and pathway and performance.
Seven-gold Paralympic champion Yip Pin Xiu was named Sportswoman of the Year for a fifth time, while fellow swimmer Toh Wei Soong picked up his third Sportsman of the Year award, as 17 individuals, groups and organisations were recognised for their exceptional contributions to disability sport.
On top of Haw Par Corporation donating S$120,000 (RM399,570) to SDSC to support the growth of disability sport in Singapore, there were more reasons for the fraternity to cheer with the refreshing of the DSMP.
Launched in 2016, the DSMP aims to raise awareness of disability sport and expand access and opportunities for persons with disabilities (PWDs), contributing to an increase in the sport participation rate among PWDs from 28% in 2015 to 46% in 2023.
In May 2023, the Enabling Sports Taskforce, chaired by Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth, was formed to refresh the DSMP. Over the past year, it has engaged 850 stakeholders to further strengthen the sporting ecosystem for PWDs. — The Straits Times/ANN
