Immigrant Athletes in Singapore: When Gold is Not Good Enough

 

 

 

The Case of Aleksandar Duric

Comparing online comments for news articles on the success of foreign-born Singaporean paddlers to those of Duric’s retirement from football, it is quite evident Singaporeans prefer athletes who undergo a more conventional process of acquiring citizenship than the instant naturalisation provided by the FST Scheme.

 

Duric arrived in Singapore in 1999 and only acquired citizenship after three attempts. He was not under the sports scheme. In his open letter “Thank you very much Singapore” posted online, Duric explained that the biggest and proudest moment of his football career was when he was granted Singapore citizenship in 2007 and was called to play for the national team. Duric expressed in the letter that Singapore is his home and that he is “a son of the Lion City”.

 

The reactions towards Duric’s retirement have been largely expressions of appreciation. Most commenters thanked Duric for his contribution to Singapore football and regarded him as a role model for Singaporean footballers. One commenter posted “Now this is what I call ‘Foreign Talent’…”

 

Integration of Immigrant Athletes

Passport swapping among athletes has also received criticism in places other than Singapore. Some argue that granting and acquiring fast-tracked citizenship through sports defeats the whole tradition of immigration and naturalisation, that is, integrating and assimilating into a community, and negates the nationalistic spirit usually associated with international games. However, Singaporeans are probably the most vocal about their displeasure.

 

Admittedly, the government has taken steps to attend to this. According to Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong, sports associations in Singapore are required to have integration programmes for immigrant athletes. He explained that through these programmes, athletes attend national events, perform community service, visit local schools, and take English lessons. He added that the athletes are assigned local mentors who help them integrate to Singapore society better.

 

However, it seems that Singaporeans are expecting a higher degree of commitment from immigrant athletes. Some netizens complained about how some foreign-born national players do not even try to converse in English. In addition, the public’s awareness of some naturalised athletes renouncing their citizenship only after a few years also does not help with quelling the hostility towards the scheme.

 

The example of individuals like Duric is instructive if the government wants to enrich the communal experiences of the relatively young nation through success in sports. It may suggest that integration should come first before citizenship. Glory will then be viewed as genuine because the people will feel represented by athletes who truly want to represent them.

 

 

Priscilla Cabuyao is a Senior Analyst at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.