National para-athlete body calls for more recognition, support...What about a little help for the Seniors/Masters?

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s para-athletes juggle disabilities and a rigorous training schedule to represent the nation at international competitions. 

As they prepare to hopefully bring home sporting glory at the Paris Games that begins on Wednesday (Aug 28), the national body that represents them has called for more recognition and support - similar to that given to Olympic athletes.

“They go through the sweat, they go through the tears, they go through the tiredness. We don't see that,” said Dr Teo-Koh Sock Miang, president of the Singapore National Paralympic Council.

“As (the) public, we only see them for those few seconds in competition, so I really need for everyone to understand and recognise that they really have put in so much hard work.”

Their tenacity and effort are opportunities for people to reflect on themselves, she added.

“Let's have them as our inspiration. Let's have them as a role model for what excellence can look like,” she said.  CNA

It is timely for the Singapore National Paralympic Council to speak up and call for more support and recognition for the para athletes. They are the people juggling with disabilities but still committed to rigorous physical training to compete internationally. It requires a lot of discipline, mental fitness, endurance for pain and stress while training silently and quietly on their own. Even normal athletes would have problems to want to train continuously, to discipline themselves to give up other pursuits and pleasures just to train rigorously, not a walk in the park, not a slow walk, but real training to be better than the best in the world. It demands a lot more than just to live and be alive.

And don't forget the pain, the torn muscles, stresses on the body and bones and the need to consume medicines and supplements to keep the body and muscles in prime conditions. These cost a lot of money as well and eat up a lot of the spare funds of the para athletes, money needed on top of the normal food expenses.

In a similar way, the seniors, the masters, some in their 70s and 80s, are also fighting against nature and the biological clock, to keep their bodies in top forms to compete with their peers in international competition. The ageing process spares no one and the more advanced in age, the wear and tear would only get worse. Many seniors are in no better condition than some para athletes and are struggling to keep their body good enough to stay competitive, and needed supplements, pain killers, balms, pills etc etc to stay on fighting and running. At 70s or 80s, to be able to run, sprint, jump etc etc is already a winner.

Would the govt bodies also be supportive to the seniors and masters and offer a little assistance to help them in keeping fit, in a condition to engage in competitive sports? Not necessary the kind and scale of support for the Olympians or ParaOlymians, just some token of support and recognition would be greatly appreciated. So far there is very little or negligible support for the seniors and masters despite making many appeals to the authorities. The only thing heard is about encouraging the seniors to keep fit, free entry to gyms and swimming pools by ActiveSG. 

More concrete support, a little financial assistance would be most welcomed. Competing overseas in international meets is not free and can be financially demanding to the seniors and masters that have no income.

So, while the authorities are looking at the para athletes, would they also take a second look at the seniors and masters to see if they could do something for them at the same time? Show a little real appreciation for the seniors and the masters.

India thinking of allowing more Chinese investments?

 Can you try to figure out what the Indian double talk is all about? After all the fabricated charges against Chinese companies costing hundreds of millions of fines and driving Chinese businesses out of India, India, instead of bending backwards to 'lure' more stupid Chinese companies to put their money in India, to be fleeced again, are asking whether they should invite Chinese investments? And what was India's fear of Chinese investments in India? Predatory Chinese practices! 

What, what? Say that again? Who is practising predatory practices that are driving away Chinese and foreign investors from India? Drumming up fabricated charges of tax evasion, amending laws to be applied retrospectively to rob the Chinese companies are not predatory practices? Forcing Chinese companies to sell majority stakes to Indian companies at fire sale prices not predatory practices? Insisting that companies appoint Indians to head all the departments are not predatory practices?

I would be damn if there are still silly Chinese companies wanting to invest in India. If they do, let them be cursed and be robbed and fleeced by the Indians and have no pity or sympathy on them. If they choose to be stupid, to be willing suckers, not wanting to learn from past mistakes, and still stupidly throwing good money into the black hole, they deserve to lose everything.

All Chinese investors, this is a warning to every one of you. You can choose to be silly and stupid to throw good money into India to be robbed. If it is your own money, good for you. If you are investing OPM, please do not do so. The money would be gone, stolen, robbed, cheated before you know what is happening.

Good riddance! Indian predatory practices are unmatched in the world and only successful because there are willing suckers and stupid investors willing to be sucked in, stupidly believing in the Indians and thinking they could outsmart the Indians.

The only way to do business with the Indians is to make your goods outside of India, sell to them on a pay up front basis. If this is too difficult to understand, blame your own stupidity. Ask if there is any company that makes money from their investments in India. If they said yes, they are lying. The best they could say is long term investment, probably would never see the return of their money for generations to come.

Raising tariffs on EVs to buy time is futile

 The reality is that not many Chinese EVs have been sold in the USA market so far and USA consumers are therefore not much affected by those tariffs presently. However, the USA needs to prevent Chinese EVs from cornering the USA market in time and wants to prevent that from happening. What this is doing is just delaying the demise of ICE vehicle makers in the USA and preventing USA made EVs from being able to compete on the global market. Selling expensive EVs inside the USA is going to punish USA buyers of EVs made domestically or from the EU.

Canada is also doing the same tariff thing, undoubtedly following the USA like an obedient dog. The EV market for China in Canada is even more miniscule. Canada wants to poke the dragon and will soon find out the consequence when the dragon gives it a dose of its dragon fire. Bullets are not needed for that. 

Anonymous

China is no longer tolerating, but fighting back

 China is no longer tolerating, since the start of the trade war. China did rightly retaliate despite warning from the gangster Trump.

China did the unthinkable in Anchorage, Alaska too. The USA attempt to project a position of strength by trying to talk down to China was given a rude awakening by Yang Jiechi, China's foreign policy official. Blinken was visibly stunned.

To say that China never retaliates is not so correct. In technology sanctions, tariffs and trade restrictions by the USA, China is doing a tit for tat for every attempt to stifle China, whether from the USA or the EU. China is not just doing constructive retaliation but is building up its resilience to be self-reliant in sensitive areas by focusing on sectors that it can leverage on, like its control of rare earth, manufacturing capacity, innovation and its well-oiled work force. These are areas that the USA and the West will find difficulty to wrestle away from China's control.

There are comments on social media that China's rise today comes on the back of well thought out strategies and not a single bullet was fired to attain what it achieved today. The Anglo-Saxon's rise in the past were all achieved using force, bloodshed including genocide, which is its modus operandi even today.

This then, is what they mean by China's soft power at play. Soft, but well prepared for hard knocks if it comes.

Anonymous

Minorities in China have more privileges, unlike the poor discriminated native Americans

 To say that the Chinese Government treat the Uyghurs well is an understatement. Uyghurs have more privileges than Han Chinese, for example in having more children, while Han Chinese have been prohibited from having more children, which has now been relaxed recently to boost the population. If the Chinese Government wants to decimate the Uyghur population, it would have done what the USA Government did with the Native American Indians, decimating their numbers rather than helping them propagate.

Minorities in China have been given more privileges than the norm. The Han Chinese are comfortable living with that. Compare that with the Native American Indians in reservations. What privileges do they enjoy? What has the USA Government done to boost their numbers? Oops, sorry wrong question to ask. The Anglo-Saxon Whites have been trying to reduce their numbers for fear of reprisals. The Native American Indians have to be kept isolated and given little chance to propagate living inside such desolated and underdeveloped regions.

Honestly, the USA Government does not even have the resources to upgrade their existing facilities in built up urban areas, not to talk about extending a hand to help the Native American Indies living in out of sight concentration camps. Just watch videos of the homeless situation and you will understand why it is impossible for the Native American Indians to get help when their fellow White Anglo-Saxons are living on the streets.

Anonymous