Over 300 Team Singapore athletes from across 30 sports will be representing Singapore in three upcoming games

Mr Teo Chee Hean, DPM and President of the SNOC 
My cabinet colleague Mr Tan Chuan-Jin 
Assoc. Prof. Mohan P. Menon, newly elected Chairman of SNPC
Dr Teo - Koh Sock Miang, President of Special Olympics Singapore
Athletes and Officials, Sponsors and partners
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and gentlemen 

1. A very good evening to all of you. It is very good to stand on this stage here and see a sea of red, to see all of our Team Singapore athletes coming together.
   

2. Today is a very special occasion for all of us. In just a few weeks' time, our Team Singapore athletes will be representing Singapore at the first ever Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games in Newcastle and the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar. Come January next year, our athletes will again be flying our flag at the 7th ASEAN Para Games in Myanmar. So this time, we are having a combined Flag Presentation Ceremony for all of our Team Singapore athletes.  
   

3. All in all, we have over 300 athletes from across 30 sports, who will be representing Singapore at the three upcoming Games. I would like to congratulate all our athletes who have been selected to compete for our nation, and to fly our flag high overseas. Whether you are headed for the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games, SEA Games or ASEAN Para Games, all of you represent the best of what Singapore stands for – a can-do attitude, a never-say-die spirit, and a commitment to purpose. All of you have in your own ways, inspired and motivated Singaporeans to live better through sports. We will be following your progress through the Games, we will be cheering you on on tv, and some of us will be 'live' at the Games watching you. All of us will be cheering you on and I know that you will continue to be a source of pride and inspiration for all Singaporeans and our country.
   

4. We are giving you as much support as we can, from the Singapore Sports Council and the Ministry. Recently, we have set up a new High Performance Sports System to continue to give full support to our athletes to achieve their sporting dreams. This year, we've given out more than 60 Sports Excellence Scholarships, and also identified another 26 very promising athletes with the potential to become scholarship recipients in future. The scholarships are part of our overall High Performance Sports, not only in stipends, but with better training, coaching and sports science.  Many of our sports scholarship recipients will be competing in the upcoming Games. I am also glad to see a good mix of both new and seasoned athletes representing Singapore. For example, at the SEA Games in Myanmar, 15-year-old Vera Tan will be representing us in Wushu, while World Champion Peter Gilchrist will be competing in Billiards. So, we have a very good mix of athletes for the SEA Games, which is coming up in three weeks' time.
   

5. Likewise for the ASEAN Para Games, the Cerebral Palsy Football Team will be making their debut. We also have former Navy serviceman Jason Chee here with us now, who have started taking up table tennis recently as part of his rehabilitation programme. Even though his training was very short, he was able to make it to the team through his hard work and perseverance. Alongside them will be veterans like Choo Leng Hin, who recently won two Silver medals at the Asian Youth Para Games and swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, who had represented Singapore at the London Paralympic Games.  So again, we have a very good and diverse team.
   6. At the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games, we have a total of 19 athletes participating.  For many of them, this will be their first time representing Singapore at an international platform and also their first time overseas. They include our flag bearer, 17-year-old, Kimiki Sin who will be competing in Bowling, 16-year-old Ong Zhi Hui who will be participating in Badminton for the first time and the youngest athlete, 11-year-old Hassanah Binte Kazali. To all our athletes, let's give them a round of applause! We hope that you'd do well and do us proud. 
   

6. To lead our Team Singapore contingents, we have three Chef de Missions (CDM): Ms Annabel Pennefather, Vice-President of the SNOC; Mr Justinian Chua, sports manager for the SDSC, and Ms Linda Prebhash, Board Member of Special Olympics Singapore. All three are seasoned and experienced sports administrators, and so I am very confident that our athletes are in good hands.  
   

7. The Special Olympics has a motto which I particularly like and I believe it applies to all our athletes here. The motto of the Special Olympics is “let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”. So to all our athletes, I wish all of our athletes - victory and courage in your attempts at victory. Please also remember that the Games are about friendship, respect and excellence – so go on out there to make friends and connect with other athletes from around the region; inspire and be inspired by your fellow competitors.
   

8. To all Singaporeans, I would like to say that our athletes need our support as they compete against the region's best. And we can do that very easily nowadays through popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For example, we can send photos of our well-wishes to Team Singapore by tagging our greetings with the hashtag "#ourteamsg". This is part of a nationwide campaign which the Singapore Sports Council is promoting to bring together our athletes and supporters as one Team Singapore. To encourage everyone to come on board, we have also set up a photo booth today, so even if you are not familiar with social media, do drop by the photo booth and they will show you how to use the hashtag, get connected on social media and wish our Team Singapore well!
   

9. Besides our athletes who have trained hard to earn their spots in the Games, we should also remember those who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make all this possible. So I would like to say thanks to the team at SNOC, SNPC, Special Olympics, SSC, SDSC, the NSAs, coaches, officials for supporting our athletes. Let's give them a round of applause. And a special thanks to the family members and friends, the loved ones of our athletes, who have shown unwavering support for our athletes. I know many of you are behind our athletes, you may be behind the scenes but certainly you are not forgotten. I'm sure you are proud of the achievements of our athletes here. So thank you very much!
   

10. Finally, let me wish all our athletes a very successful and enjoyable Games ahead.  Do your best, do Singapore proud, and know that all of us are behind you every step of the way. 
    

11. Thank you very much.