spexAthletes Investiture 2026

Distinguished Guests

Colleagues from SportSG, SpexSG and NSAs

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

• Good evening,

• Tonight, we recognise talented athletes who have the determination and belief to go further.

Investing in our athletes through the spex framework

• We have strengthened our support for athletes over the years.

  • In 1993, we introduced the Sports Excellence, or SPEX 2000 programme, the first national talent development programme that systematically invested in our High Performance System.

  • For an initial group of 14 sports, SPEX 2000 schemes supported the establishment of professional management for NSAs; the development of coaching expertise; the management of a youth development programme; and the provision of financial support to athletes to encourage them to consider sports as a fulltime career.

• We have since expanded that. The spex framework now comprises schemes to support athletes at different development stages and life stages, so that they can thrive in both their sporting as well as non-sporting pursuits.

  • The spexScholarship – introduced in 2013 – provides enhanced support to prepare athletes to excel at the Asian and World levels.

  • The spexPotential scheme – added in 2024 – supports athletes with the potential to achieve Gold medal success at SEA Games.

• Our spex framework is designed to be athlete-centric.

  • In high-performance sport, we have to cater our approach for individual athletes. Athletes peak at different ages, and can have different performance trajectories. Therefore, we do not place limits on how long athletes can be supported, as long as they meet the criteria.

  • Take Theresa Goh , for example. As a swimmer, she was supported by our spex programmes from the age of 14.

  • Recently, Theresa made the transition to Shooting Para Sport. Theresa is considered a late bloomer in the sport, but she won a Gold medal at her first ASEAN Para Games outing last year and continues to be supported by the spex framework.

• We also support national athletes through enhanced carding. We support them with direct monetary grants such as spexTAG, or Training Assistance Grant, which helps to defray athletes’ training cost; as well as spexGLOW, or Grant for Loss of Wages, which offsets lost wages due to preparation for major competitions.

  • And I am glad that our athletes are benefitting from these. Transitioning from work to full-time training is not easy and can be a major hurdle. Our national 400m hurdler, Calvin Quek made good use of spexGLOW to help him overcome this hurdle, and we are very proud that he is our very first 400-metres hurdles SEA Games champion in 60 years.

  • Siti Khadijah, our Spexscholar in Silat, made the transition to wushu, and benefitted from spexGLOW to train full time in the lead-up to the SEA Games and won our first-ever women’s wushu sanda medal.

  • Today, we support more than 1,700 athletes over more than 50 sports across the spexScholarship, spexPotential and enhanced carding programmes – a very significant increase from when we first started Spex 2000 with 272 athletes and 14 sports.

• Spex programmes also support our athletes in their education, career and personal development.

  • The spexEducation scheme was set up in 2013 in partnership with educational institutions such as universities and polytechnics to help athletes juggle both sports and education.

  • We recently launched the spexEducation undergraduate scholarship in 2024 so that our national athletes can achieve their sporting and academic dreams.

  • Under the scholarship's "New Career" track, athletes like Ser Lin Qian  can defer their university education and focus single-mindedly on realising their full potential – in Lin Qian’s instance, her 2032 Olympic table tennis dream – and she can have full confidence that her university studies will be fully funded when they are ready to step away from elite competition. Whether you want pursue studies and training together, or one after the other, the Government will always be here to support you.

  • For athletes who are stepping into the workforce, our spexBusiness network supports them in securing good jobs and pursue meaningful careers.

• We continue to see promising results from our investments in sport.

  • Our Gold medal count at SEA Games has gone up – averaging 50 Gold medals since 2017. This is an increase from 40 in the previous decade, and 20 in the decade before.

  • At the recent 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, our spexScholars and spexPotential athletes won half of our total medals, and nearly 90% of our Gold medals.

  • We achieved consistent podium finishes at the Asian Games. At Hangzhou 2022, all our gold medals were won by our spexScholars athletes and para-athletes.

  • Joseph Schooling brought home our very first gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. And more recently, in 2024, Max Maeder became the youngest athlete ever to win a medal in an individual sailing event in the Olympics.

• To all our spexScholars and spexPotential athletes —congratulations. We will continue to support you to realise your full sporting potential.

Our Ambition for Next Bound of Sporting Excellence

• And we will continue to do more.

• Since 1 April, , we have consolidated our key sport entities under the Sport Excellence Singapore, or SpexSG, so we can work together better to support our athletes.

  • As I mentioned at MCCY’s COS last month,

    • SpexSG will enhance support for our athletes to make our system even more athlete-centric and whole-of-life, through the expansion of our Sport Science and Sport Medicine and Sport Management and Athlete Life Management support;

    • Sports School will expand its role to be the education concierge for all Team Singapore student-athletes; and

    • SpexSG will tighten integration with our NSAs, and work with them to develop their sport for excellence.

  • We are strengthening and deepening the integration between key aspects of the HPS ecosystem, so that we can hit the ground running as one TeamSG, when the home of Team Singapore in Kallang is ready.

Looking Towards 2029

• An important milestone on the horizon is the 2029 SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games, which Singapore will host. We want all our athletes to perform at their best, in front of family and friends in front of our home ground.

• We will support a wider base of athletes training full-time, or at a higher training load, in the lead up to 2029.

• And with a larger number of athletes, we will invest in broadening and deepening support for our athletes and NSAs – through the new SpexSG, to help our athletes perform at their best.

• First, we will support an additional 200 Team Singapore athletes across a wider range of sports to undertake full-time equivalent training as we prepare for 2029.

  • Funding will support high-level training camps, technical expertise, enhanced competition exposure and initiatives to enhance sport-specific performance, designed jointly with the Head Coaches and National Sports Associations for each sport.

• Second, we will enhance support to our NSAs, to:

  • Deepen their technical expertise in areas such as coaching, through recruitment of additional coaches and specialist staff, and initiatives to enhance coaching standards and expertise;

  • Strengthen their governance and operational capabilities, addressing capability gaps that are critical for effective governance and delivery of high-performance programmes; and

  • Elevate athlete training and development, with a focus on strengthening youth development programmes and expanding athletes’ exposure to top-level international competition and training environments.

• Third, we will strengthen whole-of-life support under SpexSG, through deepening HPSI’s technical capabilities and bench strength, in areas such as Sport Science and Sport Medicine  and Athlete Life Management.

  • By 2029, we will increase our specialist workforce by about 40% to 110 specialists.

  • We will grow and develop a wider base of sport scientists supporting our elite athletes. At the world and continental levels, victories are determined by the slimmest of margins, and targeted optimisations can make all the difference. We will do all we can to help our athletes perform at their best.

  • We will also expand our Athlete Life Management capabilities, providing a dedicated team of managers and specialists to guide our athletes through major life transitions, from education to career development.

Largest Spex Cohort

• Today marks an important milestone as we aim for the next bound of sporting excellence.

• As we broaden and deepen support for our athletes, we welcome our largest-ever cohorts of spexScholars and spexPotential athletes this year.

  • There are 22 new spexScholars, bringing our total to 107.

  • We also welcome 87 new spexPotential athletes, bringing the total to 141 – more than double last year's cohort.

  • Together, we now have 248 spexScholars and spexPotential athletes — a 50% increase from last year. Because we want to support more of you to achieve your fullest sporting potential. The government will be with you every step of the way.

Whole of Singapore support for Team Singapore

• At this juncture, I also want to recognise a very special group of people who journey with and support our athletes every step of the way – families, friends, coaches, specialist staff, administrators – you are all a key part of Team Singapore, and I want to thank you for your support and sacrifice. Ladies and gentlemen, can you join me in a big round of applause for all of them please.

• Finally, to our largest ever cohort of spex recipients, congratulations once again. Continue to train hard, chase your dreams and reach your fullest sporting potential. We will be with you every step of the way.

• Thank you, and have a great evening ahead.