Supporting Team Singapore in their careers beyond sport

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone here!

Ms Tan Yen Yen, Chairman, spexBusiness Network Advisory Panel
Mr James Page, General Manager, Volkswagen Group Singapore
Mr Joshua Chua, Executive Director, Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE)
Partners, athletes, ladies and gentlemen

1. I should really start this speech by thanking a person who's not here today, and he's MOS Teo Ser Luck. He has spearheaded this whole movement of getting Corporate Singapore to be part of Team Singapore, and Yen Yen was just relating to me how much he has been involved and actively guiding this process. Shall we all give him a round of applause? He's not here, but we acknowledge his very valuable contribution, and I will buy him a drink when he's back. And of course, thank you Yen Yen for your leadership as well.

2. It is my great pleasure to be here today as we express our appreciation to partners in the Sports Excellence (spex) Business Network. Your efforts help to give our Team Singapore athletes the confidence to do their best in their games, notably in the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games last year. So, I want to say a big thank you to all of you. Thank you very much for being part of Team Singapore.

3. We can all agree that it has been quite an eventful afternoon, as we welcomed new partners to the spexBusiness Network, marked the start of the spexEntrepreneurship Programme, and launched the Team Singapore Card. 

spexBusiness Network

4. Established by the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) just over two years ago, the spexBusiness Network aims to help our athletes manage the dual demands of sport and career. SSI has been actively working with all of you to create career development opportunities for our athletes. Through the network, Team Singapore athletes today find themselves supported by a range of career options, from permanent positions in companies, to apprenticeships and internships. The network also organises career-readiness workshops and sharing sessions to guide our athletes along the way.

5. Notably, these opportunities offer our athletes the flexibility to work and train, so that neither career nor sport has to take a back seat. This is an important value of the spexBusiness Network, which makes it an integral part of our holistic approach towards high performance sports. We need more like-minded companies and employers like you to step forward to support our athletes, so that they can commit themselves to prepare and do their best for Singapore, whilst remaining confident of their career prospects.

Achievements of the spexBusiness Network

6. I am happy to update that since its launch in Nov 2013, the spexBusiness Network has successfully emplaced more than 60 Team Singapore athletes on internships, part-time and full-time jobs with partner companies.

7. Micky Lin, our netball captain, is one such athlete who was successfully matched with Deloitte Singapore, one of our early network partners. On the court, Micky is one of the most experienced players in the team, and it was in part her composure during the highly-intense match against Malaysia, that led the netball team to their SEA Games Gold.

8. Off the court, Micky is a Clients and Markets Assistant Manager. Deloitte understands the demands of competitive athletes, and gives Micky the flexibility to train, even as she continues to help in managing their customer base. Leading up to the SEA Games, the company had also given her special leave to train and compete in netball tournaments both local and overseas. And we've also heard from Charmaine how her colleagues have supported them in important games.

9. Another athlete who recently benefitted from the scheme is Peter Kam, the goalkeeper for our cerebral palsy football team. Peter approached SSI last year for career guidance and was subsequently offered a full-time work contract with Sportslink Holdings. Similar to Micky, Peter was granted leave by Sportslink to participate in an overseas training camp in Japan in the lead up to the ASEAN Para Games. 

10. Employers like Deloitte and Sportslink have given our athletes their full support to go ahead and pursue their sporting aspirations – and do Singapore proud. I'm sure every athlete in the scheme is grateful for their employer's support. We are too, and it is satisfying to see our athletes excel beyond the podium to go on and do well in their careers.

11. On the other hand, these companies benefit from having access to a unique talent pool of national athletes who exemplify the kind of values and work philosophy that we seek in the workforce. We heard earlier on from Borneo Motors how they treasure teamwork, discipline, drive, optimism. I think these are common values I'm sure many corporates would like to incorporate into their team. So whether it's negotiating a deal with clients or managing customer relations, I am sure our athletes have the discipline, resilience and commitment to take their companies' businesses to new heights and inspire a culture of excellence in their chosen field.

12. I am pleased to note that with the nine companies that have come on board today, the spexBusiness Network has now expanded to 30 companies. That's more than triple the number of companies since the network was launched, which is a sign that more companies are seeing the value of sport. I want to take this opportunity to thank our pioneer batch of network partners and welcome the new members to the network. It is heartening to see Corporate Singapore stepping forward to join forces with the rest of us as One Team Singapore. I hope the successful outing we've had at the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games will encourage even more companies to get behind our athletes.

Launch of spexEntrepreneurship Programme

13. Today also marks the launch of the new spexEntrepreneurship Programme – a collaboration between SSI and the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE).

14. In our conversations with the athletes, we hear that some want to start a business after they retire from competitive sport. Like our budding entrepreneur Calvin, many of them have creative ideas for new business ventures, such as bowlers Shayna Ng and Kristel Oh who set up the SportSanity portal to offer sports and wellness solutions to corporations. And also, Tao Li, who's starting up a swimming academy.

15. The spexEntrepreneurship Programme aims to provide guidance and encouragement to the more entrepreneurial amongst our athletes, building on the spexBusiness Network's existing suite of career development initiatives to help our athletes grow from competition to career.

16. Under this programme, developed in partnership with ACE, athletes can look forward to one-on-one coaching with entrepreneurs. They can find out more about what it takes to start a business and be plugged into larger networks of entrepreneurs, to connect with and take their ideas further, and I suppose, just get mentored along the way, like Tao Li has asked for. So I urge all Team Singapore athletes who are keen to run your own business, to take full advantage of this new initiative.

Conclusion

17. The success of Team Singapore would not have been possible without the staunch support of Corporate Singapore. I want to thank Yen Yen and the members of the spexBusiness Advisory Panel for contributing to our holistic approach towards nurturing sports excellence. I would also like to thank Mr Joshua Chua and ACE for their support in launching the spexEntrepreneurship Programme.

18. Likewise, the success of the network also depends on the commitment of our athletes. I am confident that our Team Singapore athletes, with their winning mentality and positive mindset, can be an asset both in and out of the sporting arena.

19. So thank you all, all the corporate partners, all the supporters, stakeholders, for coming on board the spexBusiness Network, believing in our athletes, for being a part of One Team Singapore, and giving our athletes the best chance of success, both during and after sport. Thank you all very much for being here, and being part of Team Singapore.