Foreign Sports Talent Scheme

Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth if he will provide the names of the 64 athletes who have been granted citizenship under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and the sports/games they represent Singapore in.

Besides the 64 athletes who were granted citizenship under the Foreign Sports Talent (FST) Scheme, there were two athletes who had acquired their citizenship under the Sports Excellence (SPEX) 2000 programme, which was a precursor to the FST Scheme. As a point of clarification, in our earlier reply to the Member when he asked how many on the FST had renounced their Singapore Citizenship, we had included athletes under both schemes to be comprehensive.

The athletes who came in on SPEX 2000 and the FST Scheme have represented Singapore in 13 sports. They are athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, cue-sports, fencing, football, hockey, netball, shooting, swimming, table tennis and water polo.

The National Sports Associations (NSAs) and media have been highlighting information on these athletes on various occasions. But we would prefer not to single out these athletes by naming them individually in a list. Let us respect their privacy, and do our best to help them integrate into our society. These

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athletes are now Singaporeans, and we should embrace them as part of Team Singapore.