REPUBLIC POLY STUDENTS LEARN ‘NEVER-SAY-DIE’ ATTITUDE WATCHING
FACE-OFF BETWEEN SINGAPORE’S BEST VS. RP’S BEST SHUTTLER;
EXCITING EXHIBITION MATCH PART OF MONTH-LONG SPORTS
EXTRAVAGANZA
SINGAPORE, 29 May 2004 – What happens when you put a professional and an amateur shuttler together on the same courts? A riveting match? Likely so. But more importantly, important life lessons on how not to give up in a fight, even if you are the underdog. Republic Polytechnic hopes to teach its students that valuable lesson to fight to the end through hosting a face-off between Ronald Susilo, currently ranked tenth in the badminton world and Singapore’s top shuttler, and Dr Loke Han Ying, Manager, Office of Student Development, an amateur player whose biggest achievement is being the Edinburgh Open Tournament men's singles champion in 1994.
This match will be played out next Saturday, when Republic Polytechnic is transformed into a ‘mini Olympics’ of sorts when the ‘Spot-A-Sport’ Carnival is launched – an entire day of games and challenges aimed at creating more awareness and participation of the various sports by students and staff of the polytechnic. Set to start at about 1:30pm, Susilo will officiate at the opening ceremony, where there will be Japanese drummers from MINDS to present a rousing welcome, followed by RP’s very own Lion Dance troupe which will invite our guest-of-honour to do something special to launch the entire programme.
Guest-of-honour, Ronald Susilo will subsequently play against Dr Loke and then take turns playing against the entire badminton team of The Republic. Said Dr Loke, who is also the organizer of the Spot-A-Sport Carnival, “By playing against Susilo, I am demonstrating to students of The Republic that one has to believe in oneself, to focus on playing one’s best, and not to be mentally defeated even from the beginning. Believing that you can do it is, to me, half the battle won.”
Republic Polytechnic, Singapore’s fifth and newest polytechnic, has 29 sports teams which offers its 2000 students a range of training and skills development to enable them to enhance their sports and athletic abilities. The Spot-A-Sport carnival aims to inculcate valuable lessons of teamwork and discipline, as the school believes that learning takes place both in and out of the classroom.
"Sports is a very important part of the education. Through sports, we can learn humility as well as discipline among others. In addition, we can achieve a healthy body. With a healthy body, we can have a healthy mind and this will aid in our learning process," noted Ms Janelle Koh, sports officer with the polytechnic and also a co-organiser of the event.
With 9 gamestalls and challenges for all staff and students on 29 May, the Spot-A-Sport carnival looks set to be a hit and a boost to encourage healthy bodies and sound minds at Republic Polytechnic!
For more information, pls contact:
LIM LE-ANNE (MS)
OFFICE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
DID: 6376 8012
EMAIL: lim_le_anne@rp.edu.sg