On the Record - Ser Miang Ng Mulls IOC Presidency, 2020 Sports Program

(ATR) Ser Miang Ng tells Around the Rings he's "flattered" just to be considered a potential candidate to succeed IOC President Jacques Rogge in September.

The IOC VP from Singapore went on the record with ATR's Matthew Grayson on the sidelines of the 15th IOC World Conference on Sport for All last month in Lima, Peru.

Read on for his thoughts on the Olympic sports program, bidding for the 2020 Games, Sport for All in Singapore and more.

Around the Rings: What is your current thinking on whether to run for IOC president? When do you expect to declare?

Ser Miang Ng: I’m very flattered that I’ve been considered to be a potential candidate. The succession of President Rogge will have built a firm and solid and sound foundation for the IOC and Olympic Movement is definitely very much on the members’ minds. It’s going to be big, big decision, a very critical decision. As we look for the new leader to lead the IOC and the Olympic Movement in a very challenging world. Banking crises, financial crises, austerity measures and high unemployment in more countries definitely will pose challenges not just to the economy and society, but I think also to the Olympic Movement as well, so it is a critical juncture for the world and for the Olympic Movement as well.

ATR: What do IOC members expect from the new president?

SMN: We are more than 100 members, so I would say there are different expectations, different views of how the future should go. And I think we should be able to see all those moving factors in the weeks and months to come.

ATR: You mentioned financial issues. What are some of the other biggest issues facing the IOC?

SMN: Well, I would not delve into other issues yet, but it’s not so much the financial issues of the IOC, but of the world, which has great impact of the Olympic Movement, whether it’s the IOC, whether it’s IFs or NOCs. It’s set against this background that we will be looking at the succession of President Rogge, who we respect and will continue to serve until the end of his term.

ATR: If wrestling wins its way back into the Olympics, what will the Executive Board tell those sports that are losing out yet again for a spot at the Games?

SMN: Well, I would not want to speculate on what is going to happen yet, but the Olympic program is definitely one of the major issues that will be discussed, both at the coming EB meeting in May as well as for the Session, for the members to take the decision in September. I would not want to speculate on the different scenarios.

ATR: Is this the correct process for choosing the sports program, or do changes need to be made?

SMN: I would say that this was the process as decided. I’m sure there will be review of the process. This would be for the future.

ATR: What about your thoughts on the candidates for the 2020 Olympics as we enter these final four months until the host vote?

SMN: I think we have three excellent cities. Each will have its own unique proposition, but I believe based on the experience and the capabilities of the cities and the enthusiastic support they have from their populations, personally I believe that any one of the three will be able to host a fantastic Games. But I will want to wait until the IOC’s full Evaluation Report, and that’s what I believe most of the members will be doing as well.

ATR: What are you learning in terms of Sport for All? What is Singapore already doing, and what will you incorporate when you get back home from Lima?

SMN: Sport for All has always been a very important part of sports policy in Singapore. The government has always been concerned and putting Sport for All as one of their priorities. The people are our only resource, and the thinking is that sports would help to build fitness and character in the youth, and sports would also help with community bonding and nation-building. We are a multi-racial society with different religions and people living in peace and harmony, so sports play an important role, and Sport for All, in particular, is a foundation of the sports policy.

When I was chairman of Singapore Sports Council for 11 years, Sport for All was one of our cornerstones. What happened in Singapore is, firstly, we make sure there are sports facilities available to all Singaporeans. The sports facility masterplan was to make sure that within 3km of a major housing estate, you would have a sports complex – stadium, running track, field, indoor hall for different sports as well as an Olympic sized swimming pool. During my term as chairman of the sports council, we completed the masterplan for the whole of Singapore. This is in addition to the facilities that are built together with schools as well as those of clubs.

So the policy on the programming itself has continued since Singapore became a nation almost 50 years ago now. During my term as chairman, again, what happened was we refocused on Sport for All, we have imposed fitness tests for all Singaporeans on a regular basis – providing them with incentives such as hats, shirts and gadgets – and this was very well received by the public. What was good about this was it’s also on their own. They have their own initiative to pick up exercise, take up sports, go to the gym to reach that level of fitness so they could come in, take the test and pass the test. And the challenge is also you want to be a higher, higher, higher level of fitness.

In 1996, we launched the Sport for All program Sports for Life, so going beyond just encouraging people to take up sports, and our target was to have more than 50 percent of Singaporeans exercising regularly – at least three times a week. Singapore school has its own program for sports, physical education as well as extracurricular activities, and the different national federations also have on their own programs to promote their sports and encourage people to take up sports.

So overall, I think we have a very comprehensive program of promoting sports, and last year, the current Council launched Mission 2030, moving along the line that sports will continue to play an important part in developing physical fitness as well as contributing to society, community bonding, nation-building. And then together with our new sports hub we will be building next year, I think we will have almost every type of high-quality sports facilities we need. And a new initiative under the current Sports Council is also to launch a super-sports club so that the community would have this platform and focus point for them to learn different sports, take up sports, and even competitions.

And as a legacy of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, we have launched the Singapore Olympic Youth Festival. This, again, is another platform giving youth the opportunity to take part in sports as well as Culture and Education Program. Then again, this is in addition to all the school and national championships that are being held by the different national federations as well as regional and continental championships. So in a way, I would say even for competition and championships, elite sports are very much a part of Sport for All.

I think this Sport for All conference is really a very good program. There are some theories, but also a lot of practical examples, very inspiring examples. And I think what was also important is the IOC unveiling its youth strategy for the first time as presented [April 25] by Patrick Cholley. This is an important initiative, although at an early stage where it calls actually all stakeholders in the Olympic Movement to an issue in sports, and this also the recommendation of the 2009 Congress where the recommendation was that the Olympic Movement must strive to extend its remit and to increase its influence with young people across the world using sport as a catalyst for education and development, so I think then we should developing programs to encourage them not just to take part in competitive sports but engage in all sorts of sports and to practice sports for recreation. I think this is really a very important one.

Interview conducted in Lima by Matthew Grayson.

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