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By Chia Han Keong
THE cameras flashed incessantly amid the cheering crowd at Changi Airport Terminal 3 last Thursday – so much so that Paralympic medallists Yip Pin Xiu and Laurentia Tan winced and turned away at times.
The duo had returned from Beijing, together with the Singapore Paralympic team, with the nation's best harvest – a gold and a silver from Pin Xiu in swimming, and two equestrian bronzes from Tan.
They displayed much grace and patience under the media glare, but their wondrous attitude tells only half the story.
The duo have physical handicaps that make daily routines seem like arduous tasks.
Despite this, and the fact that they went further by excelling in their chosen sports, sponsors are still not forthcoming to raise their monetary rewards to match those of Olympians.
Pin Xiu gets $100,000 for her Paralympic gold. The women's table-tennis Olympic team, who won a silver last month, received $750,000.
Surely, just as local sponsors found enough resources to support this week's Formula One race, they can also put some parity between the Olympic and Paralympic monetary rewards.
Just as Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei thrilled Singaporeans with their hard-earned silver, Pin Xiu and Tan have also captured the hearts of all who saw their feats.
All deserve similar pats on their backs.
Let's hope local sponsors will display similar sentiments.
hankeong@sph.com.sg
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