AFTER the euphoria of winning a medal at the Olympics, what worries me most about what lies ahead is Li Jiawei's announcement that she will be studying at Beijing University and playing for the school's women's table- tennis team in October.

For her to say this right after winning a silver medal for Singapore perhaps shows a feeling of insecurity on her part.

As she herself has said, she has been playing for Singapore all these years and is getting tired. Li also feels that she has neglected her studies.

What are Singapore's plans for Li? What exit strategy do we have for her?

At the Team Singapore homecoming event at Raffles City on Monday, one man in attendance who did not get much attention was Mr Tan Howe Liang, Singapore's first and only individual Olympic medal-winner.

To the few who went up to him and asked for his autograph, he jokingly asked for a dollar for each autograph.

Li may have been asking herself: Is this how I will end up?

Forget our sports school, our sports programmes and our hunt for foreign talent. The way we treat a national hero like Mr Tan speaks the loudest.

Mr Chiang Ming Yu

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