《名将之约》：李佳薇
August 27, 2008 
奥运2008
When the whole Singapore was overjoyed with the achievement of our female table tennis team clinching the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic, ending our nation’s 48 years drought of winning an Olympic medal, there was this interview on CCTV with 李佳薇.
So, what are foreign talents thinking? What’s actually in their mind?
I really wonder…
At 26:36
Host ask: 你对自己有这样的期待吗?
Her answer: 希望在2008,我自己又是个北京人,又是中国人,我希望能在自己的本土,自己的地盘
上,能够取得一枚奖牌…
feel kinda sad with her reply… or is it me that I think too much…
Comments
No u didn think too much, Wad she said is pretty oblivious… =D
3 yearss agojust take it as she is just another xiao long nu…trying to mine gold in our homeland…. & here we make use of her to get us the medal…
3 yearss agoYup….totally agree with justina.
3 yearss agoIm kinda disappointed with her reply.
26:34 hours means 02:34 hours? I thought one day got 24 hours?
Anyway, I’m also quite disappointed of what she say. She holding a PINK IC in SG not BLUE IC yet she still give such answer…
( 26:34 means at 26mins 34sec of the video… From 22 )
3 yearss agoit’s weird.. they always claim they are proud to be singaporeans.. proud to be here and stuffs, to be able to do the country proud, but they say and think otherwise some time later?
3 yearss agoya i was disappointed as well
3 yearss agoi posted about that in my august 21 post also!
Hmm. Afterall she’s a chinese national. I thought she just meant to say that she hope to win a medal in her 本土 and 地盘?
3 yearss agoThat medal could be for singapore? No?
definitely disappointed..her heart is not here in sin.. the only pulling power is $$$$$ for her to stay..
3 yearss agothe host must be dumbfounded
china people despise her for betraying her motherland. so in order to win back their heart, she must say this to reassure them she still considers herself as zhong guo ren.
and now with this, singaporeans despise her even more!
anyway, in both case, lose-lose situation. LJW should learn diplomatic PR skills.
it’s best she gets out of singapore immediately…otherwise, who knows one day someone will throw a rotten egg at her when she is shopping outside
3 yearss agoto add on…
I thought LJW’s million dollar contract requires her to tell everyone she is a singaporean when asked. perhaps she forgot this is her job? or does she think since she’s on vacation so she can do anything and say anything she like?
maybe our beloved government should make all foreign import talent undergo a one month intensive course everyday repeating “I am a Singaporean. I am a Singaporean………”
3 yearss agoShe plays table tennis wearing a jersey with SIN printed on it.
3 yearss agoShe represents Singapore, yet such an answer.
It’s really pretty disappointing.
i thought li jiawei response to the interview was correct.She is born in china and china is her root. she should饮水思源 and remember that china had trained her foundation in table tennis for her to play for singapore and bring glory through competition.(which she had achieved).Actually she is in a very difficult position.Once,she said that as a singaporean……,she was slammed by china peple,now she said as beijing ren…,singaporean not happy,then what your want her to say?During the olympics match,when li jiawei lost the bronze medal for singapore which she greatly desire,tears rolled down her face.People might said that she cry because of the money,but why should she do that.Her family is rich,why would she care for such a little amount.(this is just my opinion,no offense)
3 yearss agomy first time writing on this blog.
one should not erased e fact that jiawei was originally from beijing..
3 yearss agopersonally i feel that she is grateful to spore for what she has got today but..
deep down she’s aware that beijing is where she was borned.. no doubt about it..
perhaps emotion got over her head when she’s back in beijing and..
that explained why e speech.. nonetheless the true warrior deserved our respect and appreciation..
what do you say..
Thanks DK for explaining the meaning! =P
3 yearss agoAgreed with SY. I felt that what Li Jiawei say in the interview is very corret. Being a Singaporean now does not erase that fact that she is born in China and China is her root. Dont Chinese in Singapore say their race is Chinese too? Maybe a local born chinese will say that as well. “As a chinese, will be happy to win a medal in China.” Whatever it is, i felt one should 饮水思源 and never forget where are they from. Or you guys think that those Chinese (Race) that dont even know how to speak english is greater? A Singaporean that went oversea after they graduate and never acknowledge themselve as Singaporean is greater?
By the way, the national language in Singapore is Malay. So does that mean that those that does not how to speak Malay are not loyal to Singapore?
3 yearss agoI believe its all because of $$$ … I always rememebered a newspaper article i come across …. saying .that she is not that rich .. her ex husband *i think ( the famous badminton player) who is a indo .. more richer . then i also heard that he pay for her quite a lot of stuff like house & car.. in the end she also wanna fight her share back ($$$ face) ..’i also hear a gossip saying that she break up with him due to mother / family object a lot of things .. maybe she “dig the gold mine” too much ! ~
So i believe she cry as she never win cos … no money lor .. haii….
anyway .. these are all gossips .. don’t know who can verify
3 yearss agoi felt it’s normal for her to say that.
lets see, she been in SG for so long but what cannot be erased is that she is from China, Beijing.. imagine yourself being in another country for so long yet you cant win something for your own country but you are actually fighting all out for another country. if it was to be you, what will you feel?
afterall she’s still a human. 想家，为国(her homeland)争光, who dont want? who doesnt want to be feel a hero in their own homeland.
i think Singaporean should just be grateful for having her to win a SIlver medal instead on focusing on what she said. Afterall.. she did fight in the name of Singapore for a long time. 无功也有劳啊!
but i think Zhang Yi Ning really rocks the table tennis world. lolx. she really pro!!
3 yearss agoI visited Tungism blog. There’s a picture which the newscasters took with 冯天薇and 王越古. They are 黄秀玲(Born in Singapore), 林启元(Born in Taiwan), 王征(Born in China) and 董素华(Born in Malaysia).
Think…
We never have problem accepting these foreign talents. Why are we always nagging about this issue with the table tennis players?
For 李佳薇, 冯天薇and 王越古, this country provides them the conditions to carry on their career in the sport they love. They just need to answer their critics with the result and do not need to voice their loyalty every time. Remember the “never-say-die” look in Feng’s eyes? The “never-give-up” attitude is what she reminded us we need to be strong in our lives. This, I salute her for the strong message. Thank you!
P.S. I just hope 李佳薇can be more determined in each game. She need a bit more boost of our “kiasu” attitude. Can anyone at STTA impart that to her???
3 yearss agothe real meaning of being a singaporean is not just a pink ic or blue ic…. if one don’t recognise your nationality within your heart, there is no point arguing of whether is she a china national or a singaporean…All these lies within one’s self.
3 yearss ago她应该这样说：我又是中国人，又是新加坡人，我希望代表这两个国家，在自己生长的土地上，能够取得一面奖牌。
3 yearss ago这样才不会得罪双方
the situation is something like symbiosis??? singapore and ljw both have their own benefits after all. actually i dont think that ljw is here with the sole reason of digging gold. if she is still in china, maybe she wouldnt even have the chance to compete in all these international games till now, since there are so many better ones. since she is here, we trained here and she managed to go to the front line. and yet singapore manage to get a medal. why not? i think there isnt right or wrong as both parties got what they want
3 yearss agoI also find what she said is correct, this is facts, couldn’t denie it, she was born in China and her origin is there & she spent her child hood there, how could she just forget abt.it ? Singapore brought her over to represent our country to play Table Tennis, this is just like anyone else working overseas for salary, nothing wrong in her actually, don’t ask her to go back, otherwise, Singapore will never have won a Silver medal in Beijing Olympic 2008 !. Be greatful and Thankful to LJW.
3 yearss agoideas : i dont think we never had problems accepting foreign talents..its just whether u hear those voices & complains about them or not
3 yearss agotake it easy dude, did she say she’s not singaporean?
我自己又是个北京人, (i myself is a beijinger) nothing wrong…
又是中国人 (and Chinese ) again nothing wrong…
By the way, she’s won a silver for singapore, not China…..
3 yearss ago她讲错话了。
3 yearss ago没办法，
一言既出 ，驷马难追。
讲话还是要三思的!
yeah, kind of contradict? yes, she’s from china.. but representing singapore to get a medal..
3 yearss agoah wadever.. =/
honestly i dont mind her saying that.
3 yearss agobecause the medal she meant might be for Singapore. which is… since she is not in the position of winning a medal for China.
So what if she’s really after our money? After all, aren’t we ‘using’ her to win medals too? If you feel that she is not loyal to us, ask yourself this question, are we loyal, so as to speak, to her in the first place?. Between Athens 04 and Beijing 08, we Singaporeans did not really give a shit about how tough were they training. No media coverage was on them, not even to mention if any moral support were given to her by us. When it is time for her to represent us in Beijing 08 four years later, all these so call supporters ‘suddenly’ resurfaced. The support was even stronger when they managed to clinch the silver medal. So much for being supportive eh? I really find the welcoming session at raffles city by their supporters a huge joke.
Let’s say they did not win any medals this time round. We Singaporeans will definitely say that they it is their fault that they have destroyed our dreams of clinching a medal after 48 years and are wasting our country’s resources. Now that they won, we say they are not loyal to us. What’s wrong with us Singaporeans? What do we want!
Superficial and materialistic? Look who’s talking.
3 yearss agoMeanboys. not sure which article u read. But it is totally opposite of what i read here
3 yearss agohttp://www.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory200807170036-41589.html
Hmm.. Actually i don’t know why this statement that she said can create such a big hooha.
To me i think they due to the fact that people have a certain mindset towards her as a FT already, no matter what she say, people will have things to judge and criticize.
In my opinion, i do not think it’s incorrect for her to say that. Furthermore she could mean that as she’s born in Beijing and the games is being held there. Wining a medal will be more meaningful. And she could show to the people in China that she is able to make it to the world stage after leaving china…
Chill k…
3 yearss agoFrankly speaking, she did help us win the silver medal, not to forget the other foreign talents too. And the fact that she was born in Beijing and was a citizen of China, seems ironic in this situation. Singapore won a silver medal, but it wasn’t won by a singaporean. What can we do besides rejoicing over it and ignore the fact that she mentioned that she is from China and that Beijing is her hometown? In my opinion, getting a silver medal that day, wasn’t really a super magnificent joyous moment, since it were the foreign talents who helped us. We kind of used them and they used our country’s resources. One-for-one advantage for both parties.
And for this video, maybe she forgot to think and say properly and she couldn’t change what she said after that. Oh well. She contradicted herself man. Maybe she should have said something like, being born in Beijing and trained in Singapore, I wish to get a medal.. .blah blah.
3 yearss agoActually it’s not a big deal even if she won a silver medal for singapore.
3 yearss agoIt’s like so what?? it’s china-chinese who won it for us. it’s not singaporean who won it for our own country.
Nth much to be proud of.
Yet, the govt is willing to spend so much money on them than on us, the real singaporeans.
Gladys, the reason why the government is spending so much on foreign talent is because we do not have athletics who are good enough AT THE MOMENT to represent us at international level. If they are good enough to represent Singapore, why would we spend so much money on foreign talents? It just makes no sense isn’t it? Please do not get me wrong, I am not trying to say that Singapore athletics are incompetent, it is just that Singapore has started focusing on developing its sports scene not long ago, it will definitely take sometime before our athletics can rise up to the occasion and do our country proud. When this day comes, we would not have to depend on foreign talents anymore.
Plus, before we comment that these foreign talents do not regard Singapore as their homeland and are not loyal to us, have we actually regard them as part of us? All of us, up to this point, still regard them as Chinese nationals. If we do not accept them, even if they would very much want to part of us, how are they going to do so?
3 yearss agoto meanboys:
3 yearss agoI thought it is directly opposite of what u read and wrote,li jiawei is the first person who earn many millions just by playing sports.As for her pay,ronald susilo only got 1/3 of hers…and li jiawei is someone who dun noe how to manage her fiances,she paid for most of the dates with ronald susilo,and sign all the cheques when ronald wrote the amount.In conclusion,li jiawei is the one who is richer and spend more money on ronald.
i meant cash not cheque.But meanboys is right,as li jiawei’s parents object to ronald and her marriage or they were never engaged(but some news said they were engaged)
3 yearss agoActually,I look more forward to the day when a olympics medal will be won by a true blue singaporean.
3 yearss agoi agreed with derevoli.
3 yearss agoTo tell u,it will come true but not in near future,especially in table tennis(it is suppose to be china’s game).So u can just sit back and wait for the moment to come,happy waiting.
3 yearss agoI don’t feel anything wrong on what she said.
3 yearss agoSingaporen are just too lucky…. never experience 离乡背井, 不能体会她的心情……..
guys guys, u noe y singapore government are doing that? because they focus too much on studies for singaporeans. unlike china, where they can be trained since young. However i heard(dunno whether real or fake) olympics will be banning countries from getting foreign country sportsmen soon
which means, after this batch, no more foreign sportsman, and which means, maybe another 48 yrs without medals ! :/ LoL. Wells.. . lets jus say this oylmpic, for table tennis, its china vs china with jus diff country flags ^^
3 yearss agoIt might be unacceptable for the rest that she replied as so but then, it’s natural for her to feel & react that way. Even when i was watching the part when they award the medals, somehow i felt a mixture of feelings too and i guess probably that’s what she has felt too.
3 yearss agoYes i agree with what Henry said.Both the singapore government and singaporean parents are focusing on the studies for the children.But that isnt something bad either.I mean…just look at china,how many of the young kids are training so hard everyday,at the same time giving up their studies,but yet how many of them actually get to compete on an international level eventually?And for those who dont manage to do so,what will happen to their future?It just happen that it is really impossible to balance both sports and studies.Even the sports school in singapore is placing a lot more emphasis (compared to china i guess) on studies.We just have to be realistic.I mean,singapore wont “die” without having olympics medals but we sure will if we try to train so many sportsmen,losing the talents in other areas as a result.
and to sy: yes i understand that it probably wont take place in the near future but that doesnt mean we cant look forward to the day when we can truely feel proud of our flag raising in the prize ceremony,no?
3 yearss agoQuite dissapointed with her ans…Her heart is still in china…
3 yearss ago(No offences…Sorry if I offended anyone..)
I think we shld really focus on ppl that are really a SINGAPOREAN… So that we wont have this kind of problem….Something that i wont deny is, she is really good in table tennis.
Becos of her, Singapore is being noticed by the world…
ok. she’s “Singaporean”, but her origin is China. we can change our citizenship, but we can’t change our origin.
3 yearss agowell, she’s Singaporean, holding Pink IC, but does she look like Singaporean? she still has the typical Chinese look what! what can we do? holding Pink IC means nothing and of course not what she really wants the most. it’s just a pass for her to stay here and earn $ here and enjoy more privileges for working for Singapore.
So, regarding her answer, dun need to feel surprise. play for Singapore, it’s just a job. nothing else.
LJW was born in Beijing, becomes Singaporean and wants to acknowldge her roots by saying she is “Beijing ren”! On the other hand, Vanessa Mae born in Singapore, becomes British citizen and obviously loathes it when people suggests that she was orginally “Singaporean”. She was reported several times in the press that “she’s merely born in Singapore…that’s all, that doesn’t make her a Singaporean”! Which is more despicable?
Anyway to those who get all emotional about LJW’s interview, why don’t you ensure that you brother or sister, or your children, or grandchildren train hard in a sport (or table tennis) to represent Singapore in the Olympics in years to come, then we don’t need to debate on this le
3 yearss agoAt the end of the day, if Singaporeans can do it why would they wanna spend money on foreign talents?
3 yearss agoYou have to understand something..
Singaporean Chinese consider themselves as 华人…never 中国人
there is a very big difference..
3 yearss agoer, boy, can you spell check and correct your grammar before you post, can? pls!
3 yearss agosorry, one more thing, i oso wan to geh poh and pos my view lah. i think hor, may be the whole ting is a drama lor, you see she lao liao, cannot marry singapore men liao coz name chao liao mah after the high profile dumping of sueseelor and fight over their assets and debt, so must balek china oredy, then how to tell big boss leh? so, she found a ‘good friend’ to help her put up a show lah, say getting married lah, maybe next episode pregnant lah, and then parent old and sick lah, so must go back to china lah… blaa blaa blaa… then, scarly back to china oredy, wah, can play for beijing oredy… hubby? where got hubby, personality not compatible and split oredy…. by then, she coverted $500k into Rmb2.5m oredy…. can start her own biz sia? tio bo? tis is only imagination lah, no basis wan, so dont come and look for me ok!!! i got disclaimer wan!
3 yearss ago