Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) has done her country proud by surging to second place in the women’s world golf rankings after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this month in Rancho Mirage, California. Having scored victories in major tournaments such as the McDonald’s Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Championship in 2008 and the LPGA Corning Classic last year, Tseng has undoubtedly boosted the profile of Taiwanese professional athletes on the international sporting stage.
One recent development revealed by her father, Tseng Mao-hsin (曾茂炘), however, may dishearten many of the nation’s sports fans and lead some to wonder whether the government is at all sincere when it — as recently as earlier this month in a promise reiterated by the Sports Affairs Council minister — speaks of fostering the development of the nation’s sports industry.
Tseng Mao-hsin on Sunday confirmed that China’s Huabin Group has made an offer of a five-year sponsorship contract worth US$25 million to his daughter. While the details are still under discussion, Tseng Mao-hsin added that his daughter, as a Taiwanese national, would prefer to collaborate with groups from Taiwan’s business community. However, no local sponsor has expressed such interest so far, he said. It is regrettable and downright discouraging to see the government as well as the Taiwanese business community fail to value world-class performers like Yani Tseng, who are assets to the country. Her plight is reminiscent of the one faced by billiards player Wu Chia-ching (吳珈慶), who has decided to apply for Singaporean citizenship because the Chinese Taipei Billiard Association could not offer him what Singapore has promised him.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), an avid jogger and swimmer himself, has often spoken of the importance of sports and how his government attached value to sports development. It is therefore confusing to see how the government would spend NT$3.9 billion (US$122 million) to build 150 new school swimming pools and renovate 150 existing ones in the next 12 years while being so unenthusiastic in extending a hand by spending US$25 million to help an athlete like Yani Tseng, whose performance has made her a prominent international professional athlete and helped pin Taiwan on the world map.
After all, many ask, what better way to put taxpayers’ money to good use than allocating it to events and programs that provide much-needed resources and support to the nation’s athletes and promote excellence in the sports arena?
It is disappointing that the government has seemingly resorted to a lazy approach when it comes to sports, in which it sits back and watches the players struggle on their own, then steals their limelight and credit and harvests their hard-earned glory when they achieve success.
The crux of the predicament is the government’s slothful attitude that on the one hand wishes for the nation’s players to perform well in international tournaments, while on the other is reluctant to offer assistance and the means for the cultivation and development of a star-in-the-making like Yani Tseng. Until such attitudes change, it won’t be long before another Wu Chia-ching or Yani Tseng is left with no option but to leave Taiwan for the survival of his or her sporting career.
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