I refer to “I’m Sorry, Singapore”, “Sombre faces as crisis ends” and “Sports fans say it’s a gracious apology”, articles from August 30th’s edition of the Straits Times.
The recent episode concerning Ms Lee Bee Wah and her publicized announcement regarding the Singapore Table Tennis Association has got everybody talking. As part of an interview with the press, Ms Lee had mentioned that team manager Anthony Lee would be replaced and that head coach Liu Guodong’s future with the association would also be uncertain.
The Singaporean audience lapped up the drama and controversy, mainly because of the timing of her announcement, method of delivery and the incidences prior to her announcement.
This incident received so much buzz because Singaporeans were in a post-Olympic hype, having watched intently as the nation’s table tennis team played for an Olympic medal. Alas, after the medal was provided, our first in 48 years, celebrations were on the way and the Singaporean public celebrated along with the national team.
In the peak of these high spirits, Ms Lee Bee Wah made her announcement. This spelt grave news to the national team and labeled Ms Lee as an extreme party-pooper. She is being so critically scrutinized because she had bad timing, and did not take kairos into account.
Kairos is an aspect of rhetoric to emphasize that effective communications called for the sender to recognize the opportune occasion for speech, including place and time. The announcement was untimely because the people were still very much in the hype of the nation’s Olympic medal victory. Also, the bad news to Anthony Lee and Liu Guodong was rendered to them indirectly. Ms Lee should not have used the media as the channel for her message, given that the nature of the news. In this way, her method of delivery is also questionable. The public started to pin-point, and questioned if Ms Lee had made a rash decision.
The article “I’m Sorry, Singapore” shows that Ms Lee recognizes the negative sentiments resulting from her announcement. She apologizes for “causing any grievances and stress.” In another article, “Sports fans say it’s a gracious apology”, Ms Lee’s apology was regarded as “a gracious gesture” and many noted figures like Woffles Wu and Mr Chong Tee, a former Member of Parliament, agreed that the episode had ended and that it was time to move on.
I also noted from “I’m Sorry, Singapore” that Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports had intervened as part of damage control. Dr Balakrishnsn stepped in as an authority figure and assures the public that this matter is being taken care of. The article mentions that “he urged Singaporeans to trust in what the association was doing”, aiding in the Singapore Table Tennis Association’s credibility.
The picture shown in “Sombre faces as crisis ends” aptly depicts the members of the table tennis association as wanting nothing more than for the episode to come to a close.
