Elite male athletes serving NS eligible for Sports Excellence Scholarship from this year

SINGAPORE: Elite male athletes can now look forward to more financial and training support under the Sport Excellence Scholarship while serving their National Service from this year.

Previously, athletes were not eligible for the scholarship while serving NS.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong made the announcement on Wednesday (Apr 12) at an event held at the National Stadium to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the scholarship.

"We see many of our athletes go through National Service and continue to fly the flag whilst they are in National Service. We want to make a commitment to recognise them even as they go through National Service,” he said.

“We will support them to remain competitive,” he added.

From this year, Sport Excellence scholars who are entering NS will remain on the scholarship programme as long as they continue to deliver and perform, he added.

Under the programme, scholars receive monthly allowances of up to around S$8,000, as well as support in education, sports science and nutrition.

The revision will see national swimmers Quah Zheng Wen, Darren Chua, and Jonathan Tan return to the programme.

They had relinquished their scholarships upon enlistment. Mr Tong highlighted Mr Zheng in particular, noting that he has been a Sports Excellence Scholarship recipient for nine years. He enlisted in NS in 2021 when his deferment period ended, Mr Tong noted.

Singapore Sports Institute chief Su Chun Wei said that the change signals Singapore’s commitment to both NS and the sporting aspirations of athletes.

“We can continue to monitor them, support them and the transition out of NS will be more seamless and they can continue to perform well at the kind of levels that we want them to be, at the Asia or the