June 10, 2009 Wednesday, 10:47 PM
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davelim8850

Yesterday, 10:31 AM

{It is also not helped by people like Dudley Au and Lee Chiu San who pontificate, and offer ill-informed opinions from the comforts of their armchairs}

I agree. They remind me of the journalists who wrote so-called ‘in-depth reports’ on the American invasion of Iraq, while safely ‘embedded’ in the studios back in the U.S. LOL!

P.S. Journalists who travelled together with U.S. soldiers into combat were said to be ‘embedded’ with the troops.

June 10, 2009 Wednesday, 10:37 PM
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Ask 100 mountain climbers why they climb and you may end up with 100 different answers. There are climbers who do it purely for recreation. They don’t blaze new trails, they stick to a path that has been trodden to death and they choose the easiest, safest, most straighforward and comfortable route.

There are also climbers who are all out to break a speed record, climbers who want to prove their training methods to the world, climbers who climb to do scientific studies, climbers who climb for a living and even climbers who climb to harvest wild herbs or dig for treasures. This group of climbers are certainly not just on an expedition of self discovery.

At another end of the spectrum, there are climbers who deliberately go off the beaten track, trying out unclimbed routes or peaks. Some do it alpine style, without any support from local porters and guides. There are as many kinds of climbers as there are candy in a candy store. Even within the fraternity, climbers themselves argue about what is real climbing, what is mountain tourism, who is a real mountaineer and who is a wannabe.

It would be difficult to convince the public that no personal glory is involved. There are numerous real and armchair mountaineers who admire, glorify or even idolise legendary climbers like Reinhold Messner and Ed Viesturs. These fans buy their books, videos and equipment they endorse. Films, documentaries and publications on mountaineering may not do as well as football, but they are highly marketable on a global scale. The fact that a majority of people on a little red dot don’t give a damn about mountaineering history or mountaineers’ profiles doesn’t mean that the news and history they make are useless. We can only say that there is no market in Singapore.

Some years ago, I was involved in a debate on whether public funds should only be used for supporting and awarding local publications that can be classified as serious high brow literature. I feel that the poor reading habits in Singapore cannot be banished simply by giving the high brow stuff more recognition and exposure. Support from writers must come from readers, period. Were the high brow writers able to connect with the average Singaporean?

Similarly, even though I love climbing, pumping public funds into mountaineering expeditions will not develop the sport adequately. Can mountaineers, in spite of their “spirit of adventurism, daring, collaboration and enterprise”, connect with the average man on the street and get him interested in their expedition reports? If the answer is yes, then there is something that mountaineers can do about the current situation.

June 10, 2009 Wednesday, 12:02 AM
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Lee Chiu San named Safra as a public organization whose public funds were used by the All-Ladies Everest team.

The following is an extract of the acknowledgment by the said team:
Title Sponsor: National Assocoation of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS)
Main Sponsors: TruMarine, Lee Foundation
Supported by: Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO)
Official Health Supplement: Centrum
Official Eyewear: Smith Optics
Gear Sponsor: Marmot
Training Venue Supporter: SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre
Product Sponsors: SingTel, SilkAir, Yeo’s, BUFF, PowerBar, Polar, Kyocera, Greenpac, NPE, Sin Mue Mue
Suppporting Organisations: Singapore Sports Council, National Youth Council, Singapore Mountaineering Federation, National Library Board, People’s Association Youth Movement, Singapore Pools, Tote Board, Central Narcotics Board
Cash Sponsor: Hyflux
SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre ( a branch of Safra) was the training venue supporter. Readers can assess if indeed public funds ( held by Safra) had been used by the said Everest team.

June 10, 2009 Wednesday, 12:00 AM
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Says who!!!!………………not personal glory …. chinbuaysong !!!

Didn’t the women want to prove that women are far more superior and capable than the men …. buaytahan ..!!!

Get the “girls” to serve their National Service obligation ….just like the “boys” ….. cannot have gender
discrimination leh !!!!!

Look at Orchard Road and any disco hangouts ……. see how these young girls are behaving …publicly ??????
seepeibuaytahan ……!!!

Hence, the best solution is to draft these young girls into the “army” and discipline “them” and later “ORD” ……I am convince that these young girls will “groom” to be useful citizens ……. buaytahan ….!!!

June 09, 2009 Tuesday, 11:08 PM
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The letter by Dr Robert Goh, Lulin Reutens and Edwin Siew reflects the most balanced and logical comments on mountaineering to date. They have some credibility, as people who have been there, and speak with a maturity that I wish could be shown in the majority of online posts. They are right in saying that mountaineering and competitive sports are as difficult to compare as apples and oranges. You do the former for self discovery and self satisfaction. The latter, while also offering the same personal benefits, can more easily attract commercial sponsorship. Having been sponsored, and been a manager with authority to grant sponsorship myself, I know that it is possible to justify to directors, and ultimately to the shareholders who paid my salary, sponsorship of a winning team using our products. Extrapolating this to mountaineering, it would be possible to justify to sponsors why they should contribute towards our team being the first on Everest. Unfortunately, that opportunity has passed. Anyone wanting to climb that mountain today does it for personal satisfaction. For that, contributions can only be collected in good conscience from personal friends. Remember that as far as commercial sponsors are concerned, the business of business is business. And with regard to public funds, the government’s duty is to spend these for the best benefit of the most Singaporeans, not to let a small group go on a trip of self discovery. As for “Grandfather” asking what public funds were used, if Safra is not a public organisation, what is it?