A tale of two #MeToos in Hong Kong and Singapore athletics
Inspired by a Hong Kong athlete’s decision to speak out about sexual abuse, Singaporean hurdler Kerstin Ong took a similar step. The response she received shows the Lion City’s sport bodies have been left on the starting blocks
When a Hong Kong athlete went public with claims her coach had sexually abused her when she was a teenager, her case prompted a flood of support from the public and fellow athletes, praise from sports officials for her bravery, and an intervention by the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, to ensure swift police action.
Yet when a Singapore hurdler emboldened by the athlete’s example and the #MeToo movement spoke out in similar fashion this year, she found herself labelled an “attention seeker” and ostracised by fellow athletes – even those who had once shared her complaints against her coach.
In a case that highlights the difference in approach of sport governing bodies in the two cities, hurdler Kerstin Ong watched as her case became bogged down by political infighting and a lack of protocol for investigating sexual misconduct.
An investigation by This Week in Asia has found that the problems Ong faced in reporting her complaints have dogged the national sports association Singapore Athletics for years, culminating in police cases against two coaches accused of sexual harassment and molesting teenagers, one of whom is on trial and remains listed as one of the association’s vice-presidents.
The culture in Singapore is that you don’t speak up against your coach, it’s seen as disrespectful
Interviews with athletes, coaches and officials suggest not only that contests of power between rival factions at Singapore Athletics disrupted an investigation into Ong’s allegations, but that even today, there is a culture of silence and a lack of a procedure for reporting abuse, leaving other athletes potentially at risk.
NEW COACH
