George Lim does it again

Frolicking gymnasts' bare antics a real eyesore

I TOOK my preschool daughter to Bishan Sports Hall last Saturday morning for her weekly gymnastic training. There were women and children there for various activities. In their midst was a team of seven young men and their coach using the gymnastic equipment.

From the start of the team's routine, five young men were practically semi-nude. They were bare-chested and wore loosely fitted knee-length trunks that exposed their pelvic bones below the waistline. They strutted and pranced in their scant garments that covered only the anatomy between the lower waist and the kneecaps.

The team frolicked and tumbled in the hall, oblivious to the parents and children around them. I grimaced as they swung vigorously on the pommel horse, and risked slipping out of their loose trunks. Even worse, as they gripped the rings and the parallel bars, it did not take much gravity to expose their pubic area to the children. It was an eyesore to onlookers as the young men trampled on their modesty in public.

Bishan Sports Hall has been the de facto venue of the Singapore Open Gymnastics Championships for a number of years. It is also the proposed venue for the gymnastics competition events of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010. It is the key gymnastic competition site for the Asian Youth Games.

I, therefore, urge the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports to do something about those who bare their torsos without any regard for other users. Perhaps, the authorities should impose a minimum dress code that ensures decency.

Sports that allow male athletes to train semi-nude are swimming, water polo, windsurfing and sumo wrestling. But gymnastics is a sport that requires proper leotards for women and body-fitting singlet and shorts or tights for men.

George Lim

ST Forum (Online), 29 June 09

Although I'm far from being gymnastically-inclined, obviously you need mobility to move or swing or jump or whatever it is these guys were doing. (I do know that much.) So what's George Lim's problem? It's a sports facility, obviously people aren't going to be in tuxedos. I'm quite sure no one else could be bothered; I mean, the weather's hot, your mind's focused on training, I'm sure they weren't gratuitously flashing, so who cares? He should call the police next time if he feels so offended (I'm sure they'll laugh him out of town). Or take his daughter to a posh air-conditioned kiddy gym.

And if you read his letter it becomes clear that he was observing them pretty darn closely. He describes these guys' pants in two different ways: "loosely fitted knee-length trunks that exposed their pelvic bones below the waistline"; "scant garments that covered only the anatomy between the lower waist and the kneecaps". He even describes how they "risked slipping out of their loose trunks" and how "it did not take much gravity to expose their pubic area".

I think he's got a vivid and disturbed imagination, his wife should be careful about letting him into areas where he can see young men, and the BG has a competitor (and possibly new ideas on where to stalk O.o)

This guy would obviously feel very much at home in Saudi Arabia or Iran. I wonder why ST even gratifies him by printing or posting up his crackpot letters. And I hope MCYS doesn't feel compelled to provide a reply.

I'm going to make a new label just for this sort of post. It's called Idiocy.