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AsiaOne
02-05-2025
- Sport
- AsiaOne
60 times Singapore made the world take notice, Lifestyle News
Every so often, Singapore pops up on the global stage. These moments remind us that our Little Red Dot isn't just a blip on the map, but a force to be reckoned with. Whether it's flying the flag in unexpected arenas, helping other nations in need, or breaking new ground, Singapore continues to punch above its weight. Truth is, we have achieved so much across so many fields that it's impossible to list all our triumphs, but to celebrate Singapore's 60th birthday this year, we've rounded up 60 feats that show just how far Singapore and Singaporeans have come. Sports and athletics 1. Maximilian Maeder won the bronze medal in kitefoiling at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. He was only 17 years old, becoming Singapore's youngest Olympic medalist. [embed] 2. Yip Pin Xiu secured double golds in the 50m and 100m backstroke S2 at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, achieving this feat at three consecutive Games. [embed] 3. Jeralyn Tan clinched Singapore's first-ever boccia medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics with a silver in the women's individual BC1 event. [embed] 4. Farhanna Farid set her ninth deadlift world record in two years with a 209kg lift at the World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Jun 2024. [embed] 5. Darren Ong Wei Siong won the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Viper Championship in Mar 2025, becoming the first Singaporean to win a PBA Tour event. [embed] 6. Veronica Shanti Pereira won gold in the 200m sprint at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou (which was held on Sep 2023), and the 100m and 200m sprint at the 2023 Asian Championships in Bangkok. She also holds the 200m SEA Games record (22.69s) and the 200m Asian Championships games record (22.70s). [embed][embed] 7. Zeanne Law Zhi Ning was named the 2023 International Wushu Federation Wushu Taolu Rising Star of the Year. This was thanks to her gold medal win in Women's Taijiquan during her debut at the World Wushu Championships 2023 and securing the silver medal in the Women's Duilian event with teammates Kimberly Ong Li Ling and Zoe Tan Zi Yi. [embed] 8. Stephenie Chen qualified for the Paris Olympics in canoe sprint by finishing 3rd in the Women K1 500m event at the ACC Canoe Sprint Asian Championship in Apr 2024, marking Singapore's return to the sport since 2012. [embed] 9. Caroline Chew secured a spot in dressage at the Paris Olympics, continuing her trailblazing journey in equestrian sports after making history as the first Singaporean to compete in dressage at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. [embed] 10. Amita Berthier and Kiria Tikanah qualified for the Paris Olympics in fencing, representing Singapore in foil and epee respectively. [embed] 11. Shannon Tan earned a place in golf at the Paris Olympics, showcasing Singapore's growing presence in the sport. She secured a win on the Ladies European Tour at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in Feb 2024. [embed] 12. Saiyidah Aisyah qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics in rowing, continuing her legacy as Singapore's pioneering rower following her debut showing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. 13. Ryan Lo is the reigning sailing champion of the ILCA 7 class at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. He competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics. [embed] 14. Kabir Anurag became the first Singaporean to join Alpine's Formula One academy in Apr 2024 at 17 years old. The teenager currently competes in the Italian Formula 4 championships, the first stage of the pathway towards Formula One. 15. Loh Kean Yew became the 2021 Men's singles badminton champion, the first Singaporean to attain this feat. He recently won the bronze medal at the 2025 Badminton Asian Championships in Ningbo, China. [embed] 16. Soh Rui Yong is a two-time SEA Games gold medalist in 2015 (Singapore) and 2017 (Kuala Lumpur). He set the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a full suit, finishing the 2025 London Marathon with a time of 2 hours 39 minutes. 17. Feng Tianwei was conferred the David Dixon Award, becoming the first Singaporean and table tennis player to receive the outstanding athlete award at 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK. [embed] 18. The Singapore national football team reached the semifinals of the 2024 Asean Championship semifinals, losing to eventual winners Vietnam. Singapore last won this major Southeast Asian football tournament in 2012. [embed] 19. Lion City Sailors became the first Singaporean football club to reach the finals of an Asian club football continental tournament. They will play the 2025 ACL Champions League 2 finals against Sharjah FC. [embed] 20. Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Jahari served as a VAR official at the 2022 Qatar Fifa World Cup, the only Southeast Asian in the role. [embed] 21. Amanda Lee won the 2022 NPC Worldwide British Bodybuilding Championships, earning an IFBB pro card. In 2025, she finished 4th at the IFBB Pro Taiwan Pro Show and among the top 5 at World of Monsterzym 10 in South Korea. [embed] 22. Alice Shi, Rachael Leong, and Tara Nur Ibrahim represented Singapore in equestrian at the Princess's Cup 2022. Alice finished second in the individual category. [embed] 23. Singapore bowlers Shayna Ng and Cherie Tan won gold and silver respectively at the 2021 IBF World Bowling Championships in Dubai, Saudi Arabia. [embed] 24. The Singapore men's water polo team won gold at the 2023 SEA Games, while the Singapore women's water polo team competed for the first time at the World Aquatics Championships in 2024. [embed] 25. The Singapore women's hockey team won the 2025 Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia. [embed] 26. The Singapore skydiving team picked up four medals (one gold, two silvers and one bronze) at the 2025 World Indoor Skydiving Championships in Charleroi, Belgium. Arts and culture [embed] 27. Singer-songwriter Tanya Chua won Best Original Song at the 2024 Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards in Busan, South Korea for Learn To Live Again, the theme for Taiwanese drama Imperfect Us. [embed] 28. Homegrown botanical design studio This Humid House clinched first prize at the 2024 Flora International Flower Festival in Spain with their installation Between Magnolias. [embed] 29. Chai Yee Wei's Wonderland and Kelvin Tong's A Year Of No Significance were named Most Anticipated Chinese-Language Films at the 2024 Golden Rooster Awards. [embed] 30. Brandon Khoo became the first Singaporean and the first Asian nominated for the 2024 Drumeo Awards. He was nominated in the TikTok Drummer of the Year category. [embed] 31. Renee Yadav won first prize at the 2024 Korea International Harp Competition, outperforming 29 competitors from 12 countries in the Young Professional category. [embed] 32. Lakshmi Mohanbabu's sculptures were launched to the International Space Station in Mar 2022, set to be part of the Moon Gallery in 2025. 33. Shabir became the first Singaporean to sign with Sony Music India and had his song "Aayizhai" played across India on World Music Day, 21 Jun 2021. [embed] 34. Singapore Ballet has performed at Le Temps d'Aimer la Danse a Biarritz in France, Mexico's Festival Internacional Cervantino, Chang Mu Arts Festival in Korea, and Philippines Festival of Dance. [embed] 35. In September 2024, Singaporean conductor Wong Kah Chun was appointed the principal conductor and artistic adviser of the Halle, a 165-year-old symphony orchestra based in Manchester, UK. [embed] 36. Singapore showcased its visual arts prowess at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, marking its 11th participation. Tech achievements 37. Ella, a robot barista developed by Singapore start-up Crown Digital, is brewing coffee at Tokyo and Yokohama stations, two of the busiest railway hubs in Japan. Ella's prototype was completed in 2017 and the first version of the robot was unveiled at HOFEX 2019, a food and hospitality tradeshow in Hong Kong. [embed] 38. Singaporean company Trek 2000 International Limited created the ThumbDrive in 1996, a thumb-sized USB data storage device which revolutionised the way digital data was stored and transferred. They now make super secure biometric-encypted thumbdrives. [embed] 39. Singapore firm Creative Technology's Sound Blaster was introduced to the world in 1989. It became the standard for computer audio globally and spawned a range of progressively sophisticated sound cards. Even Michael Jackson was impressed when he saw it at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas, US that year. [embed] 40. Since releasing its flagship "Diamondback" gaming mouse in 2005, Razer - a Singapore-based tech company co-founded by Min-Liang Tan and Robert Krakoff - has become known for its computer hardware products and strong association with gaming and eSports. [embed] 41. Sea, founded in 2009, is a prominent tech company in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Its subsidiaries, Shopee, Garena, and SeaMoney, have made significant contributions to the region's tech landscape. [embed] 42. Carousell, founded in 2012 by a small team of three, is now the leading recommerce platform in Singapore and Southeast Asia. It has a presence in eight markets under different brands. 43. In response to the 2023 SARS outbreak, the Defence Science & Technology Agency teamed up with Singapore Technologies Electronics to conceptualise the world's first Infrared Fever Screening System. It can screen large groups of people for feverish individuals through thermal imaging tech at border checkpoints like airports. 44. Home-grown company XMI revolutionised the portable-audio scene by developing a new type of speaker: the X-Mini, in 2017. It was the first speaker that could fit in your pocket. Humanitarian efforts [embed] 45. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in 2023, Singapore has conveyed seven tranches of humanitarian assistance for Gaza [embed] 46. The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has provided aid around the world throughout the years, including the Myanmar earthquake in March 2025 and airlifting Afghanistan evacuees in September 2021. [embed] 47. Following Tropical Cyclone Trami in Oct 2024, the Singapore Red Cross dispatched humanitarian aid to affected communities in the Philippines, aiding in disaster relief operations. 48. Priveen Suraj Santakumar and Charanjit Singh Walia volunteered in Poland to aid Ukrainian refugees, earning a nomination for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2022. Culinary success [embed] 49. Chef Kenneth Foong took the helm as head chef at Denmark's four-time World's Best Restaurant, "Noma", in 2020. Under his leadership, the restaurant earned its third Michelin star and named in the top spot on the World's 50 Best list for the 5th time. In 2025, he became Director of Fermentation at "Noma". [[nid:541777]] 50. Chef Mathew Leong, executive chef of "Re-Naa" in Stavanger, Norway, was the only Singaporean named in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe. He also competed in the Bocuse d'Or Final 2025, the most prestigious culinary competition in the world. [embed] 51. "JL Studio" in Taiwan became the first three-Michelin-starred Singaporean restaurant in the world in August 2023. JL stands for Jimmy Lim, a Singaporean chef, who wanted to put Singaporean food on the world's culinary map. [embed] 52. Singapore's hawker culture was added to Unesco's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2020, acknowledging its significance in the nation's cultural identity. [embed] 53. Chef Julien Royer's "Odette", a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Singapore, has been rated as being one of the top restaurants in Asia, having received numerous awards, including winning first place in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2020. [embed] 54. 11 Singapore restaurants and bars were named in the World Luxury Restaurant Awards 2024, with two-Michelin-starred "Jaan by Kirk Westaway" at Swissôtel The Stamford even bagging the Global Restaurant of the Year award. More global recognition [embed] 55. Li Ling Yung-Hryniewiecki became the first Singaporean woman to swim across the English Channel in September 2022, completing it in 12 hours 54 minutes. [embed] 56. Daryl Tan holds 11 Guinness World Records for speedcubing, including solving the Rubik's Cube while juggling and underwater. No other person holds that many records in cubing. [embed] 57. Singapore Changi Airport was named the World's Best Airport for the 13th time at the 2025 Skytrax World Airport Awards, also securing awards for Best Airport Dining, Best Airport Washrooms, and Best Airport in Asia. [[nid:696227]] [embed] 58. Scoot was named 2024 Value Airline of the Year at the prestigious Air Transport World Airline Industry Achievement Awards. [embed] 59. Singapore climbed to 2nd place out of 67 countries in the 2024 IMD World Talent Ranking, making it the highest-ranked country in Asia. [embed] 60. In the 2025 World Happiness Report, Singapore ranked 34th globally, and the top spot for happiness in Southeast Asia. This article was first published in Wonderwall,sg .
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
‘The Spring King' Luis Perez, the most unlikely UFL QB, won't give up on NFL dreams
It's hard to talk Luis Perez out of anything, especially professional football. When a 10-year-old Perez had fun at a birthday bowling event, he put his mind to the sport, bowled 12 perfect games as an amateur and nearly joined the Professional Bowlers Association before college. When his football coach at Texas A&M-Commerce dominated Perez at the pool table, Perez came back after Christmas break and began beating his coach with bank shots he learned on YouTube. Advertisement So it didn't matter that Perez didn't play football in high school and had never been a quarterback. He taught himself throws (again, on YouTube), willed his way into college football and five different stints on NFL teams. He has been cut five times. But he won't stop. Perez is known as 'The Spring King' because he has played in nearly every spring pro league, trying to keep his NFL dream alive. He has the unique honor of having thrown the first touchdown pass in USFL 2.0, XFL 3.0 and UFL history. In some ways, the nickname is a backhanded compliment because he's still here and not there, on an NFL roster. Almost every spring, he plays well, gets an opportunity in an NFL training camp and then gets cut. Now 30, he's back with the Arlington Renegades of the UFL, again looking for that final big break. Through two games, he again leads the league in passing yards. He got himself this far and won't stop just yet. 'I know I can play at the highest level,' he said. 'I know with the right fit and the right opportunity, I'm going to excel. When you're that close, when you get to the NFL and play in preseason, you're right there, you see what's going on. Like, I belong here. I'm gonna keep going until I get it.' Every step of Perez's journey could be its own story. Growing up in San Diego, the son of a Mexican professional soccer player, he tried to join a youth football league but wasn't picked. His dad convinced the league to make an extra team of all the undrafted players, like a scene out of 'Little Giants.' The players used bouncy castles from his dad's party rental company as tackling dummies. The team lost its first game 50-0, Perez wrote in his new autobiography. His high school ran a wing-T offense, so he was put at tight end instead of quarterback. He quit to focus on bowling and put football behind him. Until, as a senior, friends on the football team convinced him to attend the senior day game. When he saw players run out of the tunnel, he got goose bumps, realizing he had to give football another shot. Perez unsuccessfully asked if he could join the high school team for the last two games. Advertisement But Perez paused his bowling career, saying he would have plenty of time for that when he was older, and he went to YouTube to study throws that winter and spring. He connected with former NFL quarterback Akili Smith, who was the uncle of a friend on the high school team. They met up at parks around San Diego. To Smith's surprise, this late-stage trainee had something. 'He didn't know footwork, stance, but he was always a natural thrower,' Smith said. 'I never really had to fix his throwing mechanics. Him getting on YouTube to learn the position, that's a testament to him wanting to be great.' Smith put in a word with Southwestern Junior College coach Ed Carberry. It took some convincing that this bowler, who had no game film, was worth a look. But as a junior college, Carberry took on all comers. Perez says he arrived late, so there weren't any helmets or pads that fit him. He wore a lineman's helmet and oversized pads until he got something that fit. 'I didn't give a crap what they were making fun of me for,' Perez said. 'I just wanted to play ball.' He was the ninth-string quarterback, not even high enough to get reps. 'He was getting the end of the bunch and lower than that,' Carberry said, 'because he wasn't ready to play at all.' But players began dropping out or getting hurt. And Perez was quickly getting better. By the end of camp, he was the No. 2 quarterback, and when the starter got injured in Week 3, in came Perez. The nerves took over. His first snap as a real quarterback was a delay of game. But he rebounded with a back-shoulder fade touchdown pass that surprised everyone. He was off and running. Perez often takes family members to the stadium or an open field to help him visualize plays. His mom caught curl routes at Southwestern. His wife, Brenda, still quizzes him on plays from a new playbook. Advertisement 'OK, I haven't seen that,' Carberry said. 'Everybody says they work, but not everybody is willing to put in that kind of time.' A broken leg ended Perez's first season, but he showed up to practice the next week in a cast, believing he could play. The next season, Perez led Southwest to a junior college division bowl championship, throwing 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions. NCAA college interest began to pick up. Perez said UC Davis offered, until the coaches realized his credits wouldn't transfer. Kansas, Oklahoma State and Old Dominion had walk-on spots, but he wanted a scholarship. So Perez turned back to the internet. Have any Division II quarterbacks made the NFL? He came across Dustin Vaughn from West Texas A&M. Vaughn's coaches were by then at Texas A&M-Commerce (now called East Texas A&M), so Perez reached out to get a look. Commerce coaches saw him during a swing through California junior colleges and offered. Perez redshirted his first season in Texas, finally able to learn without pressure. When Commerce played Ferris State in the Division II playoffs, Perez drove up to Michigan just to be on the sideline. By then, coach Colby Carthel knew Perez would be the team's next starting quarterback. Perez shined as a junior, throwing for more than 3,300 yards with 32 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Lions went 11-2 and reached the second round, losing to Grand Valley State. Everyone went home for Christmas, but not Perez. He and Brenda drove 10 hours through a blizzard to Kansas City to watch the national championship game his team wasn't in. Why? He wanted to feel the energy. He wanted to understand the layout of the stadium. He wanted to visualize the moment. 'I told her we're going to be here next year,' he said. It helped that the Lions opened the next year against North Alabama, which was playing in the game. Some extra scouting. To convince Brenda, Perez agreed to weeks of extra dish duty. Perez called Carthel from the stadium to say the team would be here in a year. Advertisement 'He gave me more confidence than I gave him,' Carthel said. 'That's who he was. He studied everything he had. He researched footballs on that trip and had us change our footballs because national champions used (another kind).' At Commerce, Perez set a strict no-partying rule for himself, with a twist: If someone invited him to a party, he would decline and instead do a workout. That could be footwork drills, work in the weight room, throwing or something else. 'In that moment, I'd have to go work out or go to the field,' Perez said. 'Even if it was 11 p.m., and I was going to turn the lights off.' As a senior, Perez created a 4 a.m. group workout, an idea he got from offseason training with Drew Brees in San Diego. It started with two players. It got up to 28 by the time the season started. To this day, Perez still does a 4 a.m. workout multiple times a week. It all paid off. Perez led Commerce to the 2016 Division II national championship. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, throwing for more than 5,000 yards. 'Luis was a spark, a leader everybody got behind,' Carthel said. 'That was special.' Perez hoped his success and relative upside would lead to him being drafted in 2018. That dream didn't materialize. Somehow, neither did an undrafted free agent contract. He had to go through a local camp tryout with the Los Angeles Rams before getting signed. His work ethic quickly made an impression. 'A couple times he kind of pissed me off because he beat me into the office,' coach Sean McVay joked in 2018. 'He's already in there studying tape. I'm like, 'What the heck are you doing in here already, man?' Really impressive.' Perez played in the preseason and was signed to the practice squad but was cut in September and began a cycle that continues to this day. Advertisement In 2019, he joined the Alliance of American Football on a tip from Chris Mortensen and played well before the league shut down due to financial issues. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles but was waived. Then he signed with the Detroit Lions and was waived again. In 2020, he joined the new XFL, began as a backup but took over a starting job, only to see the league shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he joined The Spring League and led the Jousters to the league championship game. In 2022, he went undrafted in the new USFL but signed with the New Jersey Generals and led the team to a 9-1 record while splitting reps. The Rams signed him again and then released him a month later. In 2023, he joined the third iteration of the XFL and led Arlington to a league championship, earning MVP honors in the title game and being handed the award by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Teams called, but a broken foot led to no NFL deal. In 2024, he returned with the Renegades in the UFL and led the league in passing yards and touchdowns with just four interceptions. The Los Angeles Chargers signed him, played him in the preseason and then cut him. So he's back in the UFL again, leading the league in passing again. He keeps coming back, keeps swinging, even at 30. 'He's as driven as anyone there is,' said Bob Stoops, the Renegades coach and a College Football Hall of Famer. 'He has a unique story. There'll never be another one like it.' 'I'm so close,' Perez said. 'Why am I going to stop right at the finish line? That's my thought process. I tasted the NFL last year. I'm back on teams' radars. I know I can do it.' Perez doesn't have another job. He trains full time and owns a rental property that brings in some income. After every season, he asks himself if he still enjoys waking up at 4 a.m. to work out and study. If his body feels good. If he's still playing at a high level. If he can still financially do this. To this point, he still can. Advertisement Smith knows the feeling. The former No. 3 NFL Draft pick in 1999, Smith decided after a 2007 season in the Canadian Football League to call it a career. 'It's hard to walk away,' he said. 'I was very emotional in Canada, but I knew it was time to move on. For Luis, it's not over yet, because he still has the will to prepare, his mind is where it needs to be, and he's having success.' The odds of Perez getting back are low. He knows that. But so have the odds for everything else Perez has done, and he has willed it all into existence. Bowling. College football. Pro football. He just keeps showing up. He's made it this far. How could he not believe in himself until the very end? 'He just outworks, outthinks, outprepares and outwills the competition,' Carthel said. 'He's been picked to be the backup a thousand times. Every time I look up, he's winning championships.'
