Marc Lim ponders double standards on what's a Singapore medal.

IT'S a celebration of the best the sporting world has to offer.

Every four years, the best athletes gather for this extravaganza they call the Olympics.

Incredible, inspirational tales of overcoming adversity, of pushing oneself to the limit are played out in arenas. Medals are the targets, but each athlete's sheer presence at the Olympic is a victory in itself, for he represents the best his country has to offer.

Yet how proud will we feel if Singapore's women's table tennis team wins a medal? How proud will we be if the No. 2 ranked women's team in the world brings back a silver to mirror the one won by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang at the 1960 Games – Singapore’s one and only medal to date?

Well, according to an ST online survey, nine in 10 Singaporeans would say: “No, thanks.”

A whopping 95 percent of the 3,108 people polled by this evening said they won’t feel any pride if the Singapore team, made up of all China-born players, came back with a medal. Three per cent didn't care; while only two per cent said they would.

Are Singaporeans suddenly developing a conscience when it comes to embracing foreign- born athletes?

It seems strange when we're a nation which loves our football – and only when it's not local.

Ask any Singaporean who his favourite football team is and the answer is usually Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Pubs bring in brisk business during football season. But it is not the local S-League, but the English Premier League which draw thousands of fans, glued to a projection screen watching footballers they think they know, but whom not one Singaporean can relate to.

When Man U won the Champions League in May, hundreds of Singaporeans celebrated, wearing the red of United and shouting "We did it".

We?

We, as it Ang Mo Kio-born Tan Ah Kow the hawker, alongside Liverpool-born Wayne Rooney the millionaire footballer?

In September, over 50,000 Singaporeans will be packing the streets around City Hall to be part of Singapore's first F1 race. There won't be a Singapore team involved in the historic race, but most race goers will be backing a team anyway. They will cheer if their team wins, just like the Man U fans did.

So if Singaporeans can embrace the Man Us and Liverpools, cry when they lose or back the Ferraris, why can't they feel for a team which carries the national flag?

Perhaps our China-born players Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei, could do a bit more to seem Singaporean. They still have their China accents, can't speak English well and struggle to sing the national anthem. They don't do enough to be good role models and inspire their nation’s young kids like most great champions do.

Maybe that’s why some see them as mercenaries here for a mission; for the $1 million payout if they win a silver and little else. Or maybe we're complicating sports too much. Maybe we're thinking too much.

Maybe watching sports is best in its purest form, free of social concerns. Just back a team and cheer if they succeed.

Celebrate the achievement, for it will be a sad day when an Olympic silver means little to a country the athletes represent.