The 22-year old was taken to task over comments he made in a video interview aired by Channel News Asia after he returned from Budapest where he won a joint bronze medal at the 100m men’s butterfly final at the FINA World Championships on July 30.
“We have a chance to do something special at the SEA Games; 2015 was something special for us, I think it will be nice to go to Malaysia’s backyard and teach them a thing or two,” he said, referring to the SEA Games to be held from Aug 19 to 30.
Schooling, whose Malaysian mother reportedly hails from Ipoh, however later posted some positive comments on Facebook, saying he looked forward to meeting his Malaysian fans at the SEA Games.
“Good to be back home. Next up #SEAGames2017. Look forward to compete against my fellow competitors in this region and meeting my Malaysian fans. Not taking the SEA Games lightly. Priority is to do well for Singapore and also to play a key role together with @zhengggg in guiding #TeamSingapore swimmers in this Games. See you soon,” he wrote on his Facebook account on Aug 1.
Schooling won gold in the 100m butterfly event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He also grabbed nine gold medals at the 2015 SEA Games held in Singapore.
According to comments put together by The Independent news portal in Singapore, a majority of netizens said in comments posted online that he was too proud and asked him to be more humble.
“When you are in other people’s territory, it is better to be humble. Regardless of who he wants to teach, he has not been successful long enough to teach others,” said Zhiyu Huang.
Esther Lee wrote: “That remark is definitely uncalled for though some may say that it was taken out of context but it definitely sounded unpleasant to the majority. Be humble regardless who you are or what you have achieved and you will earn the respect.
“Our neighbouring countries have many world class athletes for decades. Even in the just completed FINA 17th World Championship, Malaysian Cheong Jun Hoong won Gold in the Women’s Diving 10m Platform,” she added.
Sean Teo wrote: “When there is a mountain there will be another mountain. Be humble especially when you are in someone else’s home.”
“That comment is uncalled for. Very distasteful; coming from so called pride of Singapore. Why so proud after being humbled by almost 1s in a 100m sprint!” said Paul Kin Lim.
However, according to The Independent, some netizens came to Schooling’s defence, saying that his words had been taken out of context or that it was a normal part of competitive sports banter.
“HALO!!!! He say he will teach the spore young swimmer a thing or 2… NOT MALAYSIA. NOT MALAYSIAN. SO DUN BLOW THINGS UP,” wrote Jerry Lee.
Tiong Hock Yang told netizens to “listen and read within context”, saying Schooling meant that he wanted to teach the young Singaporean team a thing or two in Malaysia.
Teo Huai Wei Edmund said “teach them a thing or two” was an expression which did not literally mean “teaching”.
“And considering he is the only Southeast Asian with a Gold Olympic medal in swimming, his expression is more than apt,” Teo said.