‘It really means a lot to us’: High spirits as Singapore’s Paralympians go on open-top bus parade

SINGAPORE: The overcast skies and threat of rain did not dampen spirits on Saturday (Sep 14) as Singapore’s Paralympians went on an open-top bus parade through the city.
Leaving the OCBC Aquatics Centre at about 11.30am, the athletes departed to cheers from supporters.
Present were all 10 Paralympians, including double Paris Paralympics gold medallist Yip Pin Xiu and historic boccia silver medallist Jeralyn Tan.
There was a celebratory mood about 30 minutes before the bus departed, with about 100 Team Singapore supporters, mostly dressed in red, gathering to cheer the athletes on.
“It’s a really nice experience, because you get to be on the bus with your fellow teammates, and really get to see all these Singaporeans come out and support you,” said Yip.
Singapore’s contingent of 10 athletes concluded their Games campaign with three medals – two gold and one silver.
Yip won golds in the 100m backstroke S2 and 50m backstroke S2, taking the titles for the third consecutive Paralympics.
Tan clinched a historic boccia silver for Singapore in the women’s individual BC1 event, the country’s first medal in the sport.
She is Singapore’s fourth Paralympic medallist, joining Yip, swimmer Theresa Goh and equestrian Laurentia Tan.
The three medals meant that Team Singapore bettered the two golds and one bronze at the 2016 Games.
The open-top bus passed through four “cheer points” – Chinatown, Orchard Road, Serangoon Road and Victoria Street.
At the Orchard Road cheer point, at the junction with Bideford Road, a crowd gathered as early as an hour before the bus’ arrival, waiting with Team Singapore flags and clappers.
Mascot Nila also made an appearance, taking photos with the crowd as they waited for the athletes’ bus to pass by.
Ms Jennifer Hu, 61, who is the aunt of 25-year-old swimmer Toh Wei Soong, was at the cheer point from 11am.
She was holding a big red banner with Singapore flags and her nephew’s name emblazoned on it.
“It was initially quite empty, but then slowly built up into a sea of red,” she said of the crowd that gathered.
Ms Hu said she is very proud of her nephew’s performance at the games, noting that he was the only Asian in the final of his event, the 50m butterfly S7.
“We are all very proud of all our athletes, and I know that moving forward, they will only get better and better,” she said.
Primary 4 student Ho Wen Xi was also at the Orchard Road cheer point with her mother Tan Siok Keng.
They decided to join in the festivities after seeing people gathering along the shopping belt.
Wen Xi said she learnt about the Paralympics in school. The 10-year-old felt the Singapore contingent performed well at the Games and said she was inspired by the athletes.
“I’m excited to see our Paralympians, especially swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, and will cheer for them when they pass by,” she said.
Swimmer Sophie Soon, who advanced to the final of the women’s 100m breaststroke SB12 event in Paris, was happy to see “quite a decent turnout”.
She said: “We always see the numbers online but I think when you physically get to see people supporting versus just ‘likes’ and comments on Facebook, I think it really puts it into perspective,”
“Reality really hits that … we really have a crowd and a team rallying and supporting us.”
At the Victoria Street cheer point, supporters gathered in front of a painted mural featuring national athletes.
It was a double delight for the crowd there, as the bus carrying the Paralympians went by twice.
IT professionals Ms Caroline Sim, 46, and Mr K K Yap, 53, were at the Chinatown cheer point before driving over to Victoria Street.
“They are inspiring. Watching them on TV, it’s amazing to see how they worked hard,” said Mr Yap.
“Coming out to cheer them on is just a little thing we can do to thank them.”
Ms Sim said: “Olympians or Paralympians, it doesn’t matter. They are all athletes who put their heart and soul into their sport.”
She added that holding a bus parade for the returning Paralympians, just as it was done for the Olympians, “goes to show that we are building an equal and caring society”.
A similar bus parade was organised for Singapore’s Olympians last month after they concluded their campaign with a bronze medal, courtesy of Maximilian Maeder in the kitefoiling event. 
Speaking to reporters post-parade, swimmer Toh said he and his fellow Paralympians were heartened by the support.
“I want to thank everybody for coming down at so many cheer locations to just support us, let us know we’re in their thoughts, that they appreciate us going all the way and fighting hard,” he said.
“It really means a lot to us as athletes.”