Higher allowances, CPF top-ups for athletes
In a bid to make sport a viable and attractive career path for Singaporeans, the Government will enhance its support to national athletes through a slew of initiatives.
From Sept 1, they will be able to apply for the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship Programme via two tracks – the dual-career path for athletes pursuing their studies while training and competing, and the new-career track for those who choose to study after retiring from competitive sport.
The programme was announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in April. Details were revealed by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong during a speech at a post-National Day Rally engagement session for more than 300 people at the Singapore Sports Hub on Aug 21.
Also among the initiatives announced were an increase in the Sports Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship) stipend from April 1, 2025, and the introduction of monthly top-ups to scholarship holders’ Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
Mr Tong said in his speech that the allowance adjustments will bolster the financial stability of athletes and para-athletes, as those who compete full time at the highest levels often have to “forgo the opportunity that most of us have, which is to accumulate savings, including CPF”.
To address this, 20 per cent of the athletes’ increased stipend will go into their CPF accounts, and Sport Singapore (SportSG) will contribute another 17 per cent to their CPF.
For example, if a spexScholarship holder draws a stipend of $4,000, from April 1, 2025, this amount will go up to $5,000, and 20 per cent ($1,000) will be channelled to his or her CPF account.
In addition, SportSG will contribute 17 per cent ($850) to the individual’s CPF account. That way, he or she will continue to receive an allowance of $4,000 while getting over $1,800 in CPF every month.
SportSG will also provide a milestone bonus – one-month stipend for the completion of every four years of spexScholarship – to encourage scholarship holders to remain in their sport at a higher level for a longer time.
Mr Tong said in his speech: “To all our current and future athletes, we understand... that many of you have made huge sacrifices to achieve your sporting dreams at the academic, career and financial levels. These initiatives that I just announced reflect our commitment to better look after your needs as you compete with pride for TeamSG.
“We understand the pain in making the hard decisions, whether it is giving up the sport they love to pursue their (studies), to make sure that they have financial stability, or letting go of their (studies) to pursue their sporting aspirations.
“What we want to do is to minimise the trade-off between pursuing sporting excellence and furthering their studies and careers, so that they do not have to be forced to choose.”
Table tennis player Izaac Quek, who will be enrolling in a diploma in business studies programme jointly offered by Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Sports School in September, hailed the initiatives.
The 18-year-old, who was among Singapore’s 15 debutants at the recent Paris Olympics, said athletes will not have to worry so much about their post-playing career now. “So now I just have to focus on table tennis, focus on training, focus on competitions and working hard on doing my best. Having this (scholarship) will help me in my future,” he added.
The undergraduate scholarship is part of a suite of support programmes and initiatives for Singapore athletes under the Sports Excellence framework.
These include the spexScholarship and spexPotential programmes, which were launched in 2013 and 2024, respectively.
The former provides athletes deemed to have the potential to excel on the Asian and world stage with monthly allowances of up to around $8,000 to help with living expenses, full-time training and competition costs, as well as support in sport science and medicine, education, career and personal development.
SpexPotential allows for promising young athletes to be supported at an earlier stage of their sporting career and succeed at the SEA Games level before their transition to the spexScholarship programme.
For those looking at post-retirement careers, the spexBusiness programme will be enhanced to expand the corporate network of companies to deploy workers more flexibly and provide athletes more opportunities after they stop competing.
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