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"ONE SAF run, Our hearts, Our hope, Our run is ONE" expresses clearly the importance and significance of the first Commanders' Sports Day held on 27 June at SAFTI MI. For the first time, members from all the Services in the SAF met in friendly competition over various games.
Although the competitive spirit was there, the main focus was not on winning but the experience that has enabled various members of the SAF to bond together. The event theme, "We Are ONE", featured prominently on the T-shirts of the participants and helpers clearly underlined this spirit. 2WO Tok Kian Leong from the Ordnance Engineering Training Institute commented, "The most important thing is participation in this Sports Day which will help improve cohesiveness. It is not about winning or losing. In the SAF, we often have busy schedules. Therefore, this event serves as a way for people to get together to enjoy themselves, playing the games under the morning sun. I hope that this event would allow me to bond better with all my colleagues."
Two Army teams did us proud by coming in first and third respectively in the 4x200m and 6x400m Chain-of-Command relay race. MAJ Tan Tong Leng of HQ Commandos, a member of the winning team, commented, "This Sports Day helps promotes fitness because all of us came together as a formation to compete. It provides us with new focus and motivation when we do our physical training everyday, as we have something to train towards."
The Sports Day also serves as a way to facilitate cohesion. Chief of Defence Force, LG Desmond Kuek in his closing speech said, "The SAF Commanders' Sports Day fits in very nicely with our theme of ONE SAF. Sports is a way for us to have healthy fun as it gives us an opportunity to foster cohesion, a sense of teamwork and inspiration. People learn to work a bit closer together as well as get to know people from other parts of the SAF that you might not meet daily. Sports is also a vehicle to help us promote values such as discipline or fighting spirit."
At the end of the event, the combined team from 9 Div/Infantry and SAFTI MI emerged as the overall champion.
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