SINGAPORE — It may be the small matter of a switch of training base from Yishun Sports Hall to the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) at the Sports Hub, but for the Singapore national para table tennis team, it enabled a big shift in mindset.

For the first time, the 21-member team for this year’s ASEAN Para Games (APG) enjoyed the same kind of training support, including video analysis and sports science, as their able-bodied counterparts.

While this is not a permanent arrangement yet, it is the start that Singapore’s chef-de-mission Raja Singh wants to see more of.

During a visit to the training grounds of the para-athletes by ­Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin at the Kallang Practice Track and SSI yesterday (Oct 20), Singh said that he is heartened by the calls of the Minister for a more inclusive society.

Singh told TODAY that he hopes Singapore’s hosting of the APG will put the para-athletes in the limelight, and for people to understand their challenges better.

“I have followed the APG Organising Committee (SAPGOC) around the different training grounds of our para-athletes and explained to them the training conditions that we have,” he said. “The first priority that I hope this December’s APG will achieve is to encourage more disabled people who may not know what to do with their plights to come play sports. And when we have that mass participation numbers going on for us, we can communicate and show our need for bigger and better facilities.

“Our para-athletes are now getting the most support right now than they have ever had, and with that support, comes the responsibility too to do well and strive for their personal bests come competition day.”

Minister Tan said yesterday: “The legacy is not just about the Games and how it’s organised. I think the legacy would really be how it inspires all of us to remember to look out for fellow Singaporeans, and appreciate Singaporeans of all abilities and include them as part of our daily lives.

“We can do our part on facilities to make sure that, in terms of transportation and mobility, that they are able to participate … It is also very much how we approach the disabled, our spirit and the way we

include them and regard them as Singaporeans ... It is not going to be as if after the ASEAN Para Games, everything will be perfect. But it would be a big step and we hope that this journey towards building an inclusive society will carry on and, hopefully, the APG will provide greater inspiration for us.”