Citation: PEARLYN GOH PEI LING (2018-04-23). STORIES OF TAN HOWE LIANG: EXPLORING MASCULINE BIAS IN SPORTS NARRATIVES IN POST-COLONIAL SINGAPORE. ScholarBank@NUS Repository.
Abstract: This thesis aims to explore how masculinity permeates sports in Singapore through the stories of weightlifter Tan Howe Liang, Singapore’s first Olympic medalist. This inquiry will be based on the study of portrayals of Tan in Singapore’s English language newspapers from the 1950s to the 1990s as Singapore’s focus on sports changed over the years. This thesis will iterate how the dominant discourse of masculinity affected the telling of Tan’s story, and explore the masculinizing of Tan’s identity as an athlete over the years. This thesis will then illuminate the presence of a masculine bias in sports and Singapore society and its implications on athletes pursuing sporting excellence. In bringing into focus this gendering of discourse, it will add an extra dimension to the already detected and discussed appearances of paternalism and ruggedness in sports discourse, which is relevant to the larger context of Singapore society. It appears that a masculine paternalism has long been internalized by the public. It appears that this combination of factors has been discursively naturalized by Singapore society in the past and present. A lack of awareness of its influence compromises any effort to make deeper sense of sports and society in Singapore.