Time to scale peaks beyond SEA Games

THE rah-rah about Singapore's Southeast Asian Games overall showing is deafening, underpinned by the glut of gold medals that gushed our way every day of the two-week event.

In the end, when Team Singapore finished wth the best-ever "away" medal haul, there was further high-fiving as the nation stood proud in fourth place on the 11-team table, just one gold medal shy of finishing in third.

The success in the pool, the table tennis tenacity, bowling bonanza, cue sports coup, squash sensation, wakeboard/waterski wonders and sailing supremacy contributed to 40 of the 57 golds, just one short of Vietnam who came in third behind hosts Malaysia (145) and Thailand (72).