The 2009 ASEAN Para Games was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 15 to 19 August 2009 for all sports except Sailing which was held in Pork Dickson.
Singapore was represented by a 46-member contingent led by Chef-de-Mission Mr Raja Singh. The contingent includes 24 athletes, 15 officials and 7 secretariat personnel. The flag bearer to represent Singapore was Mr Tay Wei Ming (Badminton). Singapore was represented in the following sports: Athletics, Badminton, Chess, Sailing, Swimming and Tenpin Bowling.
Singapore won a total of 23 medals – 14 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze – at the end of the 5th ASEAN Para Games.
Swimming dominates most of the medals with 12 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze. Swimmer Mr Lawrence Tay and Ms Charlotte Lee clinched gold and set new meet records for the Men’s 50m Breaststroke and the Women’s 50m Breaststroke respectively in the SB14 category (Intellectual Disability). Making her debut at the ASEAN Para Games, Swimmer Chew Zi Ling had also clinched the gold medal and drowned the meet record by almost eight seconds in the SB14 Women’s 100m Freestyle.
Shuttler Mr Tay Wei Ming created history by bringing home Singapore’s first gold medal in Badminton after defeating the Vietnamese player. It was a case of bitter sweet victory as the Vietnamese player had beaten Mr Tay Wei Ming in the last ASEAN Para Games in year 2008 (4th ASEAN Para Games) to take the gold. The Singapore shuttler had to settle for the silver then.
Ms Desiree Lim (Sailing) who led in the first 8 races in Access Liberty Female secured a gold medal with 3 races to spare. Mr Jovin Tan also won a bronze medal in Access 2.3 Men.
In athletics Mr Adam Bin Kamis narrowly missed the gold medal in the 800m the T45 category. It was notable that Mr Adam Bin Kamis beat the meet record set in 2005 and thus, a silver medal was awarded to Singapore as there were only two competitors in this event.
Mr Goh Chen Keok in the Men’s Ten Pin Bowling (TB9 Mix category) had also won a silver medal.