DEALING WITH BRICKBATS
Tan has been in his post for less than two years.
He was FAS deputy president when then president Lim Kia Tong died after a heart attack in September 2022, and took over the role as acting president thereafter.
Tan was elected president for the remainder of the FAS council’s 2021 to 2025 term in September 2023 after he was the only one to submit his candidacy for the election.
Over the last two years, Singapore has registered a number of painful results, both at the age-group level as well as at the senior level.
In January 2023, the Lions lost 4-1 to Malaysia for their heaviest defeat to their fierce rivals in 21 years as they crashed out of the AFF Championship – now known as the ASEAN Championship – before the national under-22s were thrashed 7-0 by their Causeway counterparts at the Southeast Asian Games in May.
It was Singapore’s worst loss at the biennial Games since 1971, and the winless team also finished last in their group.
This was the lowest point in his presidency, said Mr Tan.
“In retrospect now, it was for me the best thing that ever happened. It made me think and reflect quite deeply,” he said.
“(It) was instrumental in (me) learning a lot of things.”
After the defeat, Mr Tan responded to a comment on his Instagram account calling for his resignation.
“Instead of abusing me here. Abuse me face to face. Let’s meet,” wrote Mr Tan. ” Drop me an email … I will leave your comment for 24 hours. After which I will delete you. It’s my wall.”
“I was a bit naive, that I thought I could conduct a conversation over social media. You can’t,” recalled Mr Tan.
FAS later unveiled 10 recommendations to improve Singapore’s performance at future SEA Games, including giving young players more game time in the SPL and providing the men’s under-23 and under-22 sides with access to the resources of the full-fledged national “A” team.
“Generally, I don’t look back. You live and learn, you move forward,” said Mr Tan. “I don’t regret those times – I just say: ‘Great, I learnt from it.’ There are things I would (have liked to have avoided) like the (7-0) defeat, that constantly remains in my head, but there are also high points.”
And there is no “heat shield” for the president, he pointed out.
“Expectation is high, resources are low … everything is on your shoulders. This can be unfair but some will say that’s par for the course,” said Mr Tan.
The job has taken a toll, he added.
“I’ve taken it in my stride, but clearly the people around me have observed that it has had an effect … I don’t think (the job) is without stress – there are times where you ask yourself why you are doing this, but those times are few and far between,” said Mr Tan.
“The privilege I’ve had in trying to move Singapore football in the right direction has outweighed the toll.”
One of the things Mr Tan said that he has learnt is that the role of president requires a “full-time commitment”.
“You almost have to be a little bit obsessive. I’m convinced this role also cannot be delegated; it’s got to be led from the front,” he explained.
“When the question has been asked, ‘What keeps you awake at night?’ … for me for the last two years, it has always been football.”
And given that he has a full-time role with Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, Mr Tan added that are times where he has felt like he has not “given enough”.
“I am also not advocating that the position becomes a full-time position. I just wish I could do more,” he said.
Mr Tan added that he would have wanted to grow the commercial side of local football. But at the same time, he pointed out that it was important to have a good league before this, and FAS needed to fix this first.
“I won’t say … there are regrets but there are lots of things left undone,” he said.
