Swimmer Quah Ting Wen has lashed back at “naysayers and the keyboard warriors” who made scathing remarks about her and her brother Quah Zheng Wen after they were criticised for their performance at the Rio Olympics.

While it was not made public, the lengthy Facebook post by Ting Wen, 24, was shared as two screenshots by minister Tan Chuan Jin, who used her note to empathise with and encourage athletes “battling in the arena, and yet (are) being attacked from behind by the keyboard typists”.

In her post, the elder sister of Zheng Wen defended her 19-year-old brother’s decision to not speak to the press after losing two races.

“My brother never denied the reporters of an interview. There were just more important things to be taken care of first,” she wrote.

She added: “Lactic testing, recovery nutrition, warm down swim, reflection with the coach. He had another event coming up. That took priority over all else, including the ‘obligation’ of speaking to the media.”

Ting Wen knows the feeling all too well, as she too, had refused interviews after failing to qualify for the women’s 100-metre butterfly semi-finals. Channel NewsAsia reported that Singapore’s only female swimmer was in tears and seen sobbing.

Last week, The New Paper’s Leonard Thomas criticised Zheng Wen for choosing to stay silent.

“I just wished he stood up to face questions instead of walking off. Because at this level, that is what athletes do,” Thomas wrote in the Aug 9 article after Quah finished seventh in the men’s 100m backstroke heats.

The article drew a large amount of criticism from netizens, most of whom supported Quah and empathised with his state of mind after losing a race. However, there were a handful who also lambasted his actions and questioned the Quahs’ sporting performance.

In her post this week, Ting Wen fired back at those critics, who accused her of being “rude and aloof” and having “poor upbringing”.

“They can say what they like, and I hope it gives them the tiny bit of satisfaction they are so desperately seeking,” she said, adding that swimming is a passion for her.

“I am the Olympian. I am the one they are trying to tear down, not vice versa. And I can brush that dirt off knowing who I am and being proud of that.”

ljessica@sph.com.sg

Mr Terence Ho claims to be the first person in Singapore to capture all 145 Pokemon, just 10 days after the game Pokemon Go was released here.

Two others had reportedly completed the feat: Mr Ahmed Ali, 23, from London and Mr Nick Johnson, 28, of New York.

But some Pokemon Go players are not happy at the way Mr Ho did it.

Mr Ho, 39, caught almost all the Pokemon by travelling within Singapore, to places including Sentosa and Punggol.

He walked and waited from 8pm till the wee hours of the night to find or evolve them, he told The Straits Times.

He showed The New Paper, which interviewed him on Wednesday, a live video of his Pokedex as proof.

Gotta catch ’em all: Pokemon Go now in Singapore

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The Straits Times, Facebook / RSAF, Facebook/SPF, AsiaOne, Capitaland, Lianhe Wanbao

However, there were four rare Pokemon which were specific to a continent, and he asked friends overseas to catch them for him by logging into his account.

For example, a friend in Sydney helped him with Kangaskhan, which is found only in Australia and New Zealand.

While some netizens said he cheated, Mr Ho told The Straits Times that this was a “grey area”.

Players use all ways and means to get an edge in the game, he said, and this was one “creative” way of solving a problem.

He got the idea when he saw a woman borrow her boyfriend’s phone to play the game when her phone ran out of power.

To travel to other countries to get the rare Pokemon would require time and resources he did not have, he said.

“I just wanted to complete it, and have closure, then move on to do other things. I won’t spend thousands of dollars on a game,” he said.

He did not fool the app into thinking he was in another location by using “GPS spoofing” – a way of cheating which may get the player banned from the game, he said.

He did, however, spend up to six hours at a stretch walking between 10km and 15km to get his Pokemon. He also took taxis to get to places further away.

Mr Terence Ho taking a selfie while playing Pokemon Go. PHOTO: TERENCE HO

The app developer once stayed up till 3am to catch a rare one that he sighted at Bishan Park, he said. (He did not get the Pokemon that night.)

He also spent about $150 on in-app purchases such as lures, incense and lucky eggs. Lures and incense helped to attract Pokemon to where the player was, while lucky eggs helped him gain experience points.

Mr Ho used only one mobile phone, and a power bank, he said.

He also made sure he read up on news and tips online and on a news mobile app – SG News Library – which he developed himself.

While not a Pokemon fan before, Mr Ho’s interest was piqued when the game was launched in the United States.

He read up about it and set up a Pokemon Singapore Facebook page in anticipation that the craze would reach Singapore.

Since he collected all the Pokemon, he has cut down on playing time, he said. He is waiting for six legendary Pokemon – Ditto, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo and Mew – to be released by Niantic, the company that developed the game.

Pokemon Go: A beginner’s guide

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The New Paper

For those still on their quest for the 145, he said that he finds incense and lucky eggs the most cost-effective tools.

His favourite place for Pokemon hunting is Sentosa, as the resort island has many rare Pokemon, he said. That was where he found Pikachu and Raichu, both highly sought-after Pokemon.

Mr Ho hopes that those who are accusing him of cheating don’t take the game too seriously.

One Facebook user named Stan Jon said: “I am not sure if he feels any sense of pride of self achievement. I will equate it to sport doping.”

But Mr Ho says: “If the CEO of Niantic say that it’s cheating, then I’ll apologise for being a bad example. But it’s just a game.”

This article was first published on Aug 18, 2016.
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