NSA STATUS NEEDED TO UPLIFT BODYBUILDING

Re-elected ABPS president Alan Ng hopes to start discussions with SNOC and SportSG

- Deepanraj Ganesan

It is a sport steeped in gold-medal history, but Singapore bodybuilding has taken a back seat in recent years with its reputation tainted by local cases of doping.

Alan Ng, the president of the Association of Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Singapore (ABPS), is determined for the sport to gain local recognition again, however.

At its Feb 24 annual general meeting, the 46-year-old former national bodybuilder was returned unopposed for another two-year term till 2026.

Ng, an associate director at financial advisory firm Financial Alliance, has been president since 2022 and is pushing for the ABPS to be a national sport association (NSA), over a decade after the sport lost its NSA representative here.

The now-defunct Singapore Bodybuilding Federation (SBBF) lost its NSA status in 2013 when national agency Sport Singapore cited instances of doping at the national championships and other governance issues.

On his main objectives, Ng said: “We are aware of the mistakes made... by the past association and president, but we are like a white sheet of paper. We deserve a chance to put things right.

“We have put in place strict measures to ensure that there are no doping cases among the athletes that represent us in competitions.

“We now hope the authorities will give us a chance to show that we are a different organisation.”

Among the measures is to ensure every athlete representing the ABPS is thoroughly educated on the harms of doping.