Now an award-winning professional photographer (producing fashion editorials for Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and more), Zhang Jingna used to rep Singapore shooting a different device — an air rifle.
The Beijing-born 28-year-old moved to Singapore when she was eight and started developing her skills as an air rifle shooter in Raffles Girls’ School. Soon, she was breaking national records and joining the national team, where she remained active for six years. Medals were won in events, and she was even awarded Sports Girl of the Year in 2006 — but she chose a career in the arts later on, achieving further success in the medium of photography.
A Singaporean through and through, no? All the more reason why it’s painful for her to see the rising tide of ultra-nationalistic sentiments against foreign-born athletes representing Singapore in the wake of Joseph Schooling’s Olympic gold.
“The hating on foreign nationals on my feed has reached a point where I am beginning to feel sick,” Zhang wrote in a lengthy, illuminating post. “To realize that some of these people are ones that I had once worked with makes it all the more painful.”
Zhang’s post is one that is sorely needed these days, especially since many folks have been making call outs for Singapore to cultivate more local talents like Schooling while simultaneously trampling on the efforts of foreign-born national athletes. After all, the Rio Olympics are still going on — despite SportsSG’s puzzling assumption that we can all pack up and celebrate after Schooling’s gold medal.
More importantly, Zhang’s voice is one that’s that needs to be heard — the voice of someone who’s suffered under the crushing weight of xenophobic discrimination. Read on below:
