Run like no tomorrow at the sports museum

It’s about time Pangzi picked up some important survival skills, so I decided to head for the Singapore Sports Museum.

“Daddy, why are we going to the sports museum? I want to catch Pokémon,” he asked.

“If you can’t run fast, how can you catch anything?” I answered wisely.

“Daddy, why do I need to run?”

“Listen, you’re going to face many problems in your life,” I offered. “The first thing you need to learn now, is how to run away.”

“But my teacher says we should be brave and persevere in anything we do!”

“Do you even know what the word persevere means?” I challenged. “Don’t believe everything the school teaches.”

We arrived at the sports museum with Pangzi still arguing about how great the folks in school were.

Located next to the Kallang Wave Mall, the sports museum came with little signage and was too easy to miss.

“Okay here we are – the sports museum. Singapore’s best kept secret,” I announced. “This is where local sports and achievements are celebrated.”

“Daddy, can I find Joseph Schooling here?” Pangzi said expectantly of the recent Olympic Games gold medallist.

We took a quick tour of the vast space that housed commemorative items of every sport from football to horseracing. Something was not right.

No Joseph Schooling.

It’s a mystery why the national sports museum didn’t have a single mention of the only award worth building a sports museum for.

“Never mind, let’s start your training,” I said. “See the track over here? Go run five laps…”

“But why, daddy?” Pangzi protested. “I’m not wearing proper running shoes today.”

“You know Usain Bolt?” I asked. “When he was your age he ran and ran barefoot.”

“Daddy, you want me to beat his world record?”

“I just want you to be faster than your enemies. That’d be good enough.”

“But daddy, the sign says no running…”

“No buts. You know the meaning of persevere? It means perspire. Now sprint!”

So off Pangzi went. I chose the sports museum because I knew it was going to be empty, even on a weekend.

But I didn’t count on the museum guard having an issue with it. He was walking toward us, visibly annoyed and barking into his walkie talkie. “One adult, one kid… yes, troublemakers… yes, I’m heading over…”

Pangzi looked at me desperately, pleading for instructions. The guard was closing in.

I watched on with interest. This is exactly what we’re here for. How will Pangzi respond?

He disappointed me big time. The guard let us off after a talking to. That ended our visit to the sports museum.

Outside, I confronted him. “Why didn’t you run away?”

“Daddy, I know I can outrun the guard… but you can’t.”

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