GrabHitch Driver Offers Free Ride For S’pore Athlete Cuz It’s The Least He Can To Support Them

Every so often, we come across a heart-warming story that spurs readers to go out and achieve great things. This article, should you be wondering…

Is one of them.

So plug on your earpieces and play some epic music…

Because damn, this shit’s gonna get your ass moving.

What happened?

Well for starters, meet Singaporean Sarah Pang, a professional Tennis player.

On 10 Jan, Sarah here crafted a Facebook post, chronicling how she had to cancel her GrabHitch ride. Which wouldn’t have exactly been headline-worthy news, had the driver not made a pretty interesting proposal.

You can take a look down below.

In case you can’t read, here’s the gist:

After the ride was cancelled, the driver asked her whether she’s the tennis player who represents Singapore. Sarah responded ‘yes’ to the question, and asked whether he played tennis as well. In response, the driver claimed to be inept at tennis, and asked Sarah to give a heads up next time she’s heading North in the morning.

“Let me know if you need to head north next time in the morning. It will be a lift, not hitch. That’s the least I can do to support SG athletes.”

Netizens applaud the gesture

Following the driver’s kind proposal, Netizens swarmed the comments section and proceeded to applaud the gesture.

Which is admittedly really sweet, considering Sarah’s hard-fought journey to where she is now.

Sarah Pang, Singaporean Pro Tennis Player

Despite being just 33 years of age, Sarah has led a life so harsh and stoic that even individuals twice her might fail to fathom.

At the age of 19, Sarah decided to switch to tennis from badminton; and worked three jobs to fund her budding tennis career.

In 2014, she made the decision to pursue tennis full-time. No doubt it’s a rocky journey, considering how she spent four years on the road competing alone, sleeping in dingy hostels in India, ghettos in Italy and almost got caught in a gang rape ruse in South Africa.

Financial problems proved to be a real bitch too. In fact, she had just $1.87 in her bank account at one point, a situation she has claimed to be one of her lowest points in life. Even I have more, at $1.88.

And with financial support from a potential sponsor falling through, she reportedly sat at the void deck of her HDB block and cried, with snot running and all.

However, despite multiple setbacks, she has also managed to meet kind “angels”, whether it’s sponsorship from online crowdfunding or financial assistance from her friends and associates. Just last year, she raised S$80,000 from a corporate sponsor and two private donors.

Currently, Sarah remains determined to secure a ticket to the WTA tour. In order to do so, she would have to earn three points in a calendar year to get a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking to play on the tour. She was just one point short in her first and second year of full-time tennis before money ran out.

At the same time, she has dreams of playing in a Grand Slam, though her choice of arena might be kind of a unique pick.

“I like the US Open because it feels more ghetto, and it echoes my spirit and my journey,” she said.

Let’s show more love for Singaporean athletes

Let’s be honest here.

How many Singaporean athletes do we actually know off the back of our minds?

I would imagine that the average answer’s 3, with my own players being Joseph Schooling, Feng Tianwei and Timothee Yap. After all, they’re arguably the most recognisable faces in the local sporting scene, with the likes of Quah Zhen Wen close behind.

And that begets the question:

Are we giving enough love to our own local athletes?

Every day, I hear people going “Messi, Ronaldo, Federer, Nadal, Phelps, Curry, Lebron.” Yet on the other hand…

How often do you actually hear people going “Hariss, Schooling, Sarah, etc. etc.?”