US$7.25 million troll: Razer chief Tan Min-Liang funds Singapore SEA Games team in response to letter saying ‘e-sports is not sport’
- The letter questions why e-sports is included as a medal discipline at the SEA Games in the Philippines
- Tan says he wants to do his part to help in the development of e-sports in Singapore and in the region
So the chief of gaming hardware and software company Razer decided to troll the writer by handing out S$10 million (US$7.25 million) for the development of e-sports in Singapore – including funding the country’s team at the November 30 to December 11 SEA Games in the Philippines.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Tan praised minister for trade and industry Chan Chun Sing and the Singapore government, saying the money was mainly because of their efforts to promote e-sports.
He added a postscript: “This is also partly due to the letter sent to the ST Forum last week about how e-sports shouldn’t be considered a sport – I thought I would put $10m into developing e-sports in Singapore just to troll the letter writer.”
The SEA Games is the first multi-sport event to accept e-sports as a medal sport. The titles being contested at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Metro Manila are Dota 2, Starcraft II, Tekken 7, Arena of Valor, Bang Bang and Mobile Legends.
In a letter published on Friday, the writer expressed dismay at e-sports’ inclusion in the SEA Games, saying the accepted definition of sport is an activity that needs physical effort and skill.