LONDON (AFP) - - Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said human nature made another global financial crisis inevitable, in an interview with BBC television on Wednesday.
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"They (financial crises) are all different, but they have one fundamental source," Greenspan said.
"That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue."
The belief that markets would continue to rise led people "to take speculative excesses with the consequences that have dotted the history of the globe basically since the beginning of the 18th or 19th century."
He added: "No two crises have anything in common except human nature."
Speaking as the global economy is showing signs of recovery a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, Greenspan predicted the world would also "get through" the next crisis.
He said that while the current crisis was triggered by the trade in US sub-prime mortgages, any factor could have been the catalyst.
If it were not the problem of these toxic debts caused by people's failure to repay the loans that were granted to homebuyers with bad credit histories, "something sooner or later would have emerged," Greenspan said.
He added that the world's financial institutions should have seen the looming crisis.
"The bankers knew that they were involved in an under-pricing of risk and that at some point a correction would be made," Greenspan said.
"I fear too many of them thought they would be able to spot the actual trigger point of the crisis in time to get out."
Greenspan has been blamed by some for failing to do more to prevent the crisis, but he denied any responsibility for the problems gripping the economy.
"It's human nature, unless somebody can find a way to change human nature, we will have more crises and none of them will look like this because no two crises have anything in common, except human nature," he told the BBC.
To avoid a repeat of the situation, financiers and governments should look to clamp down on fraud and force banks to hold more capital to cushion themselves against financial shocks, the former central bank chief said.
But he urged governments to steer clear of protectionism because applying strict regulations could hamper global trade.
"The most recent endeavour to re-regulate is a reaction to the crisis. The extraordinary impact of these global markets is making a lot of financial people feeling they have lost control.
"The problem is you cannot have free global trade with highly restrictive, regulated domestic markets."
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Religion a force for unity - ST May 10
Religion a force for unity, Pope tells Muslims
Pontiff urges Muslims and Christians to come together as 'worshippers of God'
Amman - Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned the 'ideological manipulation of religion' in a speech to Muslim leaders in Jordan, as he pressed for inter-faith reconciliation.
Religion should be a force for unity, not division, he told his audience, which included Christian prelates, in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque on the second day of his tour of the Holy Land.
On his first visit to an Arab country as pontiff, he urged Muslims and Christians to unite as faithful 'worshippers of God' because of 'the burden of our common history' that has often been marked by misunderstanding.
The Pope was eager to mend ties with the Muslim world after a 2006 address in Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a mediaeval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of Prophet Muhammad as 'evil and inhuman'.
In his speech, the Pope acknowledged that 'tensions and divisions' between followers of different faiths exist.
He noted, however, that it is often the 'ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tensions and divisions - and at times even violence - in society'.
The Pope, who expressed his 'deep respect' for Islam on Friday, fell short of a full apology yesterday. But Prince Ghazni bin Mohammed, the top religious adviser and cousin to Jordan's King Abdullah II, said the Muslim world 'appreciated' the Vatican's clarification and accepted that the Pope was not expressing his own opinion in 2006 but making a historical citation.
He also praised the Pope for his 'friendly gestures and kindly actions towards Muslims' since then.
In one section of his address at the mosque, Pope Benedict referred to God as 'merciful and compassionate', using the formula Muslims use when speaking of God.
Mr Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Common Word, a group of Muslim scholars promoting dialogue with Christians, said the Pope's speech yesterday would not erase his Regensburg address from popular memory.
But he noted with approval that Pope Benedict had stressed that Muslims and Christians worshipped the same God.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said yesterday that the Pope did not remove his shoes or pray while in the mosque, as he did during his first visit to a mosque in Turkey in 2006.
Instead, he paused for 'a respectful moment of reflection'.
The Pope did not remove his shoes as his hosts did not ask him to, the spokesman explained.
Catholic conservatives criticised the Pope in 2006 after he prayed towards Mecca with the imam of a mosque in Istanbul.
The Pope arrived here on Friday on a Holy Land tour that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Earlier yesterday, he called for reconciliation between Christians and Jews during a speech at Mount Nebo, where the Bible says God showed the Promised Land to Moses.
'The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people,' he said.
'May of our encounters today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of sacred scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation.'
Israel and the Vatican have clashed recently over the papal decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop and over moves to beatify Pope Pius XII.
AFP, AP, Reuters
Pontiff urges Muslims and Christians to come together as 'worshippers of God'
Amman - Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned the 'ideological manipulation of religion' in a speech to Muslim leaders in Jordan, as he pressed for inter-faith reconciliation.
Religion should be a force for unity, not division, he told his audience, which included Christian prelates, in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque on the second day of his tour of the Holy Land.
On his first visit to an Arab country as pontiff, he urged Muslims and Christians to unite as faithful 'worshippers of God' because of 'the burden of our common history' that has often been marked by misunderstanding.
The Pope was eager to mend ties with the Muslim world after a 2006 address in Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a mediaeval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of Prophet Muhammad as 'evil and inhuman'.
In his speech, the Pope acknowledged that 'tensions and divisions' between followers of different faiths exist.
He noted, however, that it is often the 'ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tensions and divisions - and at times even violence - in society'.
The Pope, who expressed his 'deep respect' for Islam on Friday, fell short of a full apology yesterday. But Prince Ghazni bin Mohammed, the top religious adviser and cousin to Jordan's King Abdullah II, said the Muslim world 'appreciated' the Vatican's clarification and accepted that the Pope was not expressing his own opinion in 2006 but making a historical citation.
He also praised the Pope for his 'friendly gestures and kindly actions towards Muslims' since then.
In one section of his address at the mosque, Pope Benedict referred to God as 'merciful and compassionate', using the formula Muslims use when speaking of God.
Mr Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Common Word, a group of Muslim scholars promoting dialogue with Christians, said the Pope's speech yesterday would not erase his Regensburg address from popular memory.
But he noted with approval that Pope Benedict had stressed that Muslims and Christians worshipped the same God.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said yesterday that the Pope did not remove his shoes or pray while in the mosque, as he did during his first visit to a mosque in Turkey in 2006.
Instead, he paused for 'a respectful moment of reflection'.
The Pope did not remove his shoes as his hosts did not ask him to, the spokesman explained.
Catholic conservatives criticised the Pope in 2006 after he prayed towards Mecca with the imam of a mosque in Istanbul.
The Pope arrived here on Friday on a Holy Land tour that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Earlier yesterday, he called for reconciliation between Christians and Jews during a speech at Mount Nebo, where the Bible says God showed the Promised Land to Moses.
'The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people,' he said.
'May of our encounters today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of sacred scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation.'
Israel and the Vatican have clashed recently over the papal decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop and over moves to beatify Pope Pius XII.
AFP, AP, Reuters
Monday, March 2, 2009
Spare the rod, spoil the child - ST 28 Feb 2009
Spare the rod, spoil the child
British parents cite reasons for lack of discipline in schools
LONDON: - Parents in Britain believe that corporal punishment was an 'effective method of control' when they were at school, says new government research.
The parents said the decision to outlaw physical chastisement contributed to a fall in discipline, The Telegraph has reported.
The study, backed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, comes just months after a fifth of teachers in the country called for the cane to be reintroduced to restore order in the classroom.
It follows another report published earlier this week by Ofsted which suggested that traditional discipline methods such as suspending hundreds of troublemakers at a time and banning children with shaven heads and designer trainers were good deterrent measures.
Britain abolished corporal punishment including the use of the cane and rule in state schools in 1987. In the fee-paying sector, it was abolished in 1998.
In the latest study, the Department for Children, Schools and Families held in-depth interviews with 48 adults to gauge their perception of behaviour among young people.
When asked to describe what they felt was behind a decline in discipline, they made a series of observations.
These included the 'increasing demands on teachers - paperwork, planning, etc - leaving them less effective to teach and discipline effectively'.
The group, which included 32 parents, also cited the 'suitability of some teachers to the profession', suggesting that some lacked an ability to 'instil respect and good behaviour amongst teenage students'.
They added that 'the removal of corporal punishment in schools, which many felt had been an effective method of control in their day', also affected discipline standards.
Ms Margaret Morrissey, from the campaign group Parents Outloud, said: 'I really do believe that the problem for the deteriorating behaviour is the political correctness of the last 10 years that has told children to stand up and complain the moment someone tries to tell them off.'
In the study, parents also blamed the fact that 'children and young people (were) becoming more vocal and demanding and at the same time less afraid of authority'.
Increasing pressure on children to be academically successful was also cited, The Telegraph said.
A survey of more than 6,000 teachers last year found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back.
One supply teacher told researchers: 'Children's behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. I am a supply teacher, so I see very many schools and there are no sanctions.'
But Ms Morrissey said she was not convinced that corporal punishment will make a comeback in the present climate. 'Can you imagine the number of compensation claims it would lead to?' she pointed out.
Mr John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Thankfully, corporal punishment is no longer on the agenda, except in the most uncivilised countries. I am sure that this barbaric punishment has disappeared forever.'
British parents cite reasons for lack of discipline in schools
LONDON: - Parents in Britain believe that corporal punishment was an 'effective method of control' when they were at school, says new government research.
The parents said the decision to outlaw physical chastisement contributed to a fall in discipline, The Telegraph has reported.
The study, backed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, comes just months after a fifth of teachers in the country called for the cane to be reintroduced to restore order in the classroom.
It follows another report published earlier this week by Ofsted which suggested that traditional discipline methods such as suspending hundreds of troublemakers at a time and banning children with shaven heads and designer trainers were good deterrent measures.
Britain abolished corporal punishment including the use of the cane and rule in state schools in 1987. In the fee-paying sector, it was abolished in 1998.
In the latest study, the Department for Children, Schools and Families held in-depth interviews with 48 adults to gauge their perception of behaviour among young people.
When asked to describe what they felt was behind a decline in discipline, they made a series of observations.
These included the 'increasing demands on teachers - paperwork, planning, etc - leaving them less effective to teach and discipline effectively'.
The group, which included 32 parents, also cited the 'suitability of some teachers to the profession', suggesting that some lacked an ability to 'instil respect and good behaviour amongst teenage students'.
They added that 'the removal of corporal punishment in schools, which many felt had been an effective method of control in their day', also affected discipline standards.
Ms Margaret Morrissey, from the campaign group Parents Outloud, said: 'I really do believe that the problem for the deteriorating behaviour is the political correctness of the last 10 years that has told children to stand up and complain the moment someone tries to tell them off.'
In the study, parents also blamed the fact that 'children and young people (were) becoming more vocal and demanding and at the same time less afraid of authority'.
Increasing pressure on children to be academically successful was also cited, The Telegraph said.
A survey of more than 6,000 teachers last year found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back.
One supply teacher told researchers: 'Children's behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. I am a supply teacher, so I see very many schools and there are no sanctions.'
But Ms Morrissey said she was not convinced that corporal punishment will make a comeback in the present climate. 'Can you imagine the number of compensation claims it would lead to?' she pointed out.
Mr John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Thankfully, corporal punishment is no longer on the agenda, except in the most uncivilised countries. I am sure that this barbaric punishment has disappeared forever.'
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
IRO Turns 60 - ST 12 Jan 2009
Inter-faith NGO turns 60
By Goh Chin Lian
NEW immigrants and the young generation can take a leaf from the founders of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) 60 years ago.
They knew the importance of dialogue and face to face interaction in building trust in a diverse society, and on Monday night they were praised by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng for their 'wise foresight' in founding Singapore's only inter-faith non-government organisation.
Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, reminded more than 280 representatives of religious groups and members of the diplomatic corps that the ability of different religious communities to live peacefully together in Singapore did not happen by chance.
'This is not something in the DNA of Singapore. It is the effort of purposive and determined cultivation and is maintained by disciplined vigilance against anything that threatens it,' he said at a dinner reception at the Raffles Town Club to mark the IRO's 60th anniversary.
He called the Government a 'worrier' who takes nothing for granted when it comes to matters of race and religion.
This is why it started the Community Engagement Programme in 2006 to build up ties among leaders across various communities such as schools, businesses, unions and arts groups to reduce tension in case of a crisis.
This is also seen in the Government taking a serious stand on all who purvey extremist or seditious views, or actions.
He said: 'The robustness of the Government's response and its clear message that we will not extremism from any group is the reason why groups exercise restraint even when they encounter provocation, often from occurrences outside Singapore or on the Internet.'
Mr Wong also paid tribute to the IRO, which represents 10 different religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Skihism and the Baha'i Faith.
He put on record its work in promoting inter-religious understanding and goodwill through seminars and public talks, as well as publishing books on religious customs and practices.
The IRO and its members who are leaders in their own communities, he said, also 'set a bold and powerful example for others to follow in inter-faith dialogue and mutual understanding'.
On Monday night, he presented the IRO Award to one of its longest serving member, Venerable Chao Khun.
The Chief Abbot of the Wat Ananda Temple has been involved in the IRO for more than 20 years, providing guidance for key IRO events and being a regular member of its prayer team.
Mr Wong said the IRO has become 'both a symbol and a working reality of religious harmony'.
'I would like to place on record the Government's appreciation of the contributions of the IRO and its members over the many years.
'They have helped to preserve and enhance the ethnic harmony which Singapore has come to showcase as one of its most valuable and precious feature.'
By Goh Chin Lian
NEW immigrants and the young generation can take a leaf from the founders of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) 60 years ago.
They knew the importance of dialogue and face to face interaction in building trust in a diverse society, and on Monday night they were praised by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng for their 'wise foresight' in founding Singapore's only inter-faith non-government organisation.
Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, reminded more than 280 representatives of religious groups and members of the diplomatic corps that the ability of different religious communities to live peacefully together in Singapore did not happen by chance.
'This is not something in the DNA of Singapore. It is the effort of purposive and determined cultivation and is maintained by disciplined vigilance against anything that threatens it,' he said at a dinner reception at the Raffles Town Club to mark the IRO's 60th anniversary.
He called the Government a 'worrier' who takes nothing for granted when it comes to matters of race and religion.
This is why it started the Community Engagement Programme in 2006 to build up ties among leaders across various communities such as schools, businesses, unions and arts groups to reduce tension in case of a crisis.
This is also seen in the Government taking a serious stand on all who purvey extremist or seditious views, or actions.
He said: 'The robustness of the Government's response and its clear message that we will not extremism from any group is the reason why groups exercise restraint even when they encounter provocation, often from occurrences outside Singapore or on the Internet.'
Mr Wong also paid tribute to the IRO, which represents 10 different religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Skihism and the Baha'i Faith.
He put on record its work in promoting inter-religious understanding and goodwill through seminars and public talks, as well as publishing books on religious customs and practices.
The IRO and its members who are leaders in their own communities, he said, also 'set a bold and powerful example for others to follow in inter-faith dialogue and mutual understanding'.
On Monday night, he presented the IRO Award to one of its longest serving member, Venerable Chao Khun.
The Chief Abbot of the Wat Ananda Temple has been involved in the IRO for more than 20 years, providing guidance for key IRO events and being a regular member of its prayer team.
Mr Wong said the IRO has become 'both a symbol and a working reality of religious harmony'.
'I would like to place on record the Government's appreciation of the contributions of the IRO and its members over the many years.
'They have helped to preserve and enhance the ethnic harmony which Singapore has come to showcase as one of its most valuable and precious feature.'
The Catholic High Story - ST 12 Jan 2009
Curriculum change helped
Student-focused system is more flexible, caters to interest
By Cheryl Ong
OF THE 35 top Secondary 4 Chinese students in last year's GCE O-level examination, about one-third came from Catholic High School.
All 12 of them scored nine A1s, a jump from last year, when only three Catholic High students made it to the list of top Secondary 4 Chinese students.
Catholic High's principal Lee Hak Boon attributed the marked improvement partly to a new curriculum the school adopted in 2006.
It allows students to take subjects they want to study rather than choose from fixed subject combinations.
'What we've done here is open up a lot of options and give students leeway to do what they are interested in.'
He added that the teachers' commitment to their pupils also contributed greatly to the good results this year.
O-level students need to take a predetermined number of subjects in language, science and the humanities.
Students at Catholic High were able to take any combination they liked as long as they met the requirements.
The resulting total number of combinations came to nearly a hundred, according to the Head of Department (English) Mr Edwin Heng, and the school coped with this by 'banding' subjects in the timetable together.
For instance, during two hours of humanities subjects in a timetable, students attend the respective classes of whatever subjects they signed up for.
'I think the school programme has certainly helped,' said Chan Hua Peng, 17, one of the top students at Catholic High. 'If you study what you like you'll naturally want to do well.'
Interests aside, the flexible system also let students like fellow top-scorer Chua Kah Hoe, 17, take subjects they can ace.
'I chose mainly the subjects I would do well at,' he said of his combination of three science subjects, two maths, geography, social studies and a history elective.
'But it all depends on how much hard work you put in, and the teachers, of course.'
Bolstered by the school's achievements, Mr Lee aims to raise the number of distinctions for English from 65.4 per cent this year to 70 per cent.
'We are looking for new breakthroughs next year,' he said.
Student-focused system is more flexible, caters to interest
By Cheryl Ong
OF THE 35 top Secondary 4 Chinese students in last year's GCE O-level examination, about one-third came from Catholic High School.
All 12 of them scored nine A1s, a jump from last year, when only three Catholic High students made it to the list of top Secondary 4 Chinese students.
Catholic High's principal Lee Hak Boon attributed the marked improvement partly to a new curriculum the school adopted in 2006.
It allows students to take subjects they want to study rather than choose from fixed subject combinations.
'What we've done here is open up a lot of options and give students leeway to do what they are interested in.'
He added that the teachers' commitment to their pupils also contributed greatly to the good results this year.
O-level students need to take a predetermined number of subjects in language, science and the humanities.
Students at Catholic High were able to take any combination they liked as long as they met the requirements.
The resulting total number of combinations came to nearly a hundred, according to the Head of Department (English) Mr Edwin Heng, and the school coped with this by 'banding' subjects in the timetable together.
For instance, during two hours of humanities subjects in a timetable, students attend the respective classes of whatever subjects they signed up for.
'I think the school programme has certainly helped,' said Chan Hua Peng, 17, one of the top students at Catholic High. 'If you study what you like you'll naturally want to do well.'
Interests aside, the flexible system also let students like fellow top-scorer Chua Kah Hoe, 17, take subjects they can ace.
'I chose mainly the subjects I would do well at,' he said of his combination of three science subjects, two maths, geography, social studies and a history elective.
'But it all depends on how much hard work you put in, and the teachers, of course.'
Bolstered by the school's achievements, Mr Lee aims to raise the number of distinctions for English from 65.4 per cent this year to 70 per cent.
'We are looking for new breakthroughs next year,' he said.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Dutoit
You hear a lot about dreams at the Olympics, and Natalie du Toit's should have died on a Monday morning in Cape Town when she eased her scooter out into the road and was broadsided by a careless driver. A week later she lay in a hospital bed with a stump where she used to have a left leg.
Six months after the amputation she jumped into the same swimming pool where she had made her name as one of South Africa's most promising teenage athletes and struggled to finish 25metres. “If I tried breaststroke on one leg,” she said, “I went round in circles.” As a tale of overcoming adversity, Du Toit may set a new Olympic standard tomorrow when, at the Shunyi lake, she unclips her prosthetic limb, hops to the edge of the water and embarks on the 10km marathon against the 23 best long- distance swimmers in the world.
She is not just here to take part but is aiming, realistically, for a top-ten finish, despite her obvious disadvantage. The wise 10km swimmer conserves energy in their legs and then kicks for the line. Du Toit does not have that luxury so must go out strong to put herself in contention.
They don't believe that a disabled person should compete in the able-bodied Olympics because the Paralympics are just as good,” she said. “But before my accident, I was an able-bodied athlete.” A talented one, too. At 14, she competed for South Africa at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. At 16, she only narrowly missed qualifying for the Sydney Olympics.
“My brother was a swimmer and I used to sit on the side watching him. I despised water. And then one day, when I was 6, I was sitting there and I said to my mum, ‘I can swim.' I jumped in. I tried training and things went on from there.”
“My brother was a swimmer and I used to sit on the side watching him. I despised water. And then one day, when I was 6, I was sitting there and I said to my mum, ‘I can swim.' I jumped in. I tried training and things went on from there.”
In the 200metres and 400metres butterfly, she was the best in her age group at 14 and 15. “I was on top of the world,” she said. But then, one February morning in 2001, came the accident that changed everything.
Du Toit had finished her morning training session and was heading off to school. Her parents had bought her a moped because the demands of her schedule meant that she needed to dash around Cape Town. Close to the pool was a busy crossroads where drivers would take a short cut through a car park, which is exactly what one woman did that fateful Monday rush-hour, hitting Du Toit and sending her and her scooter flying across the street.
A motorcycle policeman racing to the scene hit a truck and had to be airlifted to hospital. Meanwhile, Du Toit, conscious throughout, was being tended to by team-mates. She remembers her own agonised cry: “I've lost my leg, I've lost my leg.” Her foot was perfectly intact - “I was wearing a steel-cap shoe. There was only a dent in it” - but the rest of her lower limb was mangled. She is happy to recall all the details and does so with the poise of a woman who is a sought-after motivational speaker.
“If I can explain,” Du Toit said, “my leg burst open, like if you drop a tomato on the ground.” That was her calf and shin. Higher up, she had broken her thigh bone, her femur, in three places. “The bone burst through the skin, that is why you see a big scar on the top of my leg.” There is a hole the size of an egg.
In hospital, the doctors spent a week trying to save the leg. “They were going to take muscle out of my back and insert it in there and try and add some length, try to sort of piece everything together.
“They used this big exoskeleton to align the bones, but after four days it still hadn't knitted. And I had been through 24 units of blood because they had to keep scraping away the dead tissue. Nothing was bandaged, nothing could be sewn up.
A titanium rod could repair her thigh but, after five days, the doctors decided that they would have to amputate just above the knee. “I remember asking my mum, ‘When are they going to amputate?' My mum's answer was that they already had.”
It was only 174 days later that, restless, she jumped back into the swimming pool. “I didn't know if I would be able to swim,” she said. “I didn't know how fast I would be able to swim. I didn't know if I would be able to walk again. Breaststroke was difficult because I can't snap my legs together.”
But she still had the upper-body strength, and the lung power. And, subconsciously, her body started to make adjustments. She discovered only recently from watching video footage that her right foot had turned inwards as if to act as a rudder. And her left arm began to strengthen to compensate for the absence of her leg.
She started to compete in disabled races over short distances, then 800 metres in able-bodied competitions, including the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. It was in the 10km at the World Open Water Championships in Seville in May, aged 24, that she came an astonishing fourth to secure qualification for the Games.
The open water is a race that does not only test endurance and ability, but toughness. At the turns around buoys, she would be pulled, kicked and elbowed. “They don't make any allowance for me,” Du Toit said.
Her story has been compared to that of Oscar Pistorius, the blade runner from South Africa, whose prosthetic limbs caused such controversy. But even if Du Toit wanted to use a prosthetic to race, the swimming federation would not allow it. And it goes without saying that there is no advantage to be gained from swimming with one leg.
In Beijing she has been sought after by the world's media, particularly after she carried the flag for the South Africa team at the opening ceremony. “What if I can't carry it, what if I trip and fall?” she wrote on her website beforehand. And afterwards? “The standing hurt a little, but it was all worth it. I had tears in my eyes when the flame was lit.”
The journey has had its difficult moments. Her mother upbraided her when she became downcast just before the Athens Olympics. She has had to learn to discipline her mind to fight off thoughts of “what if”.
By tomorrow, when she finishes the 10km swim, she will have ticked off two of her lifelong dreams by racing in the Games and visiting Kruger National Park. There is a third. “I want to run,” she said.
Natalie Du Toit
Natalie du Toit: ability of mind
South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, whose left leg was amputated below the knee in 2001, has gone on to compete against - and often beat - able-bodied swimmers at the highest level.
In Beijing this month, she will become the first amputee to compete in the Olympic Games.
Du Toit's achievements at international events for athletes with disability are outstanding enough. She won five gold medals and a silver at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, and followed that up with three golds at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.
At the 2006 International Paralympic Committee World Swimming Championships in Durban, Du Toit won six gold medals, including an incredible third place overall in the five-kilometre open water event.
Multiple world record holder
She is the owner of numerous disability world records, including the record for the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.
Her greatest achievement, however, has been bridging the gap between able-bodied and disabled athletes.
At the 2003 All-Africa Games, competing against able-bodied swimmers, Du Toit won gold in the 800 metres freestyle. At the Afro-Asian Games in the same year, up against able-bodied swimmers once more, she took silver in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 400m freestyle.
Making history
In the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 18 years old at the time, Du Toit qualified for the 800 metres freestyle final - the first time in history that an athlete with disability had qualified for the final of an able-bodied event.
She also won gold in the multi-disability 50m and 100m freestyle, both in world record time.
At the closing of the Manchester Games, she was presented with the first David Dixon award for the Outstanding Athlete of the Games - a unanimous choice ahead of Australia's Ian Thorpe, despite his winning six gold medals and setting a new 400m freestyle world record.
Olympic qualification
Before she lost her leg in an accident, Du Toit narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. As an amputee, she failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
But she never gave up on the dream she had carried with her since she was a child, and in May 2008 she booked her place in Beijing - in the women's 10 kilometre marathon swim - by finishing fourth in the 10-kilometre race at the World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville, Spain.
Russia's Larisa Ilchenko won the race in two hours, two minutes and 2 seconds, with Britain's Cassie Patten second and Spain's Yurema Requena third, just five seconds off the pace - and only fractionally ahead of Du Toit, who had only needed to place in the top 10 in order to qualify for the Olympics.
She was going head-to-head with the best open water swimmers in the world, despite a disadvantage that some have likened to a kayaker paddling with a single-bladed paddle. Her qualification is that amazing.
But Du Toit reckons there is no magic recipe for success; it is all down to hard work and determination.
'If this can tie a bond...'
In Manchester in 2002, Du Toit told journalists that that by swimming in both disability and open races, she felt was forming a bond. "If this can tie a bond, if it can help disabled people to believe in themselves, if it can bring them to a better understanding with able-bodied people, then that's great, if it helps."
Her courage and achievements were acknowledged with a nomination for the "Oscars of sport", the 2004 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with Disability award, along with Canadian athlete Earle Connor, Nigerian athlete Vitalis Lanshima, Alpine skier Ronny Persson, German cyclist Michael Teuber and British Dressage World Champion Nicola Tustain.
Connor - who also had a leg amputated, though in his case when he was just three months old - was adjudged the winner.
'Swim your own race'
When Du Toit had her left leg amputated below the knee following a scooter accident in early 2001, she ended up encouraging tearful family members while recovering in hospital - and within a few months of leaving hospital was back in the swimming pool.
In an interview with William Rowland published on Disability World in early 2004, Du Toit said that her accident had only served to increase her determination. Back in the pool within four months after her operation, she spent the first week swimming by herself.
"After a week I started with the squad, but in the first lane", she told Rowland. "It was not nice seeing little babies beat you; so I just had to train harder ... get up with the guys ... get up with the seniors ... get back to the level I was swimming at before."
Du Toit switched to longer events - from 200m and 400m individual medley to 800m and 1 500m freestyle - to make up for her loss of speed with only one leg. But she made no adjustment to her mental outlook.
"There's really no line between able-bodied and disabled swimming ... I treat both of them the same. They're your opponents and you've got to race the way you train.
"It is important to swim your own race and not someone else's."
Article last updated: August 2008
South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, whose left leg was amputated below the knee in 2001, has gone on to compete against - and often beat - able-bodied swimmers at the highest level.
In Beijing this month, she will become the first amputee to compete in the Olympic Games.
Du Toit's achievements at international events for athletes with disability are outstanding enough. She won five gold medals and a silver at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, and followed that up with three golds at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.
At the 2006 International Paralympic Committee World Swimming Championships in Durban, Du Toit won six gold medals, including an incredible third place overall in the five-kilometre open water event.
Multiple world record holder
She is the owner of numerous disability world records, including the record for the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.
Her greatest achievement, however, has been bridging the gap between able-bodied and disabled athletes.
At the 2003 All-Africa Games, competing against able-bodied swimmers, Du Toit won gold in the 800 metres freestyle. At the Afro-Asian Games in the same year, up against able-bodied swimmers once more, she took silver in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 400m freestyle.
Making history
In the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 18 years old at the time, Du Toit qualified for the 800 metres freestyle final - the first time in history that an athlete with disability had qualified for the final of an able-bodied event.
She also won gold in the multi-disability 50m and 100m freestyle, both in world record time.
At the closing of the Manchester Games, she was presented with the first David Dixon award for the Outstanding Athlete of the Games - a unanimous choice ahead of Australia's Ian Thorpe, despite his winning six gold medals and setting a new 400m freestyle world record.
Olympic qualification
Before she lost her leg in an accident, Du Toit narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. As an amputee, she failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
But she never gave up on the dream she had carried with her since she was a child, and in May 2008 she booked her place in Beijing - in the women's 10 kilometre marathon swim - by finishing fourth in the 10-kilometre race at the World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville, Spain.
Russia's Larisa Ilchenko won the race in two hours, two minutes and 2 seconds, with Britain's Cassie Patten second and Spain's Yurema Requena third, just five seconds off the pace - and only fractionally ahead of Du Toit, who had only needed to place in the top 10 in order to qualify for the Olympics.
She was going head-to-head with the best open water swimmers in the world, despite a disadvantage that some have likened to a kayaker paddling with a single-bladed paddle. Her qualification is that amazing.
But Du Toit reckons there is no magic recipe for success; it is all down to hard work and determination.
'If this can tie a bond...'
In Manchester in 2002, Du Toit told journalists that that by swimming in both disability and open races, she felt was forming a bond. "If this can tie a bond, if it can help disabled people to believe in themselves, if it can bring them to a better understanding with able-bodied people, then that's great, if it helps."
Her courage and achievements were acknowledged with a nomination for the "Oscars of sport", the 2004 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with Disability award, along with Canadian athlete Earle Connor, Nigerian athlete Vitalis Lanshima, Alpine skier Ronny Persson, German cyclist Michael Teuber and British Dressage World Champion Nicola Tustain.
Connor - who also had a leg amputated, though in his case when he was just three months old - was adjudged the winner.
'Swim your own race'
When Du Toit had her left leg amputated below the knee following a scooter accident in early 2001, she ended up encouraging tearful family members while recovering in hospital - and within a few months of leaving hospital was back in the swimming pool.
In an interview with William Rowland published on Disability World in early 2004, Du Toit said that her accident had only served to increase her determination. Back in the pool within four months after her operation, she spent the first week swimming by herself.
"After a week I started with the squad, but in the first lane", she told Rowland. "It was not nice seeing little babies beat you; so I just had to train harder ... get up with the guys ... get up with the seniors ... get back to the level I was swimming at before."
Du Toit switched to longer events - from 200m and 400m individual medley to 800m and 1 500m freestyle - to make up for her loss of speed with only one leg. But she made no adjustment to her mental outlook.
"There's really no line between able-bodied and disabled swimming ... I treat both of them the same. They're your opponents and you've got to race the way you train.
"It is important to swim your own race and not someone else's."
Article last updated: August 2008
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