SINGAPORE UPDATED — The organisers of the 28th Southeast Asian
Games to be held in Singapore in 2015 have entered a detailed phase of
preparations, said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence
Wong.
He also said that some 15,000 volunteers will be roped in
for the event.
In just 18 months’ time, Singapore will play host to the
region’s biggest sporting spectacle, and organisers will begin to announce
details of the event from mid-February next year.
Information about the Games logo, theme and mascot will
be released then.
Mr Wong also said that tenders for accommodation during
the Games are already being evaluated.
Visiting delegations will be housed in hotels in the
city, instead of a traditional Games village.
Mr Wong said that Singaporeans can learn from the hosts
of this year’s event — Myanmar — in the way that their people embraced and took
ownership of the Games.
He said: “For us, if we can have a (SEA) Games where all
of Singapore comes together to cheer our athletes to support the Games, to be
gracious hosts and to see the celebration of sports in Singapore in 2015, then
I am confident that we will truly have a successful SEA Games.”
Mr Wong was in Myanmar to watch Team Singapore in action,
and he feels that the overall medal tally achieved by Singapore athletes was
good considering the smaller size of the contingent compared to previous SEA
Games.
He was impressed by the surprise medals achieved in
sports that Singapore is not traditionally strong in, adding that it augurs
well for the 2015 edition.
He said: “Performance in the Myanmar SEA Games also shows
we are getting depth in terms of our sporting teams, because we have young ones
who are coming up and they are now entering the games and some are competing
for the first time, and still doing very well.”
CHANNEL NEWSASIA
