Foreigners will pay more to use sports facilities

SINGAPORE — Foreigners will have to pay more to book public sports facilities here, under Sport Singapore’s new fee structure.

First to come under the new structure is the Singapore Sports Hub, which yesterday posted on its website rates for the use of its facilities. Singaporeans and permanent residents will pay S$8 an hour during peak hours to use badminton facilities at the OCBC Arena, compared with S$13 an hour for foreigners. To play basketball at the arena during peak hours, Singaporeans and PRs will pay S$40 an hour, while foreigners will pay S$52.

The new rates will be implemented on Monday, after more than a month of free use in celebration of National Day.

Singaporeans and PRs will continue to pay the prevailing rates for the rest of Sport Singapore’s facilities, while new fees for foreigners will be introduced early next year, with details to be released then.

Announcing the changes in a statement yesterday, Sport Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin said: “This move signals our commitment to provide sporting opportunities and programmes that are affordable and easily accessible to all.”

The new fee structure was benchmarked against other government-subsidised efforts to ensure the sports facilities remain affordable to everyone, he added.

Sport Singapore — previously known as the Singapore Sports Council — also said that ActiveSG, the national movement launched in April to promote sports, has since attracted close to 500,000 members. Gym and pool visitorship has also risen by an estimated 20 per cent following the introduction of creative concepts such as outdoor poolside gyms.

More than 60 per cent of members, who receive 100 ActiveSG dollars upon signing up, have gone on to use their credits, it added.