StanChart Marathon may move from Padang to National Stadium

SINGAPORE — The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, the annual marquee running event here, could be making a big move from its home at the Padang to the Singapore Sports Hub this year.

This is part of the plans by Sports Hub’s newly appointed chief executive officer (CEO) Oon Jin Teik to boost the level of community engagement at the S$1.33 billion facility. He and his team are looking to enhance the sports, entertainment and lifestyle offerings at the venue by bringing in thematic events such as the Summer Japan Festival and the inaugural Festival of Football.

Unveiling the plans for this year and beyond, Mr Oon, 54, said at a media conference in the National Stadium on Tuesday (Jan 23) that the aim is to capture both tourists and domestic patrons, covering children, youth, adults, families, seniors, and the less privileged.

“This is consistent with the original vision of the project… programming will be our bread and butter,” he said. “We need to understand the needs and desires (of our target market), and develop offerings in sports, lifestyle, recreational, competitive events. One unique proposition is to focus on runs, mass fitness events.”

At the conference, Mr Oon was officially announced as CEO by Mr Bryn Jones, chairman of SportsHub Pte Ltd (SHPL).

Ironman Asia, which organises the StanChart marathon, told TODAY that it is indeed “exploring the option of the Singapore Sports Hub” as a venue for the mass run this year, and hopes that the amenities and infrastructure of the facility would help to give runners and spectators “an improved experience”.

Mr Oon reckoned that the Singapore Sports Hub would develop an “iconic status”, but “the software, emotional thing” is a “big project” that would need more work.

“You’ve got to keep building that, the stakeholder buy-in, ownership. It is not as though we completely failed… we’ve a strong momentum already, it’s just that we need to keep pushing.”

NO NDP

What the Sports Hub will be missing out this year, is to host Singapore’s biggest annual extravaganza — the National Day Parade (NDP).

In October last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the Marina Bay Floating Platform would be used as a primary venue for the parade.

This translates into a loss of some S$5.91 million in rental revenue for the Sports Hub.

When asked about this, Mr Oon said: “If you look at NDP 2016, it was a success in our definition and the NDP executive committee’s (as well). For us, we stand ready to host NDP.”

For now, during the NDP period, the International Champions Cup (ICC), a football tournament, has been contracted to be held at Sports Hub for four years. “Last year’s NDP was not here, (but we had) not only ICC, we had concerts, we held our own National Day fiesta as well. We’ll continue to fill it out,” he said.

RUGBY MATCHES, ADVENTURE PARK

Sports fans can expect an exciting calendar of upcoming international sports events.

This year will see the ICC returning for its second edition after a successful inaugural run last year, which saw close to 105,000 fans turning up at the National Stadium to catch European football giants Chelsea, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich in action.

Other sports events such as the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens, and Super Rugby matches, will also return this year.

A tie-up with the Football Association of Singapore from now till 2020 will also see the new S-League season kick off on March 31, with the opener between Albirex Niigata and Tampines Rovers to be played during the Community Shield Carnival.

In 2019, the plan is to launch a Sports Arts Heritage Trail at Kallang, which will incorporate the National Stadium and other facilities in Sports Hub, as well as an Arena Adventure Park with a children’s park and playground.

Last year, Sports Hub hosted more than 200 events, with more than 2.4 million attendees, and SPHL is hoping for an even more successful year this round.

‘PROVEN HIMSELF’

Talking about Mr Oon’s appointment, Mr Jones told TODAY that the board of directors did not conduct a global search for its CEO. “Jin Teik had proven himself to possess all the qualifications and abilities to manage key partner relationships, as well as realise our vision to build a fully integrated sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub for everyone in Singapore,” he said.

Mr Oon, who used to work at the Singapore Sports Council and environmental solutions firm Hyflux, joined the consortium as Sports Hub’s chief operating officer in May 2014, and he was involved in major events including the 2015 SEA Games, 2015 Asean Para Games, and the NDP in 2016.

Now the secretary-general of the Singapore Swimming Association, he took on the role of acting CEO at the consortium in May last year after former CEO Manu Sawhney’s sudden resignation.

Mr Oon said that he now has two performance targets to fulfil and he expects the same for his team. “The first is to make sure this project (the Sports Hub) wins for Singapore, and the second is to bring returns to shareholders.

“This project cannot fail. Deliverables must happen because that brings good to both the public and private sectors.”

Mr Jones said that the Sports Hub is on a “journey” in terms of its relationship with Singapore, and it ought to reach a point where it is “in the consciousness of Singapore” the same way that people feel about Changi Airport, which is “probably Singapore’s most high-profile brand apart from Singapore itself”.

“That should be our aspiration — when people feel proud and they feel excited going to the stadium whether as family or individual,” he added.