Fans give thumbs-up to SEA Games start

SINGAPORE — After months of preparations, the 28th SEA Games got off to a relatively smooth start with the men’s under-23 football tournament at the Bishan Stadium yesterday.

About 1,500 fans had turned up to watch the opening Group B matches which saw Vietnam beat Brunei 6-0, followed by defending champions Thailand beating Laos by the same scoreline in yesterday’s second match.

An estimated S$324.5 million had been invested by the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) into staging the biennial meet, and while the Games doesn’t officially start until the opening ceremony at the National Stadium on Friday, fans TODAY spoke to at the Bishan Stadium yesterday gave the running of yesterday’s matches the thumbs-up.

“There is nothing for me to complain about as everything is perfect in Singapore,” said Lucas Dinh, a 27-year-old Vietnamese student from Hanoi who is a banking student at the Raffles School of Business.

Patrick Yip, a Singaporean football fan, added: “We had to scan our bags and walk through the scanner like how we do it at Changi Airport. But I think it is good for Singapore and it shows how seriously we take security to help prevent any threats.”

However, Laotian fan Danou Sone Inthavong felt there was not enough amenities in and around the stadium. He said: “Security is fine, but I would like to see more shops because I wanted to buy a drink but there wasn’t one readily available.”

The 2015 SEA Games is the biggest multi-sports event that Singapore is staging since the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010. Since being awarded hosting rights to the 2015 SEA Games during the 2011 Games in Indonesia, SINGSOC had undertaken intense planning and preparations to ensure that Singapore is well prepared to welcome more than 10,000 athletes and officials from 11 South-east Asian countries.

The regional meet, which takes place from June 5 to 16, will feature 402 events across 36 sports spread across 31 venues islandwide.

But while fans were generally happy with the organisation, the action on the pitch turned out to be a dampener for Bruneian and Laotian fans, whose teams suffered heavy defeats in their opening matches.

“I have been watching the Brunei games since the 90s and I flew in especially to watch the game today and also spend time with my family here in Singapore,” said Yuraina Yusof, 36. “Unfortunately we lost and I am not happy! But in the end I still think that it was worth the trip to watch my country perform.”