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S’pore ASEAN Para Games looking like ‘best ever’

SINGAPORE — Athletes and officials in town for this week’s 8th ASEAN Para Games (Dec 3-9) have given local organisers a glowing report card, after checking into 1,300 rooms at the iconic Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Hotel yesterday.

Delegates from the 10 participating nations of the ASEAN Para Games at the team welcome ceremony. Photo: Singapore ASEAN Para Games Organising Committee

Delegates from the 10 participating nations of the ASEAN Para Games at the team welcome ceremony. Photo: Singapore ASEAN Para Games Organising Committee

SINGAPORE — Athletes and officials in town for this week’s 8th ASEAN Para Games (Dec 3-9) have given local organisers a glowing report card, after checking into 1,300 rooms at the iconic Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Hotel yesterday.

Chef-de-missions (CDMs) that TODAY spoke with are calling Singapore — first-time hosts of the APG — the “best ever” organisers of the multi-sport Para Games.

On the sidelines of the Team Welcome Ceremony at the MBS Events Plaza yesterday morning — where the flag-raising ceremony for the 10 participating nations took place — they lauded the amenities at the hotel and competition venues, as well as transportation arrangements.

Fifty per cent of the rooms at the MBS Hotel have been allocated for the APG, and 390 rooms have been retro-fitted. There are two transport options: Public transport via the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), or via the 90 APG buses and vans.

“I went to all the ASEAN Para Games and this is looking like the best-ever,” said Malaysia’s CDM, Ang Kean Koo, who had been to all editions of the APG since its inception in 2001.

“Accommodation is very luxurious and comfortable. Everything from the athletes’ dining hall, and the recreation centre (Nila Suite) is good. Four sports (goalball, football five-a-side, powerlifting, sailing) would also be held at MBS itself, which is very convenient. For most of our athletes, we prefer them to travel by MRT because it is fast and convenient to go to the Sports Hub, which is just few stops (away).”

Indonesia’s assistant CDM, Sukanti Bintoro, told TODAY that Singapore has “exceeded our expectations”. Compared to past host nations who took about six months to prepare for the Games, Singapore started preparatory work a year in advance.

“Everything is well thought-out and planned properly. This is great because, when everything is good, we can be in the best position to perform,” said Thai powerlifter Jaithon Opas. “I heard about the 24-hour medical facilities at MBS (a whole level of hotel rooms in Tower 3 transformed into medical suites for the first time), and that is good.”

Even as the work of the Singapore ASEAN Para Games Organising Committee (SAPGOC) is being praised, chairman Lim Teck Yin said that his staff are not resting on their laurels.

“Now, we are probably 99 per cent ready,” Lim, who is also chief executive of Sport SG, told TODAY. “What we are doing is to learn along the way. The Games is only one-week long so we cannot take two days, for example, to adjust to any lesson that we learnt. We have to act on it fast so that we don’t lose any time in putting things right.

“The bus arrangement is running smoothly, but the feedback that I’ve got is that it is taking a little bit longer than we expected to get people on the bus. But everybody has been very patient and gracious.”

Singapore CDM Raja Singh said that, because of the limited number of lifts at the MBS Hotel, it takes “a little more time” for athletes to move around the Games Village but, apart from that, “the SAPGOC has been doing a fantastic job”. He said: “I think Singapore’s hosting of this APG has set quite the benchmark for future host nations to follow.”

 

 

 

Size of contingents:

1) Thailand (261 athletes, 114 officials)

2) Malaysia (192, 89)

3) Indonesia (189, 36)

4) Singapore (154, 63)

5) Vietnam (127, 32)

6) Myanmar (102, 41)

7) Philippines (64, 15)

8) Laos (40, 22)

9) Brunei Darussalam (27, 16)

10) Cambodia (29, 11)

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