Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

SEA Games organisers to ramp up ticket sales

SINGAPORE — Organisers of the 28th SEA Games are racing against the clock to get Singaporeans out in full force to support the June 5 to 16 Games, particularly as ticket sales for some sports have been lagging.

President Tony Tan watching the rhythmic gymnastics team practice during a visit to the Singapore Sports Hub yesterday. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

President Tony Tan watching the rhythmic gymnastics team practice during a visit to the Singapore Sports Hub yesterday. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

SINGAPORE — Organisers of the 28th SEA Games are racing against the clock to get Singaporeans out in full force to support the June 5 to 16 Games, particularly as ticket sales for some sports have been lagging.

With less than eight weeks to go, ticket sales for sports located in the Singapore Expo cluster, such as silat and sepak takraw, are still in the “low range”, while others, such as swimming and fencing, are selling briskly, said the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC). Since February, about 790,000 tickets have gone on sale at the Singapore Indoor Stadium box office, Singapore Post outlets and on the ticketing hotline. Eighteen of the 36 sports, which will be held at 31 competition venues at Kallang, Marina Bay and Singapore Expo, will be free for the public to watch.

SINGSOC executive committee chairman Lim Teck Yin yesterday provided this update to the media on the sidelines of President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s visit to the Singapore Sports Hub.

“The ranges (in terms of ticket sales) for some sports are still very low, and for some sports, they are still in the 50 to 80 per cent range,” said Lim. “Overall, I would say that for some sports, we would like to see better response. For others, we are happy.”

Lim said ticket sales for sports that are taking place at the Expo “need to step up a lot more”, even though he is optimistic that sales will pick up when the Games draw nearer, due to Singaporeans’ tendency to buy tickets late.

Out of the 36 sports, six will be held at the Singapore Expo: Silat, sepak takraw, judo, taekwondo, wushu and boxing.

“It is really up to us to create that atmosphere, to make sure they (Singapore athletes) can go for gold,” said Lim. “I think there is a phenomenon in Singapore, if people think there’s something special happening, they will take part. I only hope they figure that out sooner rather than later.”

SINGSOC is approaching various communities to get them involved in the SEA Games. He added: “We are still working with different interest groups. We are working with (athletes’) parents, families and friends to make sure they have access … as well as various groups such as schools.”

Yesterday, Dr Tan was given a tour of the Sports Hub’s SEA Games facilities, including the National Stadium, the OCBC Aquatic Centre and the OCBC Arena, and he met national athletes from swimming, synchronised swimming, basketball and rhythmic gymnastics.

He also gave his vote of confidence to Team Singapore’s hunt for 50 gold medals at the Games, saying: “Everything seems to be in order, I think we are all set to go ... The athletes are all geared up and ready for the Games. I am sure we will do very well and I am confident that we will be able to surpass the 50 gold medals that we won in 1993.”

“I hope all Singaporeans will rally behind Team Singapore and cheer our athletes at the SEA Games, as well as the ASEAN Para Games. This is actually a team effort. The athletes are putting in the work, but they have to know that all Singaporeans are behind them.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.