Launching national sports movement ActiveSG to help Singaporeans Live Better Through Sport

Mr Ng Ser Miang, Vice-President of Singapore National Olympic Council

Mr Richard Seow, Chairman of Sport Singapore

Mr Sam Tan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, MCCY

Mr Lim Teck Yin, CEO of Sport Singapore

Team Singapore athletes

Ladies and gentlemen

Boys and girls

1. A very good afternoon to you. This is a very special occasion for sport development in Singapore. We are launching today a new phase in how we can bring sports closer to Singaporeans and how we can enable all Singaporeans to Live Better Through Sport. So this is the start of a new movement called ActiveSG. 
   

2. In fact, this idea of trying to bring sports closer to Singaporeans is not new. It is something we have been doing for some time. In the early days, we focus on building infrastructure – more sports facilities. And that has been going on and we are making good progress and we are on our way to having sports facilities within 10 minutes of most homes in Singapore. But along the way we have also realised that you can’t just have hardware – you can’t just have sports facilities alone. You also need more programming, interesting activities within the sports centres to attract Singaporeans to participate in sports. So you not only need to invest in hardware, you also need to invest in software and that’s why over the last few years we have been working very hard to develop this idea of a sports club and now we are ready with ActiveSG which will be a national movement for sport in Singapore.

3. What will ActiveSG do? There are three things that we hope to achieve through ActiveSG.

4. First, we want to have more convenient access to sports. So if you join ActiveSG, you will have access not just to one clubhouse but to sports facilities all over Singapore. Membership is free – so you don’t have to pay to join a club – it is free for all Singaporeans and by joining, you can book facilities all within your smartphone. There’s an App, which you can download, you can book facilities and can book programmes. So what we hope to achieve is more convenience.
   

5. Second, we want to have more programmes, more innovative sports programmes, for people from all ages, from all walks of life, for the disabled community – for all communities – so that everyone can be participating in our sports facilities. So there will be more programming and as you can see around this centre itself, within the pool you have interesting activities and programmes to attract more people to do sports. So that’s the second thing we hope to achieve – more sports programmes.
   

6. And the third thing is that we want to have is more community participation. So that when you come to a centre, it is not just doing the activity by yourself but you will have a whole community participate and play sports together and you can make new friends. The team from ActiveSG will organise more community activities, more corporate activities and with that, we can build the community for sport. So these are the three things that we hope to achieve in ActiveSG.

7. We encourage all of you to join this new movement. Sign up for ActiveSG if you have not done so already. We are giving a $100 ActiveSG credits when you sign up – that’s for everyone who signs up.
   

8. So with your $100 ActiveSG credits, you can use that to get access to gyms, swimming pools, programmes, facilities and you are on a good start to a healthy lifestyle. So far, we have 30,000 members who have already joined – I just did it this morning. If you have not signed up, please do so immediately. Get your $100 ActiveSG credits and start making use of it.

9. So finally, let me also say a word of thanks to the team in Sport Singapore who have been working very hard to make all this happen. In fact, they believe so much in this that they have decided to change the name of their organisation. So if you have not realised already, Singapore Sports Council is no longer called Singapore Sports Council. The new name is Sport Singapore, SportSG, and this conveys within the organisation this new mindset that we want sports to be something that all Singaporeans embrace and we want all Singaporeans to Live Better Through Sport.

10. The team has been working very hard - it requires a mindset change within the entire organisation. So I take the opportunity to give a round of applause to the CEO Teck Yin, to Chin Kwang, the Chief of the Sports Club and everyone who has been involved in this exercise. To the volunteers, thank you for volunteering and helping to make this event possible. There will be many opportunities to be involved in sports – our new Sports Hub is coming up, the SEA Games is coming next year in June and we have already signed up 15,000 volunteers. We have actually already reached our target but we are happy to have more people contribute and join in this whole national effort to get ready for the SEA Games and I am also glad that you have many Team Singapore athletes here with us today so that they can also participate and join in the community, inspire many more people especially our young to participate in sports and to excel in sports.

11. So thank you very much everyone and have a very pleasant evening.