Transforming Singapore Sports Hub into a reality

President and Members of the SEA Games Federation Council 

NOC Presidents and Sports Ministers, 

Mr Mark Woodhams, Chairman of SHPL 

Consortium Partners, 

Distinguished Guests 

Ladies and Gentlemen 

1. Thank you so much for joining us this evening at the new Singapore Sports Hub. It’s a special evening for all of us, as we eagerly await the Opening Ceremony of the SEA Games later this evening.

2. Before the start of the opening ceremony, we have invited all of you and brought all our friends and partners together for this reception, for several reasons. One is a very practical reason, because the opening ceremony ends at 10pm, we thought it will be nice to have some food before the opening ceremony to fill your stomach. This is the practical reason.

3. But more importantly, we are here to launch the Opening Season for our new Sports Hub. This Opening Season starts with the SEA Games, and stretch out over the next two months.

4. The idea for the Sports Hub started back in 2001. It’s a complex project – one of the largest PPP projects in the region – and it comes with its share of challenges. We ran into some delays and that’s why we were not able to host the past recent editions of the SEA Games. And that is why I also specifically want to thank our regional friends, our friends from Laos, Indonesia and Myanmar, who hosted the Games during the years when we were not able to do so because our stadium and Sports Hub were not ready. So thank you very much.

5. But as they say, the best things in life are worth waiting for. Today, the Sports Hub is fully operational, and I’m glad that we are able to reciprocate the hospitality that all of our Southeast Asian friends have extended to us over the years.

6. In the short time since the Sports Hub opened its doors to the public, it has hosted nearly 100 sporting and lifestyle events, ranging from friendly matches to concerts and sporting events like the Suzuki Cup and WTA Finals. These events, together with the community facilities and sporting programmes, have attracted well over a million visitors in less than a year, and have shown us the spectrum of events that the complex is capable of staging.

7. The Sports Hub has also become home to many athletes who now train here regularly. More importantly, it has become a popular destination for Singaporeans to watch and play sports with their friends and families.

8. All this would not have been possible without our PPP partners. So here, I thank InfraRed Capital Partners, Dragages Singapore, DTZ and Global Spectrum Asia. Thank you very much, a big round of applause for all of them. I am particularly glad to see Werner, CEO of InfraRed; Olivier-Marie Racine of Bouygues Construction; and Mark, Chairman of SHPL. We have worked very closely together over the past few months, and we really appreciate your leadership, our guidance and your commitment to make this project possible, and for helping to bring the project to this milestone. So thank you for being very good partners with us

9. Beyond the SEA Games, we are looking to continue to have a very vibrant event calendar and programme offerings. We already have an exciting line-up of events for the Opening Season, including the Asian Fencing Championships and the Barclays Football Asia Trophy. Beyond that, we can look forward to the FINA World Junior Championships, WTA Finals and World Rugby Sevens Series next year.

10. So to our regional guests and first-timers at the Sports Hub, I hope you will come back again, and I look forward to welcoming you to the Sports Hub again for future events.

11. Once again, thank you for being here. Please enjoy the reception and in a few moments, the SEA Games Opening Ceremony will be starting soon. Enjoy the show, and have a very good SEA Games. Thank you.