MCYS SPEECH NO: 16/2009

DATE OF ISSUE: 11/02/2009

Speech by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary,

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports at
the FY 2009 Committee for Supply Debate, 11 February 2009

Bonding The Community Through Sports & Youth Olympic

Games

1. Madam, I thank Members for raising their questions on

sports. It is very heartening to know that there are more questions
on sports in this House, which shows that there is greater
interest. We also have more Members of Parliament in National
Sports Associations (NSAs), either acting in an advisory role or
as Presidents. That actually speaks a lot for sports development.
I would like to believe that we are in the first world and that our
sports sector is not in the third world. With the coming Youth
Olympic Games (YOG) and the various investments that we are
making in the sports sector, I believe we can be very close to
being first world. There are many gaps to close. We are not there
yet but we have to keep trying.

NSAs and collaboration with Sports School

2. Ms Lee Bee Wah and Mrs Jessie Phua mentioned the
challenges faced by the NSAs, especially in the area of funding.
Our NSAs play a key role in sports. However, given limited
resources, we have to spend our money very carefully.

Page 1 of 12
3. It is important that all the NSAs first, must have a good
governance approach and policies. Secondly, they must have a
good plan and strategy that they can carry out to develop their
youth athletes and senior athletes. Thirdly and most importantly,
they must have good counsel and an honest team that can get
the support of the fraternity and deliver the goods. With all of
these and plans that can achieve the national objectives of
sporting excellence and participation, I think good NSAs deserve
a higher level of the funding that can be given to them. But as
you know, we have about 60 NSAs. Not every NSA has the same
level of governance or professionalism. So there will be some
allocation of resources. Some will get more while others get less.

4. NSAs should strive to be at least partially self reliant. We do

not believe in giving full funding. As what the Singapore Table
Tennis Association (STTA) has done, after Ms Lee Bee Wah took
over as President, they raised funds. And together with the
funding from Singapore Sports Council (SSC), she can actually
fund the programmes that she wanted to do, especially in youth
development. I urge them to do more to generate revenue and
seek sponsorship. In this light, the 22 NSAs who are Institutions
of Public Character (IPCs) will benefit from the increase in tax
deduction1 for donations made this year. We will also continue to
support NSAs in other areas such as sports science, sports
medicine and even sports facilities, and try to help them manage
their expenses.

1
From 200% to 250%

Page 2 of 12
5. I am glad that Ms Lee Bee Wah has also noted the potential
of the Singapore Sports School. The Sports School has groomed
our youth athletes in achieving significant results in international
competitions. Two student athletes, Tao Li (swimming) and Calvin
Kang (athletics), also represented Singapore at the Beijing
Olympic Games. Tao Li left her mark there. She set the Asian
record for the 100 metres butterfly event and is now ranked within
the top 8 in the world. Her performance has elevated our
Singapore sporting scene and put us on the world map. She has
also very much integrated as part of our society, and to me, that
is a big win for Singapore sports.

6. The Singapore Sports School will consider expanding its

academies and programmes. It will also work with selected NSAs
so that more athletes can benefit from its training facilities, and its
coaches’ expertise. The STTA has a pilot project with the Sports
School. I think all the other NSAs can also take the cue and see
what can be done together with the Sports School and even other
schools in Singapore. The Sports School will provide use of its
training facilities and other support services to the national youth
training squad and the Youth Olympic Games squad. I urge more
NSAs to follow suit.

Sports participation in the community

7. Ms Lee also touched on the need to do more to raise sports
participation. We are addressing this by providing more playing
spaces and encouraging more events and activities.

Page 3 of 12
8. The public now have access to over 400 such “spaces” –
comprising a mix of state land and school fields. As you know, for
the school fields, we have a Dual Use Scheme which is now very
popular. More than 100 schools have opened up their fields for
community use. By the end of March this year, people can enjoy
other sports with the opening of 15 school Indoor Sports Halls
that have been newly renovated or constructed.

9. There are now more mass participation events in our sports

calendar. Many people tell me, every weekend there is an event.
Or almost every weekend, in some parts of Singapore, the roads
there are closed. This is a very busy calendar. Some people have
decided that maybe Singapore is just too busy with too many
events that they are going out to the region to participate in other
events. These are all good because it develops the whole sports
sector. We are seeing an increasing involvement of private
organisations. For some of the sports events, the title sponsors or
sponsors are actually private organisations. These events are not
totally funded by SSC. These include the Standard Chartered
Bank (for the Singapore Marathon), AVIVA and OSIM (for
triathlons). The OCBC Bank is also getting involved. They are the
title sponsors for Cycle Singapore, held later this month.

10. At the community level, we have activities such as the

People’s Association Community Sports Festival and Children’s
Football League. We will build on this and encourage more
ground-up sports initiatives. We are working on a plan to promote
community sports holistically. This will be in support of the
recommendation by the Sporting Culture Committee that was set

Page 4 of 12
up about one and a half years ago. We want to grow more sports
clubs, informal groups, and offer a wide range of sporting
activities for the whole community. This will help develop the
whole sports culture scene in Singapore. We will release the
details on this plan when ready.

Sports participation in schools

11. Contrary to what Ms Jessica Tan thinks, the focus in
schools is just as strong for greater participation as is for
excellence. Schools now have facilities like Indoor Sports Halls
and all-weather surface playgrounds. Through the Physical
Education (PE) curriculum, MOE has also enabled all students to
learn at least 4 sports by the time they graduate from secondary
school. For students not involved competitively, some schools
have introduced intra-school competitions so that they can
participate. To further popularise school sports, SSC and MOE
are working with MediaCorp to broadcast highlights from the
National School Sports Championships, in the form of 30-minute
weekly magazine shows. I believe this is going to start in March.
Many students, even parents, have written to me. They are very
excited because there is now some form of recognition for the
sportsmen and women representing their schools.

Youth Sports Development

12. I agree with Mr Sin Boon Ann and Ms Jessica Tan on the
importance of developing our youth athletes.

Page 5 of 12
13. In September last year, MCYS and MOE formed a new
committee, the Singapore Youth Sports Development Committee,
to bring all stakeholders together to enhance our system. This
Committee will also guide the preparation of competition specific
and individualised support plans, and work with the Singapore
National Olympic Council on the selection and preparation of our
athletes for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). This Committee
has both long term and short term objectives. It is not just about
preparing YOG athletes to represent Singapore. It is also about
developing the entire youth sports ecosystem to help the youth
athletes. This is so that we do not deny any child the chance to
participate in sports or the opportunity to be groomed and
developed to be champions and maximise their potential.

14. The Committee has already formulated some preliminary

plans to enhance youth sports participation and encourage
greater collaborations between NSAs and our schools. One
example is to set up satellite training centres for selected Olympic
sports in each of the four school zones, to serve as additional
avenues for participation. As a recognition to key roles played by
parents, the Committee is looking into providing training to
parents and others who volunteer at events and competitions to
boost technical and officiating capability. I think more importantly
it is to achieve a shift or change in their mindset. It is to involve
the parents so that they know what their children are going
through and not go shopping after sending them for training. They
can then understand and can be as committed as their children.
This will be a shift in mindset in terms of supporting sports.

Page 6 of 12
15. Let me touch on the YOG. We have given out this pocket
guide for everyone. This is what we distribute to promote the
Games.

Youth Olympic Games

16. The vision of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games is
‘Inspiring Youth, Sporting Singapore’. Come August 2010, we will
play host to 3,600 young athletes. Beyond sports competition,
they will also be involved in a Culture and Education Programme
that teaches them Olympism and Olympic values. But the YOG
goes beyond the games. It would leave behind lasting legacies,
in youth development, for businesses and for sports.

Youth engagement efforts for YOG

17. Mr Baey Yam Keng asked about our efforts to engage
youths. These are done through the school-based Olympic
Education Programme and the Friends@YOG programme.

18. The Olympic Education Programme allows our youths to

connect with the Olympic Movement through lessons and
activities in schools. The Olympic Movement is really about
Friendship, Excellence and Respect, so they are taught these
values. An example to illustrate this is how Woodlands Ring
Secondary School is incorporating Olympism and Olympic values
into their upcoming Character-building Week in March. Students
will be designing YOG banners and T-shirts. Leadership camps
and outdoor adventure activities will also teach students about

Page 7 of 12
the relevance of the Olympic values to them. We are going to roll
out engagement activities with the schools and even at the
districts level, to encourage more community events that will
generate the buzz.

19. The Friends@YOG programme will twin all our schools with
a school in each of the 205 member countries of the International
Olympic Committee (IOC). These 205 countries will be sending
their athletes to Singapore. Every student in Singapore can make
friends and they will also have to do a project, to learn about the
cultures from youths around the world.

Partnering organisations for the YOG

20. The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising
Committee, or SYOGOC for short, is actively working with
organisations to engage and involve youths. The recent CAN!
event, organised by NTU, NUS, SIM and SMU in conjunction with
the Singapore 2010 Logo Launch is a case in point. CAN! stands
for Create Action Now, and it encourages young people to take
action now for the YOG.

21. We will continue to work with partners and organisations to

organise events and initiatives for the CAN! festivals. We are
currently partnering Harvest Care Centre for an event on Culture
and Heritage in April, and with Nanyang Polytechnic for the
Singapore Games Creation Competition in July. Organisations
keen to be part of YOG can get in touch with us or the team to
explore collaboration possibilities.

Page 8 of 12
22. Besides the festivals, we are also partnering organisations
for other aspects of the Games. An example is the Institute of
Technical Education (ITE). They will be providing basic service
excellence training for 20,000 YOG volunteers. That is a big task.
We want to use the expertise in ITE to train our volunteers. So it
is a local-based, homegrown training session for a world class
event.

YOG: An excellent opportunity for businesses

23. Mr Baey Yam Keng and Mr Liang Eng Hwa will be assured
to know that the YOG will provide opportunities for businesses,
including SMEs. Some of the services required are catering,
transport, logistics support, sports venues, equipment, and
dressing up of the city.

24. The YOG provides an excellent platform for companies to

build up their business track record. The experience gained will
be an advantage for companies engaged for large scale events in
the future. More importantly, it teaches our local companies,
especially the SMEs, about sports marketing and the value of this
marketing approach.

25. Recognising the economic potential of organizing the YOG

and the Olympic Games, MCYS signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the United Kingdom Trade and
Investment Organisation. The MOU aims to facilitate networking
and promote business opportunities for companies in both
countries. So now, Singapore businesses can gain access to the

Page 9 of 12
network of UK-based businesses and explore joint venture
partnerships with their UK counterparts.

Sponsorship for YOG

26. With the economic downturn, companies are becoming
more cautious in sponsoring projects. Mr Liang Eng Hwa can be
assured that the interest amongst potential sponsors is still there.
Maybe the sponsorship quantum will be a bit smaller. So we will
have to get more sponsors in order to meet our original target.

27. There are 3 sponsorship tiers to cater to different segments

of the marketm as well as to cater to the current economic
environment. Tier 1 sponsors will have exclusive rights in the
designated product category and receive maximum exposure for
their brand by association with the Olympic Rings and other
YOG-related imagery. As you may know, last week, Deloitte
Singapore became the first YOG Tier 1 sponsor.

28. While Tier 2 is non-exclusive in product category, sponsors

will have opportunities to profile their company and association
with the YOG, through various campaigns. We also have the Tier
3, or the Support Programme, for our SMEs or local companies
who think they may not be able to afford the Tier 1 and Tier 2.

29. I urge companies to come forward. Within each tier, we will

exercise flexibility to tailor the sponsorship package to suit the
company. SMEs could also consider forming a consortium with
their counterparts in the same sector to support the YOG.

Page 10 of 12
YOG: An Opportunity for Sporting Legacy
30. I agree with Mrs Jessie Phua that the YOG in 2010 will
leave behind a lasting sporting legacy. That is exactly why we
decided to bid for the YOG. Allow me to share some of the steps
taken to this end.

31. 26 sports will be competed at YOG, with a number of sports

relatively new to Singaporeans. Examples like wrestling, handball
and modern pentathlon. In fact, we have a base of athletes now.
This is because the NSAs have started grooming and identifying
talent. I am fairly confident that these sports will have athletes
representing Singapore in the YOG.

32. The YOG provides the impetus to train and grow a pool of
technical officials for the local sports scene. These include
referees, competition managers who organise various sports
competitions, and volunteers who oversee anti-doping operations.
Our NSAs plan to conduct or participate in courses which will
result in training and development opportunities for 1,000
technical officials.

YOG infrastructure preparation

33. Mr Sin Boon Ann will also be pleased to know that the
shortage of construction materials has not significantly affected
our preparations. We will spare no effort to make things happen
for the YOG. We are not building new major infrastructure for the
YOG, because that is what the YOG is about. It is about values,

Page 11 of 12
not about having a bigger scale event or bigger facilities. The
competition venues for 22 sports are existing facilities. 12 venues
will only require temporary fittings and 8 other venues are having
ongoing upgrading works scheduled for completion by the end of
this year. Upgrading works on Bishan Sports Hall and Tampines
Bike Park will commence later this year. Construction works of
venues for the other 4 sports such as *scape (for basketball),
Singapore Turf Club (equestrian) and Marina Reservoir (canoeing
and rowing), are progressing on schedule.

Conclusion
34. Madam, one of the key factors that impressed the IOC was
the immense ground support from all quarters for our bid. This
sense of inclusiveness and passion must continue to permeate
our preparations for the YOG.

35. The YOG will last only 12 days. But I believe that its
benefits and legacy, particularly the friendships and perspectives
gained by those involved, as well as branding and positioning for
Singapore, will last long after the Games are over.
*****

Page 12 of 12