Dr Yaacob Ibrahim

Minister of State for Community Development and Sports

Mr Ng Ser Miang

Chairman of the Singapore Sports Council

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am pleased to be here to unveil the model of the first ever sports school in Singapore.

Setting up a sports school to develop our talented student athletes to their fullest potential by providing world-class sports training and high-quality academic education is a key recommendation of the Committee on Sporting Singapore (CoSS). Today, we move one step closer towards the realisation of this project with the completion of the school design.

Earlier, the video presentation has brought you through a virtual tour of the sports school. Many of you would have noticed the difference in how the sports facilities are positioned and designed in comparison to the mainstream schools. These sports facilities are mostly located in the middle of the school complex and designed to be seamlessly integrated with the academic and accommodation blocks. This is in line with the integration of the students’ academic curriculum with their sports training programmes.

For a start, the sports school will be focussing on individual sports in swimming, track and field, table tennis, badminton, sailing and bowling. We will also consider the most popular team sports among the male and female students -- football and netball, if there is sufficient student intake to make up the teams. These have been sports carefully selected based on an overall assessment of the student participation base for the sport, the potential for sports excellence and the existence of an established youth development programme in the respective National Sport Associations. Most sports will have their training programmes in-house, while sports like sailing will obviously be conducted elsewhere.

The door of the Sports School is, however, not permanently closed to the other sports. Subject to how successful the NSA is in developing and promoting its youth programmes and the popularity of the sport among students, the Sports School is open to increasing the number of sports programmes in future.

Disabled-friendly features will also form an integral part of the sports school’s design - from toilets, hostel rooms to the sports facilities. I am pleased to note that the school will also be offering both academic and sports programmes in swimming and track and field, to disabled student athletes who would otherwise be in mainstream schools, and who would meet the criteria for the Sports School. It is important that we provide equal opportunities to these equally talented sports boys and girls, and integrate them with the able-bodied at a young age. I hope that as a whole they will inspire one another as they learn, train and achieve on one common ground.

The Sports School, to be named "Singapore Sports School", is one of the many CoSS initiatives that MCDS and the Singapore Sports Council are presently working on. Since the launch of the CoSS report in July last year, much time and resources have gone into the building of capability to implement the various CoSS recommendations. Studies and consultations have been conducted in order to formulate the action plans. These processes are strategically essential, as the right foundations have to be laid before we start implementing the new initiatives. The NSA review is one area which has been subject to such rigorous processes. The SSC will be announcing its new development plans for NSAs tomorrow.

I am also glad to note progress in the sports industry and sports publicity. To attract more exciting sporting events to Singapore, and thereby help imbue a sporting culture here, SSC set up a sports marketing team last year. The World Rugby Seven Series to be held next month is one recent result of their marketing efforts. We have also stepped up our efforts in promoting greater team spirit and cooperation within the sporting fraternity with the launch of Team Singapore in April last year. The results of these efforts were clearly demonstrated at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games as Singaporeans cheered ardently as part of Team Singapore for our national athletes.

Overall, in financial year 2001, $35 million has been expended, mainly in the preparation for the Sports School, athlete development, NSA development, enhanced sports for all programmes and events promotion.

Moving forward, we shall see more action for sports development. New Sports for All programmes for target groups with low participation rates, and the Athletes Career & Training programme (ACT) announced by Prime Minister Goh on 16^th March are just some of the initiatives.

There will also be two major feasibility studies to be conducted in 2002.

One study is on the redevelopment of the National Stadium into a multi-purpose Sports Hub. It is envisioned to be a world-class venue for sports and entertainment, attracting events and visitors all year long. It should stand out from our cityscape to be a new national landmark which Singaporeans and tourists alike can identify with; a sophisticated leisure centre that promotes sports as a new lifestyle in Singapore. The study will recommend the viable events that we can stage in Singapore, the corresponding facilities to be built, the location for these facilities and their business model. It will assess the overall commercial viability of the Sports Hub and its socio-economic impact in Singapore. I was told that 7 out of 20 consultant consortiums have been shortlisted from a world-wide open tender, and that the consultant for the study will be appointed in April. The study is expected to be completed in October this year.

The other study is on the hosting of Commonwealth Games in 2010. A typical Commonwealth Games involves about 6000 athletes and officials, and draws possibly hundreds of thousands of tourists and local spectators. If Singapore were to bid and succeed, it will be the largest single event that Singapore has ever organised. Therefore, the government is currently doing a detailed feasibility study to ascertain whether the infrastructure in Singapore is suitable in staging such an event, and to gauge the socio-economic impact that the Games will bring to Singapore. We will make a decision before the end of this year whether or not to bid for the Games.

The CoSS Report has served as the blueprint on which developments for sports will become possibilities. The year 2001 has seen the laying of groundwork for these new developments. From now on, I hope to see a Sporting Singapore taking form and shape on this foundation.

Thank you.