Singapore backs 'kampung' sports for 2015
Singapore's 2015 Southeast Asian Games (SEA) Games organising chief Wednesday rebuffed calls to standardise the tournament's ever-changing list of sports and backed its strong regional character. Lim Teck Yin acknowledged that the Southeast Asian event had been derided as the "Kampung (village) Games", owing to its inclusion of home-grown disciplines like sepak takraw and vovinam, which often mystify outsiders. But he said it was important to maintain Southeast Asian traditions, to engage local communities and develop sport in the emerging region. "I've heard this argument before, that without some level of control like the Olympic Games, some of you have written that this became the 'Kampung Games'," Lim told reporters at a briefing. "I don't know whether my opinion matters or not ... I would say as a participant in many SEA Games in the past, the SEA Games has its own flavour." Lim announced the 2015 tournament's dates as June 5-16, but he said the list of sports to be contested would be kept under wraps until next year. The list has previously proved controversial as it changes each edition, with local organisers often including obscure events in which they can win more medals. Philippine Sports Commission Richie Garcia has threatened to boycott this year's tournament in Myanmar in protest at what he calls manipulation of the events to favour local athletes, according to a local report. At the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, the organising committee president said future editions should focus on Olympic sports to help the region's athletes improve in world-recognised events. Lim would not discuss which sports are shortlisted for 2015, but he said there would be more than 30 disciplines with dragon-boating, netball and floorball -- a form of hockey -- among those under discussion. "Some of the sports that you see in the SEA Games are very much sports that are centred around Southeast Asia. World champions are in Southeast Asia," said Lim. "Dragon-boating is an example. It's not an Olympic sport but in Singapore, it's big." He also pledged to bring in the tournament on budget, avoiding the cost overruns that plagued the last SEA Games in Indonesia as well as Singapore's 2010 Youth Olympic Games. "I've been given a very firm and very strong directive that we will not exceed budget," Lim said, declining to reveal the budget's size. "First, we will come within budget -- or I won't be here any more. I'm almost sure of that," added Lim, laughing. "And secondly I think we've bench-marked it quite carefully to be cost-effective." The inaugural Youth Olympics caused consternation in Singapore when costs ballooned to about Sg$300 million ($236 million) over budget. The 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia also missed its spending target by a distance. For the 2015 SEA Games, involving 11 countries, Singapore will not build any new venues or an athletes' village, and will instead touch up existing facilities and house competitors in local hotels, Lim said. The event will be centred at Singapore's under-construction Sports Hub, a $1 billion facility near the city centre which will include a 55,000-seat national stadium.
