Jamus Lim on motion calling for clear and achievable goals for sporting success

Singapore is unfortunately not only punching below its weight, but has actually “consistently gotten worse”, said MP Jamus Lim. Citing football as an example, he said as Singapore got richer, its ranking has paradoxically slid further away. The Kallang Roar has “fallen silent” as did the facility that aims to revitalise local sports, he said. Moving a motion in Parliament on Thursday (Jul 6) calling for clear and achievable goals for Singapore’s sporting success, he said it appears that “money alone is not enough”. He highlighted the economic challenges, illustrating them with the “grand plan” to revitalise the local sporting scene with the Singapore Sports Hub through the public-private partnerships (PPP) model. He said such an approach to shift the risks to the private sector while reaping the benefits without active management is “naive optimism”. He said having the Government assume both the role of client and controller means that the PPP arrangement was fundamentally untenable to begin with. Now that the Government has entirely taken over the Sports Hub, he said it is valuable to ask if it plans to ensure that the facility fulfils the aspirations for catalysing Singapore sport. He wanted to know how Government management will differ in practice from the PPP model, especially in expertise and talent. He asked if the Government will commit to clear objectives that are aligned in advance with those of stakeholders to inspire local sports participation. He also wanted to know how the Government plans to balance the needs of community users with profitable enterprises, in areas such as rentals and fees. Assoc Prof Lim said the Sports Hub is an "illuminating" example of poor management of sports facilities. He said it is symptomatic of a more general inefficiency of public spending in sports, which in turn not only contributes to a failure of the PPP model, but also spills over into poor sporting outcomes.