$1.8m sports hub opens in Bishan

Aug 25, 2008

$1.8m sports hub opens in Bishan

Facilities for young and old include beach volleyball court, exercise corner

By K. C. Vijayan

QUESTION: What's to be done when not enough babies are being born to fill a primary school in a housing estate?

Answer: Build a sports hub on the land meant for the school.

Result: A $1.8 million facility in Bishan Street 23 which provides a track for jogging and inline skating as well as courts for basketball and beach volleyball.

This 24,000-sq m Bishan Active features a playground and an exercise corner for senior citizens and will be the new home and training ground for the Singapore women's football team.

Score one for the 'life-long fitness' cause.

The sports venue is another move by the Government to promote a healthy, sporting lifestyle among the people, part of the sports industry's initiatives which cost almost $500 million a year.

Yesterday, more than 1,000 Bishan residents showed up at the launch of the facility by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, MPs Josephine Teo and Hri Kumar. Central Singapore District Mayor Zainudin Nordin was also present at the launch.

All are MPs of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

Ms Teo said that when a place provides such a range of facilities for both young and old, it will become 'a focal point for Bishan residents to come together and enjoy the outdoors'.

She added that a sporting lifestyle should be cultivated from a young age, so providing easily accessible, integrated facilities would send a message to young people 'that it's up to them to integrate sports into their lifestyle'.

Asked why a beach volleyball court was added to the hub, Mr Zainudin said it is because the sport is 'quite hip' and is growing in popularity, given the Channel 8 TV series Beach Ball Babes.

For Bishan resident Khoo Kay Chai, 55, the hub means not having to jog along the footpaths around his block any more.

'Now I can exercise in the hub and use the fitness stations, which is very good,' he pointed out.

vijayan@sph.com.sg