Commonwealth Games:
Go For It
Hosting Olympics, Asian Games, etc is a message by host that it "has arrived". Singapore should go for Commonwealth Games. By Seah Chiang Nee
Aug 3, 2001

The Commonwealth Games are not as big as the Olympics, of course, but it is no small beer.

In 1988 host Malaysia spent M$561 million catering to 68 countries (one-third the Olympic's number) and 6,000 athletes. It had 21 sports venues with the main stadium capable of holding 100,000 spectators.

When Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad declared open the Commonwealth Games in KL, it was with a sense of pride. A world meeting of this magnitude does several things for his country - and for him.

It was Malaysia's message to everybody that it had achieved a certain status and capability in the world. Several years before that, pundits had predicted the prime minister would retire after Malaysia's crowning achievement.

That is why I read with some pleasure that Singapore had been approached - and is considering - to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. It will be a herculean achievement for this small island if it decides to do so. The Republic has never organised anything bigger than a Southeast Asian Peninsula Games.

The organisation has to be near perfect. Good or bad, visitors will remember it for years afterwards.

Those of us who saw the wildly cheering Chinese when Beijing's won the 2008 Olympic Games will know it is more than sports. It sparked off a sense of patriotism seldom felt before. Like Tokyo did in 1964 and Seoul in 1988, the Chinese see it as the world's acceptance that their country is - or will soon be - a world power.

If the Olympics can rally the Chinese to such pride and such wild enthusiasm, will not the Commonwealth Games not do the same for a tiny red dot like Singapore? If it is remotely possible I say "Go For It".

For Singapore, more than the others, It is not just about sports or the economy (in particular, tourism) or improved infrastructure, although they will all benefit from it.

Because of its young age, there is something far more important - it unifies the people.

At 36, Singapore is one of the youngest advanced nations in the world and playing host to such a major meet will do two important things for nation-building.

The first is that it will rally the people behind the effort, give them a sense of pride and purpose. Sports will receive a boost. It has 8 or 9 years to build up a team of great sportsmen and women to represent and may even, with some luck, win a small crop of medals.

Singaporeans need heroes and heroines. Here's a chance to give it to them. The Olympics are too big for us to aim for; we don't have the land or the population, but the Commonwealth Games are within reach. They can be our Olympics. Our Mt. Everest in sports

Japan had this mood when it became the first Asian country to host the world games, a historical landmark event that signified the end of the post-war period and underscored Japan's high economic growth. During the 5 years leading up to 1964, preparations for the Games literally transformed the face of Tokyo.

Roads in the city and suburbs were widened. A huge Olympic Village sprang up in Yoyogi, and NHK built a new broadcast center nearby to cover the event.

Total expenditures in preparation for the event were said to be the highest in Olympic history. But perhaps the greatest showpiece project associated with the Olympics was the Shinkansen bullet train - billed as the world's fastest-which began service between Tokyo and Osaka on October 1, nine days prior to the start of the Games.

For Singapore, if we go ahead, it will be on a smaller scale of achievement. But it will leave us a number of new sports stadiums and facilities we need to fulfil out ambition to be at least a top-rate regional sports nation.

The Republic has crept to the top ten in per capita income. Despite its size, it has bought into some fair size foreign companies, won educational awards. Why not in sports, too?

It is time for a "can do" spirit. The biggest benefit will come from a more cohesive nation.

From shopkeepers to waiters, from taxi-drivers to students, in fact the whole public, will be involved in turning a new face for their own society - and the outside world. After all, it will probably be the biggest single influx of visitors in history.

At our young age, our city needs to achieve it.

Seah Chiang Nee