Most grade Sports Hub sub-par

Most of those who took part in a poll by the Straits Times have graded the Sports Hub’s performance in its first six months as below par.

The Hub, supposed to be Singapore’s new icon to the world, has been graded a “F-“ by 28 per cent of those polled, while 21 per cent gave it a “C-“.

13 per cent gave it a “C”, and another 13 per cent a “F”.

The current level of dissatisfaction with the performance of the Sports Hub from the public, however, seems to be in contrast to that of the Hub’s management.

According to the Straits Times, the management has judged the Hub’s “current state” to be a “A- or B+.”

The newspaper criticised this and said that “[the] first rule of sport is humility” and that the “Sports Hub’s senior management have perhaps forgotten” this by patting itself on the back with a more flattering performance grade.

The 35ha hub, built at a cost of more than S$1 billion, has seen infrastructural shortcomings since opening in June last year.

These include leaky roofs, cracked ceilings, poor lighting, and the atrocious condition of the centrepiece of the hub – the National Stadium pitch, which has been roundly criticised not only by Singaporeans but also by international teams which played on it.

The Online Citizen has a run-down of these incidents. Read them here: “Sports Hub vows to fix pitch by March”.

Some have questioned if the poor management has done irreparable damage to Singapore’s reputation as a country of efficiency, and to its ambitions to be a sporting centre of the region and the world.

The hub’s management had had to spend a further S$1.5 million to buy new artificial grass to replace the old one at the National Stadium which had failed to grow properly.

And on Tuesday, the management vowed to fix the problems of the leaky roof.

Given the series of rather serious incidents, questions are being raised about who should take responsibility for them.

The Sports Hub is also under the purview of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), headed by Lawrence Wong.

You can vote on the Straits Times poll here: “How would you rate the performance of the Sports Hub in its first six months?”