Sport Singapore CEO apologised to the public in his letter to ST Forum today (‘Forum: Lessons from StanChart marathon will be incorporated into future races‘, 6 Dec).
His apology came following public complaints over the massive traffic jams built-up in the city area during the marathon race last Saturday evening (30 Nov). The annual Singapore Marathon was sponsored by a number of companies including StanChart. It was held in the evening for the first time.
Sport Singapore, formerly Singapore Sports Council, is a statutory board which comes under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth helmed by Minister Grace Fu. It is tasked by the government to develop a holistic sports culture for Singapore.
The CEO of Sport Singapore, Lim Teck Yin, is a retired Brigadier-General from the SAF. Lim was an SAF Scholar who holds a Master of Science in Management degree from the London Business School. He was awarded 3 public service medals by the President of Singapore:

In his letter, BG Lim said that the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) is a “celebration of active living with family and friends, and an exhortation for Singaporeans to give back through sport”.
Following the government’s call for building an “inclusive” society, BG Lim added, “From able runners to those with special needs, from seasoned competitors to first-timers, all come for their own reasons. Collectively, they embody the Singapore spirit of inclusiveness and resilience.”
He explained that the shift from early morning to an evening run was made to let more Singaporeans join in this event.
“More than 100,000 people came out this year to cheer the runners and enjoy the atmosphere at various spectator zones,” he said. “In the years to come, the meaningfulness of the event will grow as Singaporeans embrace SCSM.”
But he acknowledged that holding an evening race of “this scale” in densely populated Singapore is an ambitious endeavour.
“Since the end of last year, we have engaged stakeholders and conducted detailed traffic studies to mitigate the impact of road closures as much as possible. Information about the road closures and alternative routes and modes of transport were shared with affected businesses in early January,” he explained.
“We announced six months in advance, on May 28, that the race would be held in the evening for the first time. We intensified publicity on traffic advisories on road closures last month.”
And added, “Members of the public were strongly encouraged to take public transport. On race day, we deployed auxiliary police officers to help direct traffic to alternative routes. We will incorporate this year’s lessons for subsequent races.”
He ended his letter with an apology, “We apologise to those caught off guard and inconvenienced by the traffic impasse. The SCSM will, like the marathons in the six Majors cities and other events in Singapore with extensive road closures, take time for the general public to become familiar with.”
That is to say, he opined that the Singapore marathon like those held in other major cities in the world, would take time for the public to get familiar with the inconveniences it can cause.
“It is our sincere aspiration that this celebration of human endeavour will inspire more Singaporeans, and we look forward to working together with you on this journey,” he said.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

收集社会各阶层意见想法 政府设立多个交流平台

为了让我国民众有机会参与促进国家经济增长、解决当前危机、凝聚国家民众的机会,政府将设立“新加坡群策群力行动联盟”及“群策群力,共创未来”行动网络。 副总理兼财政部长王瑞杰今晚(6月20日)进行全国英语演说,以“越战越勇,共创未来”为主题时指出,我国政府为了在冠状病毒19疫情后的处理,并寻找新机遇,已经在今年5月成立“越战越勇工作小组”。 他表示,该小组已展开行动,向各业界咨询创新想法,而政府也设立“新加坡群策群力行动联盟”(Singapore Together Alliances for Action),以便尝试由业界所提供有关机器领域、电子商务、环境可持续性、数码化供应链等方面的新点子。 除了他,人力部长杨莉明、总理公署部长黄志明和教育部长王乙康都努力寻求新的点子,尝试而成功的计划将能够带动经济成长,进而为国人创造更多良好就业机会。 为了让国人能够胜任相关工作,政府也致力于通过“技能创前程”计划,强化教育系统。 王瑞杰强调,在加强社会凝聚力方面,政府将成立“群策群力,共创未来”行动网络,以收集各领域人士的想法。 他认为,疫情拉近了国人彼此之间的距离,也加强了大家的使命感,而疫情期间,我国也设立了全国关怀热线,为国人提供心理和情感的援助,并为年长者提供数码乐龄计划,帮助他们使用数码工具。 他希望国人能够将在疫情期间所培养出来的团结、使命精神继续保持,而这段期间国人所付出的关心和信任,是有目共睹的。…

泰选委会指违反选举法 准备取消塔纳通候选资格

泰国选举委员会周二(4月23日)指责,著名反政府政治新星塔纳通违反了选举法,在大选后一个月的昨日,准备取消他的国会候选人资格。 40岁的泰国未来前进党党魁塔纳通,被指控在登记成为候选人后,仍然持有一家媒体公司的股份,因而触犯了选举法令。 自2014年军事政变以来,泰国首次全国大选的结果仍然不明朗,而将于5月9日公布的大选成绩,将决定支持军政的党派是否有足够席位让军政领导人巴育继续掌权。 选举委员会副秘书长Sawang Boonmee说道,“有证据证明,塔纳通是V-Luck Media公司的持有者或股东”。“根据宪法和选举法,它将无法成为议员候选人。” 塔纳通斥指控存政治动机 塔纳通此前曾否认违反选举法,表示在注册成为候选人之前,他已经于1月8日出售了该媒体公司的股份。他也指责有关的指控具有政治动机。 而目前,他有七天的时间向选委会举证,以反驳有关的指控。 若被判违反选举法罪名成立,塔纳通将被禁止竞选一年。而且他还可能因为参加选举而面临刑事指控,因为他在明知道自己资格不足的情况下参选,有可能被判10年徒刑和20年的政治禁令。 从荷兰返回泰国的塔纳通在脸书上贴文说到,“我刚刚得知必须尽快回国准备应对意外情况。泰国见” 。…

Electromagnetic shield to deal with “mysterious” signalling faults

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) has…