Singapore sets aside more land for golf than football

Land meant for golf takes up about two entire Bishan estates.

Jonathan Lim| February 17, 08:31 AM

The recent golf-related newspaper headline in Singapore has the Government taking away some 219 out of 1,500 hectares of land meant for golf courses. The land will be redeveloped for other uses.

 

How big is 1,500 ha?

In terms of residential area, the entire Bishan takes up about 743 hectares. So you can fit about two 'Bishans' into the space golf courses take up. For land scarce Singapore, two 'Bishans' is a lot of land that could have gone into producing more $1 million HDB maisonettes.

From another perspective, Bedok Reservoir is around 88 hectares. This translates approximately 17 reservoirs in 1,500 hectares. That's a lot of space for sea sports. Or suicides.

 

Going by land area apportioned, golf should be more popular than football

In a 2007 press release, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) noted that it has made 284 state fields available for community and recreational use. According to SLA, this is equivalent to 780 football fields.

Assuming that each of the 350 schools in Singapore has a football field, and another 20 stadiums with football fields around the country, the total number of football fields in Singapore is approximately 1,150 (780 + 350 + 20).

Considering that one football field is 0.7 hectares, 1,150 of them will take up just a little over 800 hectares in Singapore.

Of course, equating how much land is used by a sport to its popularity is illogical. Sports like table tennis, badminton or basketball take up far less space, but it does not mean they are not enjoyed by many Singaporeans.

But it is also illogical that golf, a sport not commonly offered as a CCA in schools unlike football/basketball/badminton, takes up almost twice the space given to football.

 

What's the rationale behind having so much land for golf?

Is it land well-spent? Golf rarely hogs the headline the way football does in Singapore. Ask any Singaporean on the street to name one local footballer and Fandi Ahmad is probably the answer you hear the most. Ask for a local golfer, you will be hard pressed to find someone who can give you something better than Vijay Singh.

From the average Singaporean's perspective, there really is no compelling reason for golf to take up that much space in land-starved Singapore. It is thus a long overdue move for the Government to take some land away from golf courses.

One suggestion: To bring the balance of land use further towards football, we can perhaps allow football to be played at all void decks island-wide.

 

Top photo from Heaps of Fun.

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