A sandy pitch, a leaky roof and the demolition of our 'Grand Old Dame' are a few reasons why Singaporeans view the new SportsHub with a certain level of disdain or even mistrust.

Despite the new SportsHub having a new 55,000-seat National Stadium with the largest free-spanning dome in the world, including a retractable roof, and solar-powered technologies cooling seats in the stadium with 12L of air per second, it has not replaced Kallang Stadium's place in Singaporeans' hearts.

It's all in the relationship

Never mind the absolute lack of shelter when it pours, Singaporeans would take a drenching at Kallang Stadium than some leaks at the SportsHub.

Can we blame Singaporeans for not immediately taking a liking to the new shiny building? For close to four decades, Kallang Stadium had been the venue where Singaporeans cheered and wept for the Lions, where they celebrated countless National Days, watched fireworks from and spent Youth Days at.

Kallang Stadium is like someone's favourite old auntie/uncle whose hair smells of the Singapore spirit and whose voices echoes the Kallang Roar.

The new SportsHub, on the flip side, is like a distant relative arriving from overseas, sporting the latest loud fashion, crashing into your living room, and scaring your favourite uncle off his rocking chair.

In short, Kallang Stadium was a place Singaporeans had a relationship with.

This relationship lingers on even though the stadium was demolished in 2010 and after the SportsHub was opened in 2014.

But it is time to move on

Kallang Stadium is gone. The SportsHub, whether Singaporeans like it or not, is now a sprawling complex with a shopping centre, swimming complex and stadium and is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

SportsHub is not Kallang Stadium. The old stadium had its charm in all its open-air concrete glory.

In an apples-to-apples comparison, nostalgia is the only thing Kallang Stadium has over the new SportsHub.

But let's not be too hung up over what was lost and not see what is in front of us.

An evolution for stadium use

When news broke of the condition of the stadium's pitch being unusable after a slew of concerts, netizens were up in arms.

Many said that this smacked of capitalism overshadowing Singapore sports.

One consideration that many people left out is this - how else can a stadium to fund itself throughout the year if sports events only fill a percentage of its calendar? Unless the Government is willing to spend tax dollars on upcoming an empty stadium, how else do you ensure that a stadium is in tip-top shape?

There are many stadiums which lay abandoned or disused after a major sporting event - like the Olympics, Commnwealth Games or World Cup - leaves town. Check out this article featuring abandoned stadiums.

In fact, Kallang Stadium was a victim of the same phenomenon. It laid largely unused for the majority of the year and is only filled with life once in a while when we kicked some balls with Malaysia.

Put your hand to your heart,  you have to admit that the condition of Kallang Stadium was definitely not ideal.

Make a new friend

Once Singaporeans get over the demise of Kallang Stadium, what they have left is a stadium versatile enough to host sporting events, concerts and other miscellaneous activities.

We may finally have a venue big enough to host festivals like a Glastonbury, Burning Man or SXSW.

The pitch may not be ideal now, unless the management behind SportsHub are absolute buffoons, the idiosyncracies of the stadium should be sorted out given time. Nothing comes flawless, and holes (literal) will be plugged and kinks ironed out.

SEA Games as a test for SportsHub

The SEA Games will be hosted by Singapore this year and it would be a test for SportsHub on how well it manages the sporting events and human traffic.

There will be several free events for spectators to watch - like Track events - and this would be a good opportunity for Singaporeans to get acquainted with the new National Stadium.

The question now is, are Singaporeans willing to give it a chance? That is how all relationships start.

Top image from Leong Him Woh.