Update, Nov. 27, 12.35am: This article has been updated to include the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) response saying that reports of Singapore athletes being served pork did not happen.

Singapore athletes were reportedly served meals containing pork at the Southeast Asian Games 2019 held in the Philippines, South China Morning Post reported.

This alleged dietary snafu, among many others, has led to complaints lodged with the organisers.

Intervention

Philippine Muslim officials have supposedly even intervened as they are calling on SEA Games organisers to work quickly to ensure a sufficient supply of halal food, SCMP wrote.

Games organisers were said to have ignored reminders from the National Commission for Filipino Muslims (NCFM) to serve food with no pork in them.

Formal complaint lodged

SCMP also said Singapore team’s chef de mission, Juliana Seow, has written to the games organisers.

A NCFM representative said the matter is being resolved at the highest levels.

SCMP said Singapore, a non-Muslim country, is unhappy about the food, saying the menu is limited, lacked the nutritional value needed for athletes to perform, and drinking water is also scarce.

But Singapore is one of a number of nations fielding Muslim athletes, alongside Muslim countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Not true

However, the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) said on Tuesday, Nov. 26 that Singapore’s Muslim athletes were not served pork at the 30th SEA Games.

A spokesperson for SNOC said that the “allegations” that Singapore’s Muslim athletes were served pork and that chef de mission Juliana Seow had spoken to Philippine media, as reported by SCMP, were untrue.

The SCMP article reported that Seow had told Philippine media that they were forced to order food from outside for their Muslim athletes, who were served kikiam, a kind of pork roll.

“The mentions in SCMP article related to these two allegations are not true," said the spokesperson.

“Juliana did not speak with the Philippine media nor were our Muslim athletes served pork.”

“We have written to SCMP to seek a correction immediately.”

Singapore team working with organisers

Seow told media in a statement on Monday that Singapore’s athletes and officials had encountered “teething problems” at the Games.

But they would work with local organisers to resolve these issues.

No mention of the serving of pork to Muslim athletes was made in Monday's statement.

Seow also said: "What's more important is to work with the organisers to address and resolve them (the teething problems), so that our athletes and officials can compete in a conducive environment."

"We appreciate the efforts and hospitality of the Philippine organisers and volunteers in taking care of us and doing their best as hosts, and look forward to an exciting 2019 SEA Games."

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