The government "will certainly be open" to the idea of holding future National Day Parades (NDP) at the National Stadium at Sports Hub, Minister for Community, Culture and Youth Edwin Tong said in Parliament on Aug. 1.

He was responding to a question posed by PAP MP Darryl David, following Tong’s Ministerial Statement, on the possibility of hosting the "biggest community event of the year" - the NDP - at the Sports Hub on a more "regular schedule".

The last time that the NDP was held at the Sports Hub was in 2016, in which David recounted his “wonderful, wonderful experience" of being part of the marching contingent with the PAP Community Foundation (PCF).

Taking back ownership of SHPL so that cost won’t be a “prohibitive constrain”

In response to David's question, Tong said that the government "will certainly be open" to the idea of holding the NDP at the Sports Hub.

Tong added that taking back the ownership and management of Sports Hub Pte Ltd (SHPL) was designed to give Singapore "more flexibility" and the ability not to let cost be the "prohibitive constrain" in organising events at the Sports Hub.

In 2015, The Straits Times reported that Sports Hub charged NDP organisers S$26 million for an extra 35 days of rehearsals at the 55,000-seater stadium.

In total, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen shared in Parliament in 2016 that holding the NDP at National Stadium in the Sports Hub cost $39.4 million, The Straits Times reported

Hosting the NDP at the Marina Bay Floating Platform in the previous years cost between S$15.7 million and S$17.9 million.

Long lead time needed to host NDP at Sports Hub

On holding the NDP at the Sports Hub every year on a "general schedule" as suggested by David, Tong said that the government would "want to circumspect" about hosting it yearly at the Sports Hub as there is a long lead time in which facilities cannot be used.

“There is a five to seven months lead time before and after, where much of the facilities would have to be decked out and can’t be used,” Tong explained.

“So you have to think about the programming if we would want to (hold the NDP) at the Sports Hub,” he added.

Nonetheless, Tong said that at the very least, the Sports Hub will be open for the Ministry of Defence to consider holding the NDP.

Background

On Jun. 10, 2022, the government announced its decision to take over the Singapore Sports Hub from the SHPL, which was previously under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement.

The termination of the agreement, which was originally a 25-year contract engaged in 2010, would allow SportSG to gain greater control and flexibility over the facility in Kallang and make it more accessible to the public.

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