Bishan Active

From SgWiki

A S$1.8 million sports hub, called Bishan Active, opened in the heart of the Bishan North neighbourhood on Sunday. It is the largest public outdoor sporting facility in Singapore’s housing estates.

Mayor for Central Singapore District, Zainudin Nordin, said beach volleyball is featured at Bishan Active because it is hip and popular with the young. He said the Town Council will also look into further improvements, such as adding shower facilities there.

At over 22,000 square metres, the sports hub in Bishan sits on a plot of land that was initially meant for a school. But plans to build the school were deferred and the sports hub was constructed there on a seven-year lease.

Other features at the sports facility include a basketball court, a football pitch and a roller blade track. There is also a multi-purpose sheltered pavilion, which will provide some cost savings to nearby residents.

“(Putting up a) tentage for a weekend event can cost up to S$11,000 to S$12,000, so you are now able to exploit and take benefit from such a facility,” said Mr Zainudin.

It is also hoped that the new facility can kick-start the sporting dreams of young Singaporeans. In fact, the Singapore women’s national football team has adopted the pitch at Bishan Active and will be holding training sessions there. Residents will also be able to interact with the players and watch their development.

Bishan Active will be an ideal platform to rally the residents and garner support leading up to the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 24 Aug 2008

QUESTION: What’s to be done when not enough babies are being born to fill a primary school in a housing estate? Answer: Build a sports hub on the land meant for the school.

Result: A $1.8 million facility in Bishan Street 23 which provides a track for jogging and inline skating as well as courts for basketball and beach volleyball.

This 24,000-sq m Bishan Active features a playground and an exercise corner for senior citizens and will be the new home and training ground for the Singapore women’s football team.

Score one for the ‘life-long fitness’ cause.

The sports venue is another move by the Government to promote a healthy, sporting lifestyle among the people, part of the sports industry’s initiatives which cost almost $500 million a year.

Yesterday, more than 1,000 Bishan residents showed up at the launch of the facility by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, MPs Josephine Teo and Hri Kumar. Central Singapore District Mayor Zainudin Nordin was also present at the launch.

All are MPs of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

Ms Teo said that when a place provides such a range of facilities for both young and old, it will become ‘a focal point for Bishan residents to come together and enjoy the outdoors’.

She added that a sporting lifestyle should be cultivated from a young age, so providing easily accessible, integrated facilities would send a message to young people ‘that it’s up to them to integrate sports into their lifestyle’.

Asked why a beach volleyball court was added to the hub, Mr Zainudin said it is because the sport is ‘quite hip’ and is growing in popularity, given the Channel 8 TV series Beach Ball Babes.

For Bishan resident Khoo Kay Chai, 55, the hub means not having to jog along the footpaths around his block any more.

‘Now I can exercise in the hub and use the fitness stations, which is very good,’ he pointed out.

Source : Straits Times - 25 Aug 2008