Increase seating and security

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Add temporary stands at Jalan Besar

LAST Saturday's eight-goal thriller in the World Cup qualifying match between Singapore and Malaysia was everything a die-hard Lions fan could have hoped for.

The drama ranged from the shock of a goal by Malaysia within seconds of the opening whistle to players getting red-carded and an inspiring comeback by Singapore, who triumphed by an improbable 5-3 score.

It was a massive 'Majulah moment' for Singapore fans as we swelled with pride watching our spirited Lions fighting tooth and nail against the Asean champions.

Unfortunately, only several thousand Singaporeans got to witness the remarkable turnaround in form 'live', after a forgettable football season last year.

The Republic is world-class in many areas, but a 6,000-seat stadium for a World Cup qualifying duel, and Singapore's much-welcomed, long-awaited return to Malaysia Cup competition next year, is not one of them.

The old National Stadium saw 55,000 fans urging the Lions on with their Kallang Roar.

On Thursday, the Singapore team will have to contend with the intimidating atmosphere at the 80,000-seat Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, when Malaysia hosts the return leg of the fixture.

It is pointless belabouring the delays that have dogged the National Stadium's replacement, the Sports Hub.

Rather, let's deal with the reality. There is a hole that must be plugged, especially over the next few years before the completion of the Sports Hub.

Playing important matches of national interest in front of 6,000 fans at Jalan Besar Stadium will not do.

The Football Association of Singapore and the Singapore Sports Council should increase the stadium's capacity to 10,000 seats by building temporary stands.

It would also be wise to construct a permanent medium-sized stadium with a capacity of 20,000 that would be more capable of attracting and hosting higher-level events - an idea that has long been lobbied by sports fans and officials.

Singapore aims to be one of the world's top sports cities. Let's start with having respectably sized world-class stadiums.

Edwin Pang

Family stays put on principle

MY FAMILY and I were among the 6,000 capacity crowd at the Jalan Besar Stadium last Saturday for the eight-goal thriller, which saw Singapore triumph over arch-rival Malaysia.

We were seated next to the Malaysian football fans and suffered a torrid time enduring virtually continuous verbal abuse and insults throughout the game.

What separated us from the rowdy Malaysians was a rope and a few security officers.

Matters came to a head when the Malaysian team scored their third goal in the second half.

The Malaysian fans surged aggressively towards us in what was their idea of celebration.

The security officers struggled to contain them and one was apparently injured in the mayhem.

One officer asked my family and I to move away and sit elsewhere. His advice perturbed me. Why must my family's sitting arrangement be dictated by the unruly behaviour of foreign fans on our own home ground?

My wife and I decided not to budge. We told the officer that it was his duty to ensure our safety.

Why should we be cowed while cheering our national team on Singapore soil?

Later, The Straits Times reported the post-match trouble as well.

Was there enough security in the stadium, especially for such a highly charged encounter?

Although it was reported that only 500 tickets were reserved for visiting fans, my sense is that there were more. Was the security predicated on the 500 allocated tickets?

Next year, Singapore will compete in the Malaysia Cup and emotions will run high. Let's plan security more carefully.

Finally, may I commend the Singapore fans for keeping their emotions in check in the face of unruly behaviour from the visiting fans.

If Singaporeans had reacted to Malaysian taunts and other verbal abuse, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

David Tan

Good grief, how did he get the goal-scorer wrong?

MR OLIVER Marschner ('World Cup blackout'; last Thursday) raised an important question when he asked how Singapore could expect to develop sporting talent if the quality of sports coverage on TV continues to deteriorate.

Watching video highlights of last Saturday's Singapore-Malaysia World Cup qualifying match, I was flabbergasted by the lack of professionalism in one crucial part of the match commentary.

One of the two MediaCorp Channel 5 commentators inexplicably referred to the scorer of Singapore's fourth goal, Shi Jiayi, who wears the No. 7 jersey, as Qiu Li (wearing No. 11 and scorer of Singapore's second goal).

How difficult can it be to distinguish between the only two Chinese Singaporeans in the national team? Did the commentator not see the jersey number of the goal-scorer?

Even after Qiu had run to Shi to congratulate him, and the two were walking side by side with their faces and jersey numbers in full view, the same commentator continued waxing lyrical about the wrong Chinese Singaporean (Qiu) as the scorer.

What was more surprising was the commentator's self-description later, telling viewers that he had been involved with Singapore football for more than 20 years.

I emigrated from Singapore to Canada almost a decade ago, long before Shi and Qiu joined the national team, but even I know their faces and names. It is wrong for a match commentator of a national broadcaster to have failed to differentiate between two national players on Singapore's most visible sports team, while his counterpart from Malaysia's Astro TV had no trouble identifying the Singaporean goal-scorer.

MediaCorp should invest in more professional match commentators if it is serious about sports coverage.

If there is a dearth of such talent among Singaporeans, sports officials should work with universities and polytechnics to develop such professionals through their media studies programmes.

Otherwise, Singapore's sports industry might have little choice but to resort to talent that holds the nation back in its drive for sports excellence, rather than help it punch above its weight.

Michael Ang