It took three years of lobbying for a group of water sports enthusiasts to get their ideas for a major new facility accepted.

It took three years of lobbying for a group of water sports enthusiasts to get their ideas for a major new facility accepted.

They had mooted the plans for water sports to be included in the proposed new Singapore Sports Hub in 2004, only to find their ideas left out when initial plans were released in December 2005.

They persisted, like water falling on hard rock.

Members of the Water Sports Workgroup went on to submit a major water sports blueprint for the authorities’ consideration. Their paper, submitted in March, again pushed for water sports not to be left out.

On Wednesday, they finally got their wish: A water sports centre will now be a part of the Sports Hub.

Said the group’s chairman Low Teo Ping, the president of SingaporeSailing: ‘It was an opportunity we couldn’t let slip. With the Sports Hub so close to the Kallang Basin, we saw a water sports centre as an ideal complement.’

Apart from sailing, the group also comprises the Singapore Canoe Federation, Singapore Amateur Rowing Association, Singapore Waterski and Wakeboard Federation and Singapore Power Boat Association.

The group was formed in 2004 to look at the future of water sports.

The decision to have the water sports centre as part of the Sports Hub took many by surprise, not least because it marked a major revision of previous plans which had already been made public.

The three consortia bidding for the project had already submitted their plans. The successful consortium was expected to be named next month.

Also, having a water sports centre would mean taking over the Oasis building - a popular eating location.

Since the building stands on private-owned land, it meant opting for the unpopular decision of obtaining it under the Land Acquisition Act.

Tenants had to be forced out, among them Oasis Taiwan Porridge, which has been there for 34 years.

Land owner Oasis Holdings has said that it will appeal to stay put.

The Singapore Sports Council, which oversees the Sports Hub project, knew it would not be a popular decision.

Its chief executive Oon Jin Teik told The Straits Times yesterday: ‘We had to look at the bigger picture. At the end of the day, we had to put national interests first.’

A water sports centre incorporated in the Kallang area would make the Sports Hub the world’s first large-scale land and sea sports facility.

As a water sports official, who declined to be named, commented: ‘The Oasis building was like a mole or pimple no one knew how to remove.

‘On the one hand, we would have this beautiful face of Singapore sport, but here was the Oasis building sticking out like a sore thumb.

‘Sure, it’s been there a long time. But, putting sentiments aside, it had to go. The problem was how.’

It is believed that reservations over forcing the tenants out was the main reason that the water sports facility was not included from the start.

Said the official: ‘Applying the Land Acquisition Act is always a sensitive move. It’s a calculated risk. But, in this case, the benefits outweigh the potential cost.’

The Water Sports Workgroup had, in June 2004, indicated to then-Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, of their hope for a centre in the Kallang Basin which would generate further buzz to the area.

The three consortia - SingaporeGold, Singapore Sports Hub and Alpine - have already welcomed the news.

A detailed outline of the new project will be distributed to the three parties in the coming weeks, before they go back to the drawing board.

There is speculation that a vacant facility, along the same waterfront as the Oasis, may also be open to development as part of the centre. It was previously occupied by the Police Coast Guard Headquarters.

The three consortia will have until September to refine their proposals. The successful team will be named in December.

Source: The Straits Times, 16 June 2007