The 2015 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 8th ASEAN Para Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2015, was a

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

multi-sport A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) Nation state, nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport ev ...

event held from 3 to 9 December 2015 in the city-state of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Unlike the previous editions the games were held six months after the closing of the

2015 Southeast Asian Games The 2015 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, or the 28th SEA Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2015, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held by the city-state of Singapore from 5 to 16 June 201 ...

. This was Singapore's first time as host of the

ASEAN Para Games The ASEAN Para Games is a biennial Paralympic sports, multi-sport event held after every Southeast Asian Games involving disabled athletes from the current 11 Southeast Asia countries. Participating athletes have a variety of disabilities rangi ...

. Around 1811 athletes participated at the Games, which featured 336 events in 15 sports. Singapore is the seventh nation to host the event after Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar. It was opened by Tony Tan Keng Yam, the President of Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The final medal tally was led by Thailand, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia with host Singapore in fifth place. Singapore has been awarded the rights to host the 2029 Southeast Asian Games, it was also announced that Singapore will host the 2029 ASEAN Para Games. It will be the second time that Singapore hosted the ASEAN Para Games last staging the event in 2015. Singapore will be the second city to host the ASEAN Para Games twice after Indonesia in 2011 and 2022.

Development and preparation

The Singapore ASEAN Para Games Organising Committee (SAPGOC) was formed to oversee the staging of the event.

Venues

The 2015 ASEAN Para Games used a mix of new, existing and temporary venues. Given the city-state's compact size, most venues were pre-existing public-sporting facilities located in the suburban heartlands which will revert to public use after the games. No major retrofitting work were done in most venues as most had been used to host major multi-disciplinary events such as the

2010 Youth Olympic Games The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

and the

. At the centrepiece of the activities was the

Singapore Sports Hub The Singapore Sports Hub (; Malay: Hab Sukan Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் விளையாட்டு மையம்) is a sports and recreation district in Kallang, Singapore. The Sports Hub is a 35-hectare public- ...

which was completed in mid-2014 and was used to host the

. Incorporating the new 55,000-seat national stadium, it hosted most of the events. A games village was not built as in the

. Instead, a "village in the city" concept saw athletes and officials housed in

Marina Bay Sands Marina Bay Sands is a integrated resort fronting Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay in Singapore and a landmark of the city. At its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino property at Singapore dollar, S$8&nbs ...

Hotel downtown Singapore which was chosen to be the official games village because of its ability to cater to people with special needs. The hotel reaffirmed its commitment to its corporate social responsibility programmes, and is looking to raise awareness among the public about para-sports. Besides being physically near to the Singapore Sports Hub and offering about 1500 rooms for usage, it was hoped that it will add vibe to the city and reduce post-games costs in converting a dedicated games village to other uses. The 8th ASEAN Para Games had 14 venues for the games.

Public transport

Given the existing extensive public transport network already in place, there is no games-specific major infrastructural development to support it. Bus, Mass Rail Transit and van services were provided to athletes, officials and VIP guests to reach the games venues and many of them were equipped with platform to load wheelchair-users especially wheelchair-using athletes and officials.

Volunteers

The organisers estimated that about 3,000 volunteers are needed to successfully host the games. As of 21 November 2015, about 4,300 public members have signed up as volunteers.

Ticketing

Tickets for all ASEAN Para Games events are free while paid tickets are required for the Opening Ceremony.

Countdown

During the closing ceremony of the 2014 ASEAN Para Games, the APSF Flag was formally handed over to Singapore from Myanmar. This was followed by a song and dance section highlighting Singapore as the next venue. From 3 to 9 December 2014, a series of festivities called the "Treerific Christmas" were held to mark the one year countdown to the games, featuring disability sports such as javelin, shooting, bowling and Boccia which were available for public try out. From 25 July to 1 November, Sport Without Boundaries Roadshows were held at 4 venues from 10:30 to 17:30 SST across Singapore to introduce para sports to the community and increase their awareness of para sports and the upcoming 8th ASEAN Para Games (APG). It featured sports for public try out such as Boccia, Goalball, football 5-a-side, table tennis, and wheelchair basketball.

Costs

Projected cost of the games was at SGD 75 million.

Torch relay

A torch relay was held at the Marina Bay on 3 December 2015 before the games' opening ceremony.

Marketing

Logo

The logo of the 2015 ASEAN Para Games is inspired by the 28th SEA Games logo and is an image depicts the human figures and arms, raised in jubilation and seamlessly joined, weave together to form the shape of a heart, represents the values of the International Paralympic movement of Spirit in motion and the gumption to overcome challenges, and the indomitable triumph of the human spirit. The radiance of the colour palette represents the dynamism of sport. The three figures also represent inclusiveness, uplifting and transforming sports with disabilities, and national pride and represents the unity of competing athletes, as individuals, as a movement, and as a region, reaching for extraordinary.

Mascot

Nila, the mascot of the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, is the mascot for the 2015 ASEAN Para Games too.

The games

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on Thursday, 3 December 2015, beginning at 20:00 SST (

UTC+8 UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00. It is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a possible candidate for ASEAN Common Time, mainly due to China's large population, with an estimated population ...

) at the

Singapore Indoor Stadium The Singapore Indoor Stadium, known exonymously as the Indoor Stadium, is an indoor arena located in Kallang, Singapore. It is within walking distance of the Singapore National Stadium, and collectively form a part of the wider Singapore S ...

. There were five section of performance dubbed the movements in the opening ceremony, which were Stretching the Boundaries, A World of Creative Possibilities, Shooting For the Best, Fire Your Imagination and Celebration of the Extraordinary. The opening ceremony was designed by creative designer Phillip Tan and was helmed by 661 performers including Lily Goh, Samantha Gray, Daniel Purnomo, Sumbut Simla and Li Chi Chao, 120 motivators, 174 volunteers and 454 students mostly from Singapore's special education schools and 75 creative team members. The ceremony begins with the first movement, the Stretching the Boundaries where Singapore shooter Aishah Samad was seen at the stage for a short moment after the video footage featuring Singapore's scenery with Charlie Lim's "Still" as background music, followed by a group of dancers from

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA; zh, 南洋艺术学院; ; ) is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution in Singapore, and a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) from 2024. NAFA offers courses at high-s ...

(NAFA) consists of 7 different nationalities dancing led by an autistic girl dancer, Luo Mang. The performance proceeds with the entrance of VIP guests including Singapore President

Tony Tan Keng Yam Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean banker and politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. Prior to entering politics, Tan was a general manager at OCBC Bank. He made his polit ...

. The National Anthem of Singapore was performed by students of Cannosian School including Vivian Voo, Cerebral Palsy alliance of Singapore including Rosemary, the Association for persons with special needs, Rainbow Centre, School of the arts, Sin Ming Secondary School and

Nanyang Primary School This is a list of primary schools in Singapore. Children typically start their primary education in the year they turn seven. Primary education lasts six years, and is compulsory for all Singapore citizens. Primary schools in Singapore are eithe ...

as the national flag of Singapore was raised. Neo Yew Kim interprets the national anthem using sign language while Raghavendran Rajarekan performed the national anthem with the Bansui flute. The countdown video depicts clay figure made by Singapore school students of Association For Special Needs that resembles numbers from 10 to 1. Then, athletes of participating nations paraded into the stadium to the ASEAN traditional music, followed by speeches addressed by Grace Fu, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of Singapore and Zainal Abu Zarin, President of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation and the declaration of the games opening by president

and the raising of the APSF and the games flag with the playing of Anthem of the Future, the anthem of the Paralympic movement and drum majors Haikal Rosli and Jonah Chi Jee Hong playing the baton on the stage. The movement told the story of how the athletes push the boundaries and move beyond them. Second movement in line is A World of Creative Possibilities performed by students from Grace Orchard School and Anglo Chinese School and Natasha Michella of School of the Arts, with a map of Singapore designed by Special Education students at the background. The movement told the story about human creativity and reflects ASEAN Para Sports Federation vision for pursuing equality in sports and life. This was followed by movement 3, the Shooting For The Best performance in which dance troop Redeafination doing the glow in the dark dance, followed by oath taken by Yong Phen Chong for athletes, Lanny Kwok Ping Ping for judges and officials and Muhammad Hosni for Coaches and Personal Best performance which depicts the video of the voice of athletes from participating nations and performance by Lui Chee Chau, a Malaysian pianist and Indah Wahyu, an Indonesian singer. The movement told the story about how the athletes try their best to pursuit victory and improve their performance. In the fourth movement, the Fire Your Imagination, Choo Poh Choon, Jason Chee, Yap Qian Yin, Renee Joy Tan, Neoh Yew Kim and dancers from Asia Women Welfare Association doing performances with a person playing flute and two students doing the hand sign dance to express their dreams, followed by the video Because I am a Champion, showing the fighting spirit of Singapore para athletes. A group of athletes then passed the torch flame one after another before it was passed to Yip Pin Xiu, who lit the flame on the cauldron with Tay Wei Ming of Badminton and Gan Kai Hong Aloysius of Boccia. The torch bearer are R. Nadesan Kalai Vanen of Powerlifting, Benson Tan Eng Kiong of Swimming, Aishah Samad of Shooting and Toh Wei Soong of Swimming. The movement told the story about human's imagination that resulted from their dreams. In the fifth movement, the Celebration of the Extraordinary, performers of the previous performances gather with the Taiko drum, Timpani and electric guitar players and mascot Nila to do the finale alongside performers mostly from Evergreen Secondary School, Metta School, Association of persons with Special needs, I am Soul, Yishun Park and Chaoyang School. The ceremony concludes with President leaving the stadium while meet and greeting athletes and performers who attended the ceremony along the way.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on Wednesday, 9 December 2015, from 20:00 SST (

) at the

ballroom in

. Athletes and guests were treated with a series of dances and performances and the dinner served at the ballroom. After that, Prime minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

declared the games closed. The torch was extinguished and the ASEAN Para Games responsibilities was officially handed over to Malaysia, host of the

2017 ASEAN Para Games The 2017 ASEAN Para Games (), officially known as the 9th ASEAN Para Games (), was a Southeast Asian Disabled sports, disabled multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 17 days after the 2017 Southeast Asian Games from 17 to 23 September ...

where

Saravanan Murugan Saravanan s/o Murugan (; born 4 February 1968) commonly referred to as M. Saravanan () is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tapah since March 2008. He served as the Minister of Human Resources for t ...

receives the flag of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation as its symbol from Zainal Abu Zarin and Lanny Kwok Ping Ping during a flag handover ceremony. The national anthem of Malaysia was played as the National flag of Malaysia was raised. A Malaysia segment performance was also performed by a drum band named ''Republic of Gendang'', highlighting Malaysia as the next host of the ASEAN Para Games.

Participating nations

Around 1181 athletes and 500 officials had participated in the games. * (28 athletes) * (30) * (188) * (40) * (191) * (102) * (64) * (299) * (260) * (127) ;Did not enter *

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

was suspended by the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

, hence the ASEAN Para Sports Federation decided to bare the country from participating at the games.

Sports

The Singapore ASEAN Para Games Organising Committee (SAPGOC) had confirmed a total of 15 sports for the 8th ASEAN Para Games. This was the most number of sports offered at the ASEAN Para Games in its history. The announcement took place after the sports were endorsed at the 1st ASEAN Para Sports Federation Board of Governors' Meeting at Marina Bay Sands. *

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

(6) *

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

(112) *

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

(15) *

Boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes w ...

(7) *

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

(14) *

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

(24) *

Football 7-a-side Cerebral Palsy Football, also called ''7-a-side football'' or formerly ''Paralympic Football'', is an adaptation of association football for sportsperson, athletes with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, including stroke and trauma ...

(1) *

Football 5-a-side Football 5-a-side, more commonly known as blind football or blind soccer, is a variation of association football designed for players who are blind or visually impaired. It is currently a Paralympic sport, and the International Blind Sports A ...

(1) *

Goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

(2) *

Powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

(19) *

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

(3) *

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

(7) *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

(86) *

Table Tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

(37) *

Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

(2)

Calendar

Medal table

The 2015 ASEAN Para Games featured 336 events, resulting in 336 medal sets to be distributed. Two bronze medals were awarded in most events in racket sports: 10 in Badminton and 21 in Table tennis, giving a total of 31 additional bronze medals. On the other hand, 12 silver and 46 bronze medals were not awarded in 46 events in 8 sports competed at the games due to few number of participants. These are:

(2 bronze),

(4 silver and 16 bronze),

(2 bronze),

(1 silver and 2 bronze),

(8 bronze),

(4 silver and 4 bronze),

(3 bronze) and

Table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

(3 silver and 9 bronze). As a result, a total of 981 medals comprising 336 gold medals, 324 silver medals and 321 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The host Singapore's performance was its best ever yet in ASEAN Para Games History and was placed fifth overall among participating nations.

Broadcasting

Sport Singapore Sport Singapore (SportSG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore. It is the lead agency tasked with developing a holistic sports culture for the nation. History Sport Singapore was ...

hosted live video stream at its YouTube channel. An official mobile application for the games was also released which featured live streams of selected sports events, schedules, results and other promotional materials. In Malaysia,

Radio Televisyen Malaysia Radio Televisyen Malaysia (, Jawi: ; abbreviated as RTM, stylised as rtm), also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia (; Jawi: ) is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia, headquartered at Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur. Establi ...

broadcasts the daily highlights of the games from 4 to 10 December 2015.

References

External links

2015 ASEAN Para Games official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015 Asean Para Games ASEAN Para Games

2015 in Asian sport 2015 in Singaporean sport Multi-sport events in Singapore