The Singapore Badminton Stadium, formerly Singapore Badminton Hall (

Abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

: SBH; ), is a indoor sports hall for

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 ...

located on Guillemard Road in

Geylang Geylang () is a planning area and township located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore, bordering Hougang and Toa Payoh in the north, Marine Parade in the south, Bedok in the east, and Kallang in the west. Geylang is ...

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 ...

. The old facility was previously situated at 100 Guillemard Road. The hall's nearby building (102 Guillemard Road) was formerly the

headquarter Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

s of the

Singapore Badminton Association Singapore Badminton Association (abbreviation: SBA) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for badminton in Singapore. It governs, encourages and develops the sport throughout the country. Founded in 1929, the SBA is an affilia ...

(SBA). Both buildings were refurnished in May 2009 as the commercial centre Guillemard Village. The current Singapore Badminton Hall is located at 1 Lorong 23 Geylang.

History

Construction

In 1949, the Malayan team won their first championship in the

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

. As a result, Malaya also won the right to host the next Thomas Cup, that was scheduled for 1952. As there was no suitable indoor sports hall in Malaya then, the President of SBA , Lim Chuan Geok, decided to build one in Singapore. The construction cost was planned to be funded through public fundraising with the launching of the fundraising after a ceremony welcoming the victorious Thomas Cup team at the

Victoria Memorial Hall The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a performing arts centre in the Central Area of Singapore, situated along Empress Place. It is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor; the oldest part of the ...

. The fundraising was found to be challenging when the government revealed its plan to construct another stadium at the same time, misleading many to think that the new badminton hall was thus replaced. In February 1951, SBA requested from the

Singapore Government The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the President but exercised on the advice of the Cabinet le ...

a plot of land at Guillemard Road to build the badminton

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

. SBA was granted a 99-year

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

on the land, effectively from 1 July the same year, and proceeded to construct the sports hall. The estimated

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

cost for the hall was S$200,000 to S$250,000 but the eventual cost rose to S$800,000.

Donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

s then totalled only S$32,000.

Aw Boon Haw Aw Boon-Haw (; 1882–1954), OBE, was a Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as founder of Tiger Balm. He was a son of Hakka herbalist Aw Chu-Kin, with his ancestral home in Yongding County, Fujian, China. Career Aw was a B ...

, who was a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the SBA, gave a

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

of S$250,000. Despite this, funds were still short by over S$400,000. Nevertheless, the Badminton Hall Management Committee, headed by Tan Ark Sye, pressed ahead with the construction of the hall. The deficit was ultimately absorbed by the building contractor of the hall, C. H. Tong. The Singapore Badminton Stadium was completed in May 1952 and had changing rooms, canteens, offices, four badminton courts and 5500 seats. On 7 June 1952, Singapore Badminton Stadium was officially opened by the Governor of Singapore, Sir

John Fearns Nicoll Sir John Fearns Nicoll (26 April 1899 – 12 January 1981) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Singapore from 1952 to 1955. Early years and colonial service Nicoll was born in 1899 and attended Carlisle Grammar Sch ...

. In 1958, the stadium was managed by the

Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department ...

on trust on behalf of the SBA. On 1 September 1999, the hall became the first sports facility in Singapore to be marked as a historic site by the National Heritage Board. It was marked as a historic site due to its hosting of two Thomas Cup and also the vote-counting station for the

1962 Singaporean integration referendum A referendum on the terms of integration into the Federation of Malaya was held in Singapore on 1 September 1962. There were three options. At the time of the referendum, Singapore was a self-governing country since 1959, although the British ...

on the merger of Singapore, Brunei, Sarawak, Sabah and the Federation of the Malay States. In July 2007, the SBA announced plans to close the Singapore Badminton Hall, after the 30-year lease between the Singapore Sports Council and the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...

ceases on 31 January 2008. The SBA's lease is for the badminton hall and its adjacent building, which houses the association's

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

and practice

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

s. Its annual lease of under S$100,000 would be increased to S$1.164 million if the SBA were to renew it, but the association has no plans to do so. The SBA then relocated to the

Singapore Sports School Singapore Sports School (SSP) is a specialised Independent school, independent boarding school under the purview of Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore that offers an integrated sports and academic programme to ...

and relocated again to 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- ...

, after the latter's construction was completed in 2014. In January 2008, the Hall was then returned to the

(URA).

As Guillemard Village

In May 2009, after a S$2-million refurbishment, the Hall started its operation as Guillemard Village managed by Turf City Management. The site was re-developed as a centre for food and beverage as well as leisure. Guillemard Village was refurbished to retain the essence of the past, hopefully reminding people of the Gay World. In November 2009, a 24-hour prawn fishing restaurant known as Geylang Prawn Fishing Restaurant was opened, which occupied half of the former sports hall. In August 2011, The restaurant was closed at the hall upon its lease ended and moved to Punggol East Golf Club. Other tenants included Brawn & Brains Cafe, Onsight Climbing Gym and GymKraft.

As Singapore Badminton Stadium

On 1 September 2023, the SBA signed a tenancy agreement with

Singapore Land Authority The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Law of the Government of Singapore. SLA optimises land resources for Singapore's social and economic development. History The SLA was formed on 1 June 2001 when the ...

(SLA) on a 3+3+3-year term to take over the premises (including the adjacent 102 Guillemard Road building) for development. The original hall will be renamed back as Singapore Badminton Stadium while the new building at 102 Guillemard Road will be named KFF Badminton Arena. The SBA setup a private subsidiary, SBA@Guillemard, to manage both the stadium and arena. The two buildings were to be developed into a sports and entertainment hub with nine courts at the 1,300-seater hall and another three more premium air-conditioned courts with corporate boxes at the 102 Guillemard Road. The courts were equipped by JK Technology with technology to aid with training. The buildings would consist of a members lounge, gym and food and beverage facilities.

Anytime Fitness Anytime Fitness Franchisor, LLC, doing business as Anytime Fitness, is an American franchise of 24 hour health and fitness clubs that is based in Woodbury, Minnesota, United States. The company operates over 5,000 franchised locations in 50 cou ...

, a 24 hour gym, opened at 100 Guillemard Road. Food and beverage facilities such as Hey Kee, a Hong Kong da pai dong style restaurant opened at 102 Guillemard Road with Vernacular Coffee and Get Some bistro at 100 Guillemard Road. The stadium and arena were planned to reopen on 9 August 2024,

Singapore National Day National Day,; sometimes known internationally as Singapore Independence Day,; is a major public holiday in Singapore which commemorates an independent and sovereign Republic of Singapore. Held on 9 August since 1965, this holiday features ...

Events

Thomas Cup

Although it was completed in May 1952, the Singapore Badminton Stadium was not ready for the 2nd Thomas Cup Tournament that was scheduled on 27–28 May that year. The stadium was not being used for the

1952 Thomas Cup The 1952 Thomas Cup competition is an international team tournament for supremacy in men's badminton (its female counterpart is the Uber Cup). Beginning in 1949 Thomas Cup, 1948–49, it was held every three years until 1982 Thomas Cup, 1982 and t ...

because it was thought to be a gamble to let the Malayan team to perform in a hall environment to which they might not be familiar with. The tournament was instead held at the Happy World Stadium, where the Malayan Team, which included

Wong Peng Soon Wong Peng Soon, (; 17 February 1917 – 22 May 1996) was a British Malaya, Malayan/Singaporean badminton player who reigned as a top player in Malay Peninsula, Malaya from the 1930s to the 1950s when it was a single nation. Noted for his smo ...

Ong Poh Lim Ong Poh Lim (; 18 November 1923 – 17 April 2003) was a Malayan/Singaporean badminton player who had won numerous national and international titles from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Known for his quickness and his aggressive, unorthod ...

and

Ismail Marjan Ismail bin Marjan (7 June 1920 – 25 January 1991) was a badminton player from Malaya/Singapore who had won many individual and doubles titles at local, regional and international competitions throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He was best ...

, successfully defended their title. In 1955, the stadium finally hosted the

which the Malayan team succeeded in defending their champion title again. In 1958, the stadium hosted the

again.

Political events

In June 1959, a crowd of nearly 7,000 workers from 63

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s gathered at the Singapore Badminton Stadium to celebrate the advent of the new government after the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, which was won by the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

. On 1 September 1962, the Singapore Badminton Stadium was the

vote counting Vote counting is the process of counting votes in an election. It can be done manually or by machines. In the United States, the compilation of election returns and validation of the outcome that forms the basis of the official results is call ...

station for a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...

's suggestion to

merge Merge, merging, or merger may refer to: Concepts * Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road * Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program * Merger (politics), the comb ...

Singapore,

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

and the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

to form

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. About 71 percent of the

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district ...

voted for the merger proposal. At 11.15am on 3 September, Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

speaks of 'the clear and decisive verdict' of the people of Singapore for merger with Malaysia, and 'the awful moment of truth' for the Communists. This speech came immediately after the announcement of the Government's victory over the Barisan Socialis-led call to cast blank votes in the referendum. (See:

Singaporean national referendum, 1962 A referendum on the terms of integration into the Federation of Malaya was held in Singapore on 1 September 1962. There were three options. At the time of the referendum, Singapore was a self-governing country since 1959, although the British ...

)

Concerts

On 7 December 1959, the Singapore Badminton Stadium was the venue of Radio Singapore's all-

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

, ''Puspawarna Singapura'', which was hosted by

P. Ramlee Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh (22 March 1929 – 29 May 1973), better known by his stage name P. Ramlee (Puteh Ramlee), was a Malaysian actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer. Born in Penang, Malaya, he is regarded as a prominent icon ...

. In February 1965, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

rock group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumen ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

held a one-night

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

at the Singapore Badminton Stadium. The crowd was so excited that a

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...

erected for the

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

collapsed.

SEA Games

The Hall served as the venue for badminton in the

12th Twelfth can mean: *The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution *The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland In mathematics: * 12th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order twelve places from the beginning, follo ...

and 17th

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

, hosted by Singapore in 1983 and 1993 respectively.

Chronicles (1950s – 2024)

1959-1960 The year 1959 saw mostly the non-sporting events taking place in the Stadium. The

(PAP) had made public speech to celebrate their victory in the general election. The Hall also served to hold entertainment activities such as dramas, dances and even erotic strip dance by the famous local "Strip Dancing Queen" Rose Chan. In addition, from 1959 to 1960, ''Puspawarna Singapura'', live recordings of variety shows were held by the Radio Singapore with

(famous Malaysian singer, producer, composer) as the main host. It could be seen that the usage of the sports hall was less strict and exclusive. It might be out of an urge for SBA to increase its source of income and to clear off its debt from the construction. 1962 In 1962, the Stadium was used as a counting station for the voting over matter of Malaya-Singapore merger where the People's Action Party had a clear-cut victory. The political significance of the Stadium was clear enough—the hall was a key connection spot between the ruling party and its supporters. On the other hand, during the times of trade union riots, the hall acted as a gathering spot for the unions. Such preference possibly reflected the existence of hall more than just a building but a essential space where political activities or social movements from the working class could be made widely known to the rest of the society. 1965 A British rock band,

, conducted their one-stop performance at the badminton stadium. The over-excited spectators resulted in the collapse of a wall. 1977 In 1977, the

Singapore Sports Council 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 ...

discussed with SBA to take over the stadium. In 1978, upon acquiring the stadium, it was refurbished and renamed as the Singapore Badminton Hall. The Hall was assigned to be one of the event venues for the

, which had its 12th (Year 1983) and 17th (Year 1993) games hosted in the Hall. 1983 12th Southeast Asian Game badminton tournament was hosted in the Hall. 1986 A tenant, the Fatty Weng

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

, was opened at the Singapore Badminton Hall in 1986. 1993 17th Southeast Asian Game badminton tournament was held. 2008 In January 2008, the SBA headquarters and Singapore Badminton Hall was officially closed down after the land lease contract ended and the Singapore Sports Council decided not to renew it given the rising price of the new lease. The Hall was then returned to the