The Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) has apologised for the confusion that led to many spectators being locked out of the 28th SEA Games closing ceremony at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
While SINGSOC acknowledged it could have done better in managing the situation, it rejected suggestions that tickets to the closing ceremony were oversold.
In a statement on the SEA Games Facebook page yesterday, SINGSOC said it had invited groups of Team Nila volunteers and voluntary welfare organisations to the event based on the turnout from the opening ceremony on June 5, where about 30 percent of ticket holders did not turn up.
SINGSOC added: “After accounting for these complimentary tickets, we would like to confirm that there were still sufficient seats in the stadium for all those who came for the event (closing ceremony).”
“There are some very clear lessons to be drawn from this experience that did not surface during the opening ceremony, like how to have better informed everyone on arrival timings, and how to better manage the rapid build-up of crowds and the ushering at entry gates,” SINGSOC said. “We acknowledge that we should have done a lot better.”
While it is unclear exactly how many spectators, most of whom had purchased tickets — which cost up to S$40 each — were locked out of the closing ceremony, it is believed to be in the hundreds.
They were prevented from entering the stadium as many of those already inside had waited around the inner concourse area after they failed to locate their seats due to the stadium lights having gone dark for the ceremony.
But safety concerns meant the gates had to be closed to prevent the congestion from worsening if more were allowed in. That led to tempers boiling over, with some shouting at the volunteers for being unable to help the situation.
SINGSOC also said they could have accommodated those at the stadium if there was more time to seat them, but a surge over a short period just before the ceremony started eventually led to the situation.
The organisers also clarified that the last segment of the show, which saw Dutch DJ Ferry Corsten playing his set from a console suspended from the National Stadium’s retractable roof as spectators entered the field below, was pre-planned and co-ordinated with stadium operators, crowd safety and security personnel.
SINGSOC also stressed that the safety limit on the number of people on the pitch was not breached.
Those affected can contact SINGSOC at https://feedback.sportsingapore.gov.sg/new_feedback.aspx or 1800 344 1177 during office hours from 9am to 6pm on Mondays to Fridays to process the refunds and follow up with service recovery.
As scenes of overcrowding outside the Sports Hub yesterday evening for the closing ceremony of the SEA Games went viral, questions need to be asked on whether the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) have done all it could to make it better, or did it instead compound the problem.
Agitated ticket holders queuing to enter the stadium to watch the closing ceremony might not have realised that the problem went beyond missing a show. The capacity crowd could have turned into a disaster if there was a fire or stampede on site.
There were reportedly thousands of such ticket holders who were sweating in the crowded confines. SINGSOC had since issued an apology and clarification, indicating that the crowd was due to an entry issue.
“As a significant proportion of the spectators were at the gates just before the start of the ceremony, there was a need to adjust entry gates and seating arrangements to enable them to be seated as quickly as possible. Consequently, some gates had to be closed for safety reasons.”
However, the problem might be due to there being too many tickets issued compared to the capacity for the Sports Hub, as some disappointed ticket holders have alleged.
TOC understands that SINGSOC was unhappy with the number of no-shows at the opening ceremony, as many seats were clearly visible on national television. In order to avoid a repeat of the incident, SINGSOC supposedly decided to over-sell the tickets for the closing ceremony.
Over-selling tickets is not something alien to event companies. It is a pretty common practice to over-issue tickets by about 5% in the form of complimentary tickets, in order to pack venues.
But the question becomes one of exactly how much SINGSOC over-issued, if it did indeed do so.
From pictures and eyewitness accounts, a conservative estimate of the number of people waiting outside the stadium would hover between 10,000 and 15,000.
Image from an attendee stuck outside the stadium during the SEA Games closing ceremony.
The Sports Hub has a maximum capacity of 55,000, and factoring in seats that need to be allocated for display and participants, it would likely be configured to hold about 40,000 seated ticket holders for the closing ceremony.
In other words, if SINGSOC did indeed over-issue tickets, they did it at 25% to 35% more seats than the stadium can hold in full capacity, a far cry from the 5% standard.
Would the Sports Hub had been able to absorb such excess capacity? As a video by Channel NewsAsiashows, there does not seem to be extra room for the thousands who were stuck outside the gate, but who would technically have an empty seat in the stadium.
Images from various online sources also indicate that there was very little spare capacity inside the stadium to match the crowds waiting outside, although there were a few empty block visible.
Capacity crowd for the SEA Games closing ceremony.
Who has the legit ticket?
The overissuing of tickets were mainly in two forms – complimentary tickets for Sponsors and free entry for SEA Games Volunteers. The former might include entities like GP Battery and NTUC, while that the latter could access the Sports Hub by flashing their accreditation passes (a pass given to all volunteers), TOC was told.
Paying patrons mostly bought their tickets before the start of the SEA Games itself, as the seats were sold out quickly.
The problem arising from yesterday evening also give reason the question how paying patrons are guaranteed their seats. It is understood that those who bought tickets had designated seats by blocks. However, comments online suggests that such designated seats were not reserved fro them as they rightly expected it to be.
Who were occupying the seats of paying fans? Was it complimentary ticket holders from sponsors and partners, volunteers, or was there excess capacity sold?
Disregard for safety, poor decisions on capacity
The crowd waiting outside the stadium was clearly agitated from the humidity and the crowd, from social media postings. There were also accounts of a lot of pushing and shoving going on in the crowd and many like the elderly, the disabled and the young were helplessly caught in the scrum.
It was also reported that those who managed to get in ended up sitting on the stairway to watch the show. In the event of an emergency, a stampede could have led to serious injuries and death, not only within the stadium, but among the crowds stuck outside.
Pertinent questions to ask might include whether SINGSOC has consulted Sports Hub management about the ability of the new stadium to accommodate such an expanded capacity. TOC understands that such consultations did not take place.
An expert in event management TOC spoke to shared that any decision to over-cater for event seats need to take into account the realities of the ground, and an inability to do so reflects lack of competency.
“When managing such long haul multi sports events, it is important to feel the pulse on the ground so that organisers are aware of public sentiment towards the games. This will help in understanding whether the public are interested/or will attend events. SINGSOC should have realized that public participation for the games was high, and hence the likelihood of attendance at the closing ceremony was likely to be high.”
About SINGSOC
SINGSOC is the steering committee for the 28th SEA Games. It’s a team of 20 headed by Minister Lawrence Wong.
In addition to Minister Lawrence Wong, SINGSOC also features 2 other Ministers – Mr Masagos Zulfiki and Mr Teo Ser Luck and 2 Senior Ministers of State – Ms Indranee Rajah and Ms Josephine Teo.
In its post-event statement, SINGSOC offered a full refund but as evident from the comments, many are still unsatisfied. Questions also remain about how SIGSOC would be able to identify legitimate tickets in order to effect such a refund.
There was also no clarity so far about how it was possible for thousands to be stuck outside the stadium, beyond the explanation of a congestion at the gate.
TOC has sent a number of queries to SINGSOC to seek clarifications on whether tickets were over-issued and how the capacity for the closing ceremony was managed. At time of publishing, SINGSOC has not responded.
Spectators who were affected by the lockout from the SEA Games closing ceremony at the National Stadium on Tuesday were unhappy about the experience, but drew the line at the abuse of volunteers and spoke up against such behaviour.
Calling the volunteers blameless and praising them for doing what they were instructed to under difficult circumstances, members of the public instead blamed the organisers for the chaos.
Believed to number in the hundreds, some spectators could not enter the 55,000-seat arena despite having purchased tickets. This is because those already inside had waited at the concourse area after failing to find their seats when the lights went off for the ceremony. It meant stadium personnel had to close the gates as a safety measure to prevent greater crowd congestion.
On Tuesday, the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) apologised for the incident, offering a full refund for the tickets, which cost up to S$40, and a supporter’s medallion. As of press time last night, SINGSOC had yet to respond to TODAY’s queries on the situation.
Several of the affected spectators yesterday criticised the people who took their frustrations out on the volunteers.
Said Ms Teo Su Xin, 23, who had to wait 40 minutes before being allowed in: “We (crowd) couldn’t enter. They (volunteers) said it was a full house and volunteers kept asking us to move from one gate to another and I just followed the crowd, but there was this uncle who was agitated and raised his voice at the volunteers.
“I didn’t think they deserved such treatment as they were merely carrying out instructions given to them.”
Spectator Mark Tan was also unable to enter. “They (volunteers) were … effectively abandoned by whoever should have been coordinating them,” he said.
Ms Paddy Low, 50, who waited for 45 minutes before deciding to go home instead, added: “The volunteers at the gate were put in a difficult spot as they didn’t know why there was such a situation. I felt sorry for them as they kept getting scolded by people.”
Said a volunteer who declined to be named: “The crowd definitely grew rowdy, frustrated and impatient, shouting at the security and volunteer team on duty at Gate 14. A man carrying a baby also shouted at those on duty.”
The lockout is probably one of the few blots of the 28th SEA Games, which were otherwise praised for the way they were run.
SINGSOC roped in 17,000 volunteers to help run the biennial meet.
