About 2,430 beds and 1,000 tents were set up across the Singapore Sports Hub premises, including the National Stadium.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
Before April 11, a work day for Peter Brock and Mitch Seeto at the Singapore Sports Hub would involve working with business and retail partners on anything from installing grass pitches to ensuring a multitude of events including sporting and concert events go on smoothly.
Or, as Mitch, Senior Director, Venue and Event Operations at the iconic sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub, puts it: “We make sure everyone has a good time here and go home safely.”
But four days after the circuit breaker started on April 7, Peter, Mitch and their teams had to learn to pivot and do so quickly, for a very different sort of event management.
In support of national efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 — which saw Singapore entering a circuit breaker period from April 7 to June 1 — the Singapore Sports Hub was designated as one of the temporary living quarters for thousands of asymptomatic migrant workers who would be housed away from their dormitory residences.
Within that time period, Peter, Chief of Infrastructure & Ops Asset and Technical Operations, and his colleagues had six days to “reconfigure the Singapore Sports Hub before our first guests sign in”.
Extraordinary measures
The Singapore Sports Hub housed over 3,000 migrant workers over the course of four and a half months.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
Not only was the prep time very short, the whole country was under circuit breaker measures, which meant that there were fewer options for resources.
“The borders were shut, the supply chains were broken as many of our contractors and other supply partners are based overseas,” explains Mitch.
So, what did the Singapore Sports Hub team need in six days?
To accommodate the temporary guests, they needed about 2,430 beds and 1,000 tents set up across the 55,000-capacity National Stadium and the 3,000-capacity OCBC Arena. The project eventually housed over 3,000 migrant workers over the course of four and a half months.
“Accommodation was one part but we also needed toilets and sick bays, Wi-Fi access and meals. A lot of thought went into all these as we had to reconfigure and redesign our venues, and depend on our existing working relationships with our business partners,” shares Mitch, who has been with the Singapore Sports Hub since 2013.
In addition, the team had to make sure that the residents had daily access to workout sessions and video screening content like movies, cooking shows, sports programmes and live news, 24-hour medical care on site, and so on. A provision store as well as haircuts were also provided.
They also had to put security measures in place to ensure that there would be no cross-contamination across residential quarters. In total, 148,000 security manhours were deployed.
“At the Singapore Sports Hub, we are used to event management and planning. This was a little similar but also different,” says Peter.
Besides reconfiguring the premises into temporary residences for the migrant workers, the Singapore Sports Hub team also made sure that their guests got to enjoy daily workouts.
PHOTO: JOEL CHAN
Going the extra mile
Then there were the meals. Peter shares that all 485,850 of these were prepped and cooked on-site, with the team making sure that the food was enjoyed by the majority of the residents. The tiniest details weren’t spared, down to how the rice was cooked to suit their palates.
As a result, there were many late nights and post-midnight phone calls for the team, up until the very last guest left on Aug 21.
“But we just focused on making it work as part of the whole national effort,” says Mitch. “It was testament to our team effort in appreciating our migrant workers. There were ups and downs for us every day but then we saw our guests coming in and looking amazed at what we had built for them. It really put things in perspective.”
Adds Peter: “I never recalled wanting to give up and we can’t be prouder of what we have done.”
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
Back to regular programming
The Garmin Sports Sessions are among the free regular community activities held at the Singapore Sports Hub.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
And now that 2020 is coming to a close, the team is gearing up to welcome visitors back to the Singapore Sports Hub once again.
Stephen Keogh, Assistant General Manager, Sales & Programming, shares: “We have been hard at work getting activities back in place and getting people out of their homes and into the Singapore Sports Hub to keep them healthy in mind and body.”
For instance, regular community events like the free Garmin Sports Sessions, AirBadminton, and Yoga Vibes and Wellness Day are held according to safe management guidelines.
There are also what he calls “blended events”, a mix of virtual and on-the-ground activities. An example is Zoomba: Singapore’s Longest Zumba Relay, held on Nov 14. Taking place over seven hours and involving seven instructors, this was a hybrid of real-life Zumba workouts at Downtown East and OCBC Square — with a limit on the number of participants onsite — and Zoom sessions held online.
Next year, visitors can also look forward to calendar highlights like the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens which is scheduled to be held on Apr 10 and 11, 2021.
“People are flexing their competitive muscles again,” says Keogh. “With most of us not being able to travel yet, we are finding things to do and the Singapore Sports Hub is open and ready to play.”
Adds Peter: “For four and a half months, we provided security, housing and food for 3,000 guests but now, we have great facilities that are available for use and it’s a really good thing.”
