SPEECH BY MR S. ISWARAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR WEST COAST GRC AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF JURONG WEST SPORTS & RECREATION CENTRE ON 28 OCTOBER 2007, 9.20 AM

My fellow Parliamentary colleagues,

Mr Cedric Foo, MP for West Coast GRC and Advisor for Pioneer Grassroots Organisations

Mr Arthur Fong, MP for West Coast GRC and Advisor for Clementi Grassroots Organisations,

Mr Alex Chan, Chairman, Singapore Sports Council

Mr Oon Jin Teik, CEO, Singapore Sports Council

Residents of Jurong West, Ladies and gentleman,

A very good morning to all. I am delighted to join you at the official opening of the Jurong West Sports & Recreation Centre (SRC) today

You would have already heard from Mr Alex Chan’s speech that this new Jurong West SRC is a fully integrated sports centre for family and community bonding among residents. Such an integrated concept which we see at the Jurong West SRC here today shows that we have come a long way towards encouraging residents to adopt a sporting lifestyle and for young Singaporeans to be inspired to achieve sporting excellence

Youth Olympic Games

Indeed, Singapore is taking exciting steps towards becoming a nation of sporting excellence.As you may know, we are bidding to be the HostCity for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010. I am proud to say that Jurong West SRC has been identified as one of several community locations to host the Youth Olympic Games.Specifically, this sports and recreation centre will host the Games’ preliminary football matches.Imagine experiencing the buzz and excitement of the Youth Olympics at your doorstep!Together with other sporting events, which will be held at SRCs in Bishan, Choa Chu Kang and Toa Payoh, the Youth Olympics will surely be an inclusive event for all Singaporeans.

As the International Olympic Committee has designed the Youth Olympic Games to inspire young people to take up sport, Singapore’s hosting of the Games in 2010 will boost our current youth development efforts and catalyse the realisation of our sporting vision for our youth.We have already embarked on this journey through the specialist SingaporeSportsSchool, which was opened in 2004 to provide an integrated academic and intensive sports training programme for some 360 young athletes between the ages of 13 and 17.

The Youth Olympic Games in Singapore would help us deliver an even more significant legacy for Singapore.Our young athletes will be energised by the goal of appearing at a “home” event, as would their friends, family and supporters be enthused by the prospect of seeing them compete in a world-class event right here in their own country. It is something which all Singaporeans can be proud of.

s, Singapore will also give back to the Olympic Movement.The Youth Olympic Games is an unrivalled opportunity for us to deliver an intense and transformative personal experience to all participants and offer our friendship to them. The bid to host the Youth Olympic has just been submitted two days ago, and I am confident that Singapore has the right infrastructure and the organisational capability to work with the International Olympic Committee to deliver a successful inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

Conclusion

On this note, I am happy to open the Jurong West SRC. With such first-class sports facilities, I strongly encourage all residents and corporations to organise and participate more in sporting and leisure activities. I believe that the Jurong West SRC will create a vibrant, sporty and cool lifestyle for all of us.

Thank you.