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Singapore Sports Council

The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) was formed on 1 October 1973 with the merger of the National Sports Promotion Board (NSPB) and the National Stadium Corporation (NSC).

Early History
The national interest in sports can be traced to the period soon after the independence of Singapore in 1965. Sports was then seen as a useful tool for ethnic integration. So in 1966, a Sports Division was created in the Ministry of Social Affairs with Othman Wok, the Minister-in-charge. However, its role remained muted, acting to promote mass sports and to assist volunteer organisations to raise funds for sports.

Sports Council
It was only with the launch of the Singapore Sports Council that a driver for sports programmes and facilities was put in place. Set up in October 1973, it rose out of the merger of two sister organisations, NSPB and NSC, both formed in 1971.

In the first ten years, the SSC was guided by its "Sports for All" policy. It was only in the 1980s that increasing attention was focused on the pursuit of "Sports Excellence". This led to the launch of the Sports Excellence 2000 programme in December 1993 to raise the overall standard of competitive sports in Singapore.

Following its expanded role, the SSC's mission statement was redefined as follows: "To foster a fit and healthy nation based on the policy of promoting participation in sports from the recreational to the high performance levels so as to enhance the quality of life and contribute to nation-building."

The SSC's message to Singaporeans is that by participating regularly in recreational sports, they can help build a fit and healthy nation. At the same time, sports champions who stand at the apex of the sports pyramid can, through their achievements at regional and international competitions, bring glory to the nation and arouse a sense of national pride.

The SSC aims to be make Singapore one of the top 10 sporting nations of the world by 2010. It hopes that Singapore will be in a position to host the Asian and Commonwealth Games by the end of the decade. In the meantime, the SSC will be actively looking for international championships to host sport challenges such as the World Wushu Championships, the World Rugby Sevens, the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Games.

Author
Anu Bala



References 
Chua, Chong Jin. (1998). A nation at play: 25 years of the Singapore Sports Council. Singapore: Times Editions.
(Call no.: RSING 796.095957 NAT)

Chua, Chong Jin. (1994). On track: 21 years of the Singapore Sports Council. Singapore: Times Editions, p. 15.
(Call no.: RSING q796.42 CHU)

Lim, Marc. (2001, December 4). SSC creates key post. The Straits Times. 

Tay, Cheng Khoon. (2001, September 5). SSC Keen on More World-Class Meets. The Straits Times.

Singapore Sports Council. (n.d.). About SSC: Our history. Retrived on September 30, 2002, from www.ssc.gov.sg/history.shtml


Further Readings
Singapore Sports Council: The first ten years. (1983). Singapore: Singapore Sports Council.
(Call no.: RSING 796.0605957 SIN)

Sports Excellence 2000. (1993). Singapore: Ministry of Community Development and Singapore Sports Council.
Publisher.
(Call no.: RSING 796.095957 SPO) 

The information in this article is valid as at 1998 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Recreation>>Sports
Public institutions--Singapore
Sports facilities--Singapore
Physical education and training--Singapore
Law and government>>Culture and community>>Sports policies
Sports, recreation and travel>>Sports