Free entry to half the sports, other tickets from $5

Free entry will be offered to half of the 36 sports at June's SEA Games to ensure the event is accessible to the public.

Ticketed events will also remain affordable, said the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (Singsoc), with prices starting from $5.

Popular sports like football, aquatics and table tennis will cost $20 - before half-price concessions - but Singsoc executive committee chairman Lim Teck Yin is confident that packed stadiums will greet the country's athletes.

"This is a not-for-profit event," he said.

"In Singapore, excitement about anything is infectious and Singaporeans catch on when others are excited."

To encourage strong local support and cater to work schedules during the 12-day Games, Singsoc has tried to arrange for Team Singapore athletes to play on weekday evenings and late afternoons on weekends.

Besides the Republic's top stars like Asian Games gold medallist Joseph Schooling (swimming), the likes of Thailand's 2013 badminton world champion Ratchanok Intanon and Malaysia's first diving Olympic medallist Pandelela Rinong will also be on show.

Priority sales began yesterday, with public sales starting next Wednesday. A total of 790,000 tickets will be made available.

An unofficial website was selling Games tickets, Singsoc warned last night. It added that APACTix is the sole distributor of Games tickets and those purchased through other channels will not be valid for entry to Games venues.

Communications manager Elizabeth Teo, 28, bought tickets to tennis and volleyball at the 2010 Youth Olympics and is thrilled that she will be able to catch these events at the Sports Hub. She said: "It is helpful that the sports I am interested in will be close together."

The Under-23 football competition will be the first to start, kicking off on May 29.

Mr Murali Nair, 45, who runs a construction firm, said: "It is the school holidays, so I will take my kids to cheer our players on."

Event prices and how to get tickets

Free: Athletics, archery, softball, tennis, squash, rowing, canoeing/kayaking, sailing, traditional boat race, water skiing, cycling, golf, triathlon, bowling, shooting, petanque, hockey and floorball.

$5: Boxing, judo, pencak silat, sepak takraw, taekwondo and wushu.

$10: Basketball, billiards and snooker, fencing, netball, rugby sevens and volleyball.

$20: Aquatics, badminton, equestrian, football, gymnastics and table tennis.

Priority tickets are available at www.seagames2015.com, and public sales begin on Feb 4.

Ticketed team sports events will be available after the competition draw in April. Other sales channels include the SEA Games ticketing hotline (3158-8080), SingPost outlets and the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Concession tickets - at half-price - are available to full-time national servicemen, those aged from two to 18 and seniors aged 50 and above.

There will be a 20 per cent discount for purchases of four tickets or more for the same session in a single transaction. Ticket prices exclude the administration fee and delivery charge.

This article was first published on Jan 29, 2015.
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