Soccer Made in Singapore

This is a story about the 4 S: the S league, the Shirt, the Sandal, and Sepak Takraw.

On the way to Australia 2 weeks ago, I made a stop in Singapore to see my friend Tobias. I told him there was a soccer match that night and he agreed to go with me.

check out my sandals

I found Singapore to be very clean, cleaner than Switzerland. The taxi driver told me that the fine for throwing/leaving thrash in public is up to 1000 Singapore dollars (about 800 USD). He also told me that the trash police is not visible as they are in plain clothes.

so when we got to the stadium, I tried to remind myself to throw away the soda cup or the rice container when finished. The match ticket costed us only 5 Singapore dollars each. I did not want to pay 1000 Singapore dollars at a soccer game.

outside the stadium, I saw a stand selling shirts of the home team, Woodlands Wellington FC. So I went over and was trying to decide if I should buy a medium or  large shirt. The sales lady took one look at me and said 'you are XL!' She then told me to turn around and she put an XL shirt up on my back to measure.

I bought the XL shirt. I felt like a big man.

We entered the stadium and saw that the main tribune had 3 sections. The middle section was made up of plastic chairs and on either side, there were concrete steps. I told Tobias, hey we bought the most expensive tickets, we sit in the middle. so far so good.

It was a match of the S League: Woodlands Wellington FC vs Hougang United FC. 

Kick-off 7.30 PM. Weather: warm and humid.

welcome to the S League

 Shortly before kick-off, I went to the toilet. After some searching, I found the toilet. It was below the main tribune. And I found out it was next to the locker room of the referees.

So when I left the toilet, the 4 referees were coming out of the locker room. I looked around. It was only me and them. I let them passed and then I followed them through the entrance tunnel.

now I have taken many many photos of referees and players and officials leaving the tunnel while I was in the stand. But this is my first photo from inside the tunnel.

I escorted the referees out

I came out of the tunnel and no one ran up to check my credentials. I stood on the running track for some minutes and then I went up to join Tobias in the plastic seats.

But before I could get to my friend, a security guard approached me. 

He said 'you cannot sit here'

I said 'I bought the most expensive ticket'

He said 'You wear sandals. No shoes, no VIP seats'

I was very mad. It was warm and humid. Both Tobias and I wore sandals. and we had to go to the concrete section.

We sat next to several groups of school children. They were given drinks and foods and were told to make lots of noises. They were urged on by the official cheer leaders of the home team. but these kids cheered no matter who scored.

When Hougang United FC scored first, the kids not only cheered. They also threw paper in the air. 

Thrash throwing in public place in Singapore!!! but nothing happened. may be the trash police had the night off.

Hougang won 3-1. There were 688 people in attendance, including those groups of school kids.

There were a couple of decent players but overall, the S League was just ok to watch.

The next day, I went to a gym to watch Sepak Takraw, a sports popular in Southeast Asia. The match consists of 3 players on each side and the court is similar to badmington. They play with a ball made up of rattan and the player can use any part of the body but their hands.

The match I saw was between some juniors but they were pretty good. As I watched these juniors played, I thought if these same players would play soccer, the next Messi will be from Singapore.

Enjoy the 16 second video of Sepak Takraw.

new Singapore stamp of Vuzinho and a Sepak Takraw ball