2015 ASEAN Para Games

Singapore National Stadium, venue of the athletics and football 7-a-side event of the 8th ASEAN Para Games.

The 2015 ASEAN Para Games used a mix of new, existing and temporary venues. Given the city-state's compact size, most venues were pre-existing public-sporting facilities located in the suburban heartlands which will revert to public use after the games. No major retrofitting work were done in most venues as most had been used to host major multi-disciplinary events such as the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.

At the centrepiece of the activities was the Singapore Sports Hub which was completed in mid-2014 and was used to host the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. Incorporating the new 55,000-seat national stadium, it hosted most of the events.

A games village was not built as in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. Instead, a "village in the city" concept saw athletes and officials housed in Marina Bay Sands Hotel downtown Singapore which was chosen to be the official games village because of its ability to cater to people with special needs. The hotel reaffirmed its commitment to its corporate social responsibility programmes, and is looking to raise awareness among the public about para-sports. Besides being physically near to the Singapore Sports Hub and offering about 1500 rooms for usage, it was hoped that it will add vibe to the city and reduce post-games costs in converting a dedicated games village to other uses.[8][9]

The 8th ASEAN Para Games had 14 venues for the games.[10]

Given the existing extensive public transport network already in place, there is no games-specific major infrastructural development to support it. Bus, Mass Rail Transit and van services were provided to athletes, officials and VIP guests to reach the games venues and many of them were equipped with platform to load wheelchair-bounded people especially wheelchair-bounded athletes and officials.[11][12]

The organisers estimated that about 3,000 volunteers are needed to successfully host the games. As of 21 November 2015, about 4,300 public members have signed up as volunteers.[13]

On 20 October 2015, it was announced that other than the Opening Ceremony, no paid tickets are required for the ASEAN Para Games events and the entry to the games' venues is entirely free.[14][15]

During the closing ceremony of the 2014 ASEAN Para Games, the APSF Flag was formally handed over to Singapore from Myanmar. This was followed by a song and dance section highlighting Singapore as the next venue.

From 3 to 9 December 2014, a series of festivities called the "Treerific Christmas" were held. Visitors were exposed to activities such as disability sports try outs such as javelin, shooting, bowling and Boccia, Walk-a-Wheelathon carnival games, performances, arts & crafts, face-painting, balloon-sculptin, to mark the one year countdown to the games. Christmas caroling is organized as well in time of the 2014 Christmas Day.[16]

The countdown to the games began on 15 February 2014 with a launch party at the Gardens by the Bay, where the logo, theme and mascot were also introduced. Related activities was held from September to December 2015.[17] Starting 25 July 2015 onwards, Sport Without Boundaries Roadshows were held at 4 venues from 10:30 to 17:30 SST across Singapore in their respective dates, aimed to introduce para sports to the community and increase their awareness of para sports and the upcoming 8th ASEAN Para Games (APG).[18] The roadshow begins with Jurong West Sport Centre, held between 25 and 26 July, followed by Choa Chu Kang Sport Centre between 19 and 20 September, Seng Kang Sport Centre between 24 and 25 October and Pasir Ris Sport Centre between 31 October and 1 November.[19] Public people were invited to try out sports like Boccia, Goalball, football 5-a-side, table tennis, and wheelchair basketball and win the games merchandise.

The principal agency to ensure the security of the games is the Singapore Police Force, supplemented by the Auxiliary Police Forces. The organisers singled out security as one of their major concerns ahead of the games, with worries over unforeseen security breaches which may occur across any of the venues, some of which are easily accessible by the public.[20]

The design of the medals were similar to those of 2015 Southeast Asian Games which were unveiled on 27 April 2015. Designed by Joys Tan from Sport Singapore, they feature the Games' logo on one side, and the Singapore Sports Hub on the reverse. Each medal will be 80mm in diameter and will each weigh 183 grams.

Projected cost of the games was at SGD 75 million.[21]

A torch relay was held at the Marina Bay on 3 December 2015 before the games' opening ceremony.[22]

Similar to the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, the motto of the 2015 Southeast Asian Games is Celebrate the Extraordinary. It represents the connection of individuals, communities and countries to their own dreams beyond competing, winning or overcoming defeat and the inspiration of the soul and spirit inside each people of Southeast Asia.

The logo of the 2015 ASEAN Para Games draws its inspiration from the 28th SEA Games and is an image depicts the human figures and arms, raised in jubilation and seamlessly joined, weave together to form the shape of a heart, represents the essence of the international paralympic movement of Spirit in motion and the gumption to overcome challenges, and the indomitable triumph of the human spirit. The radiance of the colour palette represents the dynamism of sport. The three figures also represent inclusiveness, uplifting and transforming sports with disabilities, and national pride and represents the unity of competing athletes, as individuals, as a movement, and as a region, reaching for extraordinary.[23]

Similar to the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, the mascot of the 2015 ASEAN Para Games is a lion named Nila. The name comes from Sang Nila Utama, the founder of Singapura. Nila has a red mane and heart-shaped face and is described as courage, passionate and friendly. He wears either his signature tracksuit or blue sporting attire, depending on the occasion.[24]

A special compilation album titled Songs of the Games was produced by veteran music director Sydney Tan and released on 3 March 2015. It features the three official theme songs: "Unbreakable" written by Amir Masoh and performed by Tabitha Nauser, "Greatest" by Daphne Khoo and "Ordinary" written by Amir Masoh and performed by The Sam Willows. The other songs included: "You're Wonderful" written by Amir Masoh and performed by Tay Kewei, Gayle Nerva and Tabitha Nauser, "Flags Up" written and performed by The Sam Willows, "Champion" written by Charlie Lim and performed by The Sam Willows, "Still" written and performed by Charlie Lim, "A Love Song-Unbreakable" written by Don Richmond and performed by Benjamin Kheng, "Forever" written by Joshua Wan and performed by The Steve McQueens, "You're almost There" written and performed by Joel and co-written by Ruth Ling, "Dancing on the world" written and performed by Hubbabubbas, "Colours" written and performed by Jean Tan and "Reach" written by Dick Lee and performed by the MGS Choir featuring Dick Lee.[25][26]

A total of 32 sponsors, comprising 4 Main sponsors, 10 Official sponsors and 18 Official partners contributed to the 2015 ASEAN Para Games. The broadcasting rights of the main sponsor MediaCorp is owned by MediaCorp TV.[27]

The opening ceremony was held on Thursday, 3 December 2015,[28] beginning at 20:00 SST (UTC+8) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.[29] There were five section of performance dubbed the movements in the opening ceremony, which were Stretching the Boundaries, A World of Creative Possibilities, Shooting For the Best, Fire Your Imagination and Celebration of the Extraordinary. The opening ceremony was designed by creative designer Phillip Tan[30] and was helmed by 661 performers including Lily Goh, Samantha Gray, Daniel Purnomo, Sumbut Simla and Li Chi Chao, 120 motivators, 174 volunteers and 454 students mostly from Singapore's special education schools and 75 creative team members.

The ceremony begins with the first movement, the Stretching the Boundaries where Singapore shooter Aishah Samad was seen at the stage for a short moment after the video footage featuring Singapore's scenery with Charlie Lim's "Still" as background music, followed by a group of dancers from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) consists of 7 different nationalities dancing led by an autistic girl dancer, Luo Mang. The performance proceeds with the entrance of VIP guests including Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam. The National Anthem of Singapore was performed by students of Cannosian School including Vivian Voo, Cerebral Palsy alliance of Singapore including Rosemary, the Association for persons with special needs, Rainbow Centre, School of the arts, Sin Ming Secondary School and Nanyang Primary School as the national flag of Singapore was raised. Neo Yew Kim interprets the national anthem using sign language while Raghavendran Rajarekan performed the national anthem with the Bansui flute. The countdown video depicts clay figure made by Singapore school students of Association For Special Needs that resembles numbers from 10 to 1. Then, athletes of participating nations paraded into the stadium to the ASEAN traditional music, followed by speeches addressed by Grace Fu, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of Singapore and Zainal Abu Zarin, President of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation and the declaration of the games opening by president Tony Tan Keng Yam and the raising of the APSF and the games flag with the playing of Anthem of the Future, the anthem of the Paralympic movement and drum majors Haikal Rosli and Jonah Chi Jee Hong playing the baton on the stage. The movement told the story of how the athletes push the boundaries and move beyond them.

Order	Nation	Flag bearer	Sport
1	Brunei (BRU)	Alihan Muda	Athletics
2	Cambodia (CAM)	Van Vun	Athletics
3	Indonesia (INA)	Anto Boi	Powerlifting
4	Laos (LAO)	Simay Eay	Powerlifting
5	Malaysia (MAS)	Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi	Athletics
6	Myanmar (MYA)	Myo Swe	Athletics
7	Philippines (PHI)	Sander Saverino	Chess
8	Thailand (THA)	Rawat Tana	Athletics
9	Vietnam (VIE)	Le Van Cong	Powerlifting
10	Singapore (SIN)	Yip Pin Xiu	Swimming

Second movement in line is A World of Creative Possibilities performed by students from Grace Orchard School and Anglo Chinese School and Natasha Michella of School of the Arts, with a map of Singapore designed by Special Education students at the background. The movement told the story about human creativity and reflects ASEAN Para Sports Federation vision for pursuing equality in sports and life. This was followed by movement 3, the Shooting For The Best performance in which dance troop Redeafination doing the glow in the dark dance, followed by oath taken by Yong Phen Chong for athletes, Lanny Kwok Ping Ping for judges and officials and Muhammad Hosni for Coaches and Personal Best performance which depicts the video of the voice of athletes from participating nations and performance by Lui Chee Chau, a Malaysian pianist and Indah Wahyu, an Indonesian singer. The movement told the story about how the athletes try their best to pursuit victory and improve their performance.

In the fourth movement, the Fire Your Imagination, Choo Poh Choon, Jason Chee, Yap Qian Yin, Renee Joy Tan, Neoh Yew Kim and dancers from Asia Women Welfare Association doing performances with a person playing flute and two students doing the hand sign dance to express their dreams, followed by the video Because I am a Champion, showing the fighting spirit of Singapore para athletes. A group of athletes then passed the torch flame one after another before it was passed to Yip Pin Xiu, who lit the flame on the cauldron with Tay Wei Ming of Badminton and Gan Kai Hong Aloysius of Boccia. The torch bearer are R. Nadesan Kalai Vanen of Powerlifting, Benson Tan Eng Kiong of Swimming, Aishah Samad of Shooting and Toh Wei Soong of Swimming. The movement told the story about human's imagination that resulted from their dreams. In the fifth movement, the Celebration of the Extraordinary, performers of the previous performances gather with the Taiko drum, Timpani and electric guitar players and mascot Nila to do the finale alongside performers mostly from Evergreen Secondary School, Metta School, Association of persons with Special needs, I am Soul, Yishun Park and Chaoyang School. The ceremony concludes with President leaving the stadium while meet and greeting athletes and performers who attended the ceremony along the way.[31][32][33]

The closing ceremony was held on Wednesday, 9 December 2015, from 20:00 SST (UTC+8) at the Marina Bay Sands ballroom in Singapore.[34] Athletes and guests were treated with a series of dances and performances and the dinner served at the ballroom. After that, Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong declared the games closed. The torch was extinguished and the ASEAN Para Games responsibilities was officially handed over to Malaysia, host of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games[35][36] where Saravanan Murugan receives the flag of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation as its symbol from Zainal Abu Zarin and Lanny Kwok Ping Ping during a flag handover ceremony. The national anthem of Malaysia was played as the National flag of Malaysia was raised. A Malaysia segment performance was also performed by a drum band named Republic of Gendang, highlighting Malaysia as the next host of the ASEAN Para Games.[37][38][39][40]

The number of athletes competed for each nation is shown in parenthesis. Around 1181 athletes and 500 officials had participated in the games.

Did not enter

• East Timor was suspended by the International Paralympic Committee, hence the ASEAN Para Sports Federation decided to bare the country from participating at the games.[41][42][43]

The Singapore ASEAN Para Games Organising Committee (SAPGOC) had confirmed a total of 15 sports for the 8th ASEAN Para Games. This was the most number of sports offered at the ASEAN Para Games in its history. The announcement took place after the sports were endorsed at the 1st ASEAN Para Sports Federation Board of Governors’ Meeting at Marina Bay Sands.[44]

The 2015 ASEAN Para Games featured 336 events, resulting in 336 medal sets to be distributed.

Two bronze medals were awarded in most events in racket sports: 10 in Badminton and 21 in Table tennis, giving a total of 31 additional bronze medals. On the other hand, 12 silver and 46 bronze medals were not awarded in 46 events in 8 sports competed at the games due to few number of participants. These are: Archery (2 bronze), Athletics (4 silver and 16 bronze), Badminton (2 bronze), Boccia (1 silver and 2 bronze), Chess (8 bronze), Powerlifting (4 silver and 4 bronze), Swimming (3 bronze) and Table tennis (3 silver and 9 bronze).

As a result, a total of 981 medals comprising 336 gold medals, 324 silver medals and 321 bronze medals were awarded to athletes.

The host Singapore's performance was its best ever yet in ASEAN Para Games History and was placed fifth overall among participating nations.[45][46]

  *   Host nation (Singapore)

2015 ASEAN Para Games medal table

Rank	NPC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand (THA)	95	76	79	250
2	Indonesia (INA)	81	74	63	218
3	Malaysia (MAS)	52	58	37	147
4	Vietnam (VIE)	48	58	50	156
5	Singapore (SIN)*	24	17	22	63
6	Myanmar (MYA)	16	17	29	62
7	Philippines (PHI)	16	17	26	59
8	Brunei (BRU)	3	3	6	12
9	Cambodia (CAM)	1	2	6	9
10	Laos (LAO)	0	2	3	5
Totals (10 NPCs)		336	324	321	981