Tickets for the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix are running out fast, with the night race’s reputation unaffected by the ongoing corruption investigations against two key figures behind the event, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng yesterday (Sept 3).
Tan, who is in charge of this year’s race due to the graft probe on Transport Minister S Iswaran, said that tickets for 16 out of 23 categories are already sold out, and are quickly running out for five of the remaining seven categories.
Speaking to the media at the Italian Formula One Grand Prix live screening in Toa Payoh yesterday, Tan added that this year’s attendance is expected to hit 250,000, about 17 per cent lower than last year’s record-breaking attendance of 302,000, due to the closure of the Bay Grandstand.
The closure is part of plans to redevelop The Float@Marina Bay into the NS Square, which were announced in 2017 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Works began in March this year and are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The NS Square will include a permanent stage deck that will replace the current floating platform and about 30,000 seats in the grandstand.
Asked if the Singapore Grand Prix might be impacted by the ongoing Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau probe involving Mr Iswaran and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, two men who had been instrumental in bringing the race to Singapore, Tan said that the “show goes on”.
“I can tell you that if you look at all of the events, everything is moving at full speed,” said Tan, who is also the Second Minister for Trade and Industry. “There’s no holding back of any other events whatsoever.”
Tan added that ticket sales have been “very promising” and that the probe has not affected the night race’s reputation.
Aside from more than S$1.5 billion in revenue receipts, the night race has brought spillover effects to Singapore’s economy and raised the country’s profile “significantly”, he pointed out.
“So in those aspects, I think life will continue with it. I’ve taken over as a minister-in-charge of this F1 event and we hope to learn from this event as we have learned from past events and build on it, and make it even better,” Dr Tan said.
The races will take place from September 15 to 17 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Aside from these, residents can look forward to a slew of race-related activities that will showcase local retail, food and entertainment establishments all over the island starting this coming Friday.
There will also be live screening of the night race at six community clubs.
“By bringing them into the heartlands, we are trying to get our locals to participate and also soak in the entire event, soak in the atmosphere,” said Tan.
On the economic benefits that can be expected for this year’s Grand Prix in Singapore, he said that at least “90 per cent of all the outsourcing” will go to local enterprises.
Tan added that there are more than 25 Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events that are scheduled to start from next weekend.
“Many of the big private equity firms and hedge funds are all converging and this is the time where there are so many business deals happening with negotiations undergoing at the same time — so there’s a lot of spillover effects,” he said. — TODAY
