Pesta Sukan Returns in Full Force

Pesta Sukan 2022 Athletics' Participants having fun on the track. Photo Credit : Team Nila Content Producer, Chong Yan Kai

It's THAT time of the year, when thousands of Singaporeans get excited over the country's biggest community-based sporting event, Pesta Sukan! Held in conjunction with the annual Get Active! Singapore campaign, the official period for the country's oldest sports competition is 29 July-8 August. 4 sporting disciplines such as Basketball, Floorball, Sepaktakraw & Wushu, actually kicked off their Pesta Sukan 2023 (PS 2023) events earlier on 15 July, due to the high numbers of participating teams. 

Featuring a record number of 30,000 participants (and counting) across 32 sporting disciplines (including 11 para sports) and 4 signature events, PS 2023 sees more than 150 personnel deployed to manage the entire tournament. The annual Pesta Sukan which started in December 1964, was created  to provide opportunities for our local sportsmen and women to get together in camaraderie. It's also to raise the standard of sport through friendly competition, while celebrating the Republic's birthday on 9 August. With the formation of the Singapore Sports Council (now Sport Singapore) in 1973, Pesta Sukan has remained a mainstay in the annual sporting calendar for the last 5 decades. 

Kids competing in Water Polo at Pesta Sukan 2022. Photo Credit : Team Nila

With almost 26,000 participants involved in PS 2022, the increase by more than 4,000+ individuals for the 2023 edition, is something we can all be proud of. The sport of basketball alone has 4,000 participants, while football sees a participation rate of some 2,000 players for the upcoming edition. Athletes will feature in 7 categories including Youth, Masters (54 years and below/55 and above), Para and International. In addition, PS 2023 also welcomes back (after Covid-19) some of the leading MNC's in Singapore to compete in friendly fashion. They include, Police Sports Association, DBS Bank, HP, Land Transport Authority, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education and more.

List of Sporting Disciplines for Pesta Sukan 2023

Wendy Chua (Pesta Sukan 2023 Secretariat) reveals the new elements introduced in this year’s Pesta Sukan extravaganza. "We have 4 Signature Events in the Green Category (RIBA, Vertical Challenge, Stadium Run & SG Urban Walk) in support of environmental sustainability. When participants choose this category, they voluntarily opt out of receiving any race entitlement. In return, they pay a reduced registration fee. This enables organisers to reduce the number of medals and t-shirts to be produced, which is aligned to our Sport Green Plan to organise environmentally friendly sport events.

The second new initiative in Pesta Sukan 2023, is the introduction of the Community Category (Basketball, Badminton & Table Tennis) whereby participants have to form teams from the same grassroots area. This is to foster greater social bonding and cohesion within the community, where grassroot leaders can rally residents in the same neighbourhood to participate in sports together," highlighted Wendy. 

Participants of Handball at Pesta Sukan 2022. Photo Credit : Team Nila Content Producer, Loh Kok Heng

Pesta Sukan 2023 will see more than 4,000 participants in the sport of Basketball - the highest registration number. As the most popular team sport, the Community Category for Basketball contributes close to 25% of the total participation. Pesta Sukan Basketball also offers Masters Categories to compete, which are not often seen in other locally organised events. 

Joyce Tay (Pesta Sukan 2023 Secretariat) also explains the key motivating factor of Singaporeans returning to compete in this annual affair. "In celebration of National Day, competition provides the opportunity for exposure & improving performance. It allows one to satisfy the need to win. Competition motivates one to put forth greater effort that can result in high levels of performance. Many participants/teams also see Pesta Sukan as a yearly event to catch up with each other through sports.

For the first time since Covid-19, Pesta Sukan is coming back in full scale without any SMMs in place. We hope that the participants can enjoy the whole process and celebrate National Day through sport, while staying active and healthy," stressed Joyce. 

To get a sense of the various categories which Singaporeans can compete in, ActiveSG Circle recently caught up with four individuals who are returning to compete in the nation's largest annual multi-sport event. (see below)

Ashraf Yusof (Black Top) and his team-mates at the 5v5 Football campaign in Pesta Sukan 2022. Photo Credit : Ashraf Yusof

Ashraf Yusof (Football 5 v 5 Men's Open Category, Pesta Sukan 2023)

Current Age : 26
Current Job Designation : Project Engineer
How many times have you competed in Pesta Sukan? Only once so far
Won Pesta Sukan titles in the past? We were runners-up on our debut in 2022

Q : Why did you decide to compete in the Men’s Football 5v5 division at PS 2023?
Ashraf : To enjoy the beautiful game of football, while having a slight competitiveness experience with my friends and family.

Q : What is your best experience so far having competed in Pesta Sukan?
Ashraf : The best experience of participating, is how well organised the competition is being run and managed. 

Q : What do you hope to achieve in PS 2023?
Ashraf : To have fun with my friends and winning is a bonus.

Q : How would you recommend other Singaporeans to come forward and compete in Pesta Sukan 2023?
Ashraf : This event is a fun and great event to make new friends, while playing the sport that we all love. 

Ong Tianwei (Back row, 2nd from Right) competed alongside his SIA team-mates in the Corporate category at Pesta Sukan 2019. Photo Credit : Ong Tianwei

Ong Tianwei (Basketball, Corporate Category, SIA - Pesta Sukan 2023)

How many years in SIA? 11 
Current Age : 39
Current Job Designation Senior First Officer
How many times have you competed in Pesta Sukan? 2023 will be my 3rd time

Q Why did you decide to compete in the Basketball Corporate division at PS 2023? 
Tianwei : Our team is made up of colleagues from various divisions across the company. We have been coming together and playing basketball ever since 2012. Back then, there were not a lot of opportunities for us to compete as a team except playing against ourselves representing each division. Pesta Sukan created this opportunity for the team to be playing as one, we value this experience a lot and we have enjoyed our last few participation ever since the very first Pesta Sukan Sports Festival a few years back.

Q : What is your best experience so far, having competed in Pesta Sukan?
Tianwei : Back in 2020 when we first competed, our team made it to the Semis and subsequently to the placing game. The experience gave the team alot of motivation to continue to strive to be better. 

Q : How does SIA stand to benefit from competing in PS 2023?
Tianwei : Being able to play as one team and compete with other corporate teams, does help my squad foster our camaraderie and gives the players a sense of purpose. It actually further promotes a more active lifestyle, as several players make it a point to come for our weekly sessions, so that they would get selected to compete for SIA.

 Q : What do you hope to achieve in PS 2023?
Tianwei : The team would do their best in all our games, most importantly have fun and enjoy the experience.

Quek Mingming Jones (standing with black Hot6 teeshirt) at previous Pesta Sukan event. Photo credit : Quek Mingming Jones 

Quek Mingming Jones (Badminton, Community Category, Punggol West CSN)

Current Age : 41
Current Job Designation : Sales Personnel
How many times have you competed in Pesta Sukan? 2023 is my 3rd outing

Li Kunhan (No 7 jersey, 2nd from Right) competed in Volleyball, alongside his Police Sports Assn team-mates in the Corporate category at Pesta Sukan 2022. Photo Credit : Ong Tianwei

Li Kunhan    (Volleyball, Corporate Mixed Open, Police Sports Association, Singapore Police Force)

Current Age : 39 
Current Job Designation : Investigation Officer in Central Division

Q : How many times have you competed in Pesta Sukan? 
Kunhan : I first competed in Pesta Sukan, during my schooling days when I was 18 years old (2002). Since then, almost every year I've competed as Pesta Sukan is one of the few major competitions in Singapore for the sport of volleyball.

Kunhan : It is a relatively new category that SportSG introduced in the recent years. Like Public Service Games, the Police Sports Association competes with other Public Service ministries. PSA is competing in the corporate division in PS 2023, as we want to face other teams in the corporate world, in order to improve our own standards and see where the team stands.

Q : What is your best experience so far having competed in Pesta Sukan?
Kunhan : My personal best experience was in 2012, as PSA reclaimed the championship again after losing in 2011. In 2008 to 2010, PSA had won 3 consecutive years in Pesta Sukan, and having to lose in 2011 was a painful lesson for us. The team trained even harder after the loss and we managed to regain back the glory in 2012.  

For more details and event schedules of Pesta Sukan 2023, click here