Pesta Sukan – Singapore’s first festival of sports begins

Pesta Sukan, or “Sports Festival”, was the first festival of sports held in Singapore. The event took place from 4 to 21 December 1964.^[1] The festival aimed to encourage higher standards and greater interest in sport^[2] as well as to promote racial harmony – significant in light of the communal riots that had taken place in July and September that year.^[3] The festival was declared open by then Minister for Culture S Rajaratnam at Kong Hwa School on 4 December.^[4]  

Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia at the time and the festival, which involved some 2,000 sportsmen of whom 800 were from other parts of Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak, helped to foster goodwill through friendly competition.^[5] Moreover, taking place during the period of Konfrontasi (or “Confrontation”; Indonesia’s hostile campaign against the formation of Malaysia), Pesta Sukan stood as a firm demonstration of Malaysian solidarity and sportsmanship. In addition, it was also a response to the Games of the New Emerging Forces, which was set up by Indonesia as an alternative to the Olympic games.^[6]

The festival was sponsored by the Singapore government and supported by 25 voluntary sports organisations.^[7] Raffles Institution served as the games village to house the visiting sportsmen.^[8] The programme included athletics, basketball, boxing, chess, cricket, cycling, football, go-karting, golf, hockey, judo, motor-racing, polo, rugby, sepak-raga (or “sepak takraw” as it is more commonly known today), softball, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and yachting.^[9] The festival ended with a closing ceremony held at the Gay World Stadium on 21 December.^[10]

In 1965, Pesta Sukan came under the purview of the Ministry of Social Affairs.^[11] Held from 29 July to 9 August 1965, the second edition had an “international atmosphere”^[12] due to the participation of foreign teams from 11 other Asian countries.^[13]

After Singapore gained independence on 9 August 1965, Pesta Sukan became an annual feature of the National Day celebrations and was known as Pesta Sukan Minggu Merdeka (Sports Festival Week of Independence) from 1966 to 1969.The festival reverted to its original name thereafter.^[14] The 1970s saw the inclusion of activities geared towards family fun and mass participation such as a water carnival; national walk,  jog  and cycling events; and dragon boat races.^[15]

References
1. Ministry of Culture. (1964). Festival of sports, 4th—20th Dec 1964: Souvenir publication and handbook on sporting organisations (pp. 34–35). Singapore: Printed by the Government Printing Office. Call no.: RCLOS 796.06 SIN.
2. Festival is example of co-operation, says minister. (1964, December 5). The Straits Times, p. 20. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Frida, E. (1964, November 26). Officials praise government’s ‘splendid idea’. The Straits Times, p. 20. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
4. The Straits Times, 5 Dec 1964, p. 20.
5. The Straits Times, 5 Dec 1964, p. 20; Ministry of Culture, 1964, p. 3.
6. The Straits Times, 5 Dec 1964, p. 20; Frida, E. (1964, December 3). Festival starts tomorrow. The Straits Times, p. 19; Ten will meet on Soekarno games. (1963, April 27). The Straits Times, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. The Straits Times, 3 Dec 1964, p. 19.
8. The Straits Times, 26 Nov 1964, p. 20.
9. Ministry of Culture, 1964, pp. 34–39; Lim, J. (2007, April 16). Smack that…takraw. The Straits Times, p. 80. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
10. S’pore govt aims to give sport identity. (1964, December 23). The Straits Times, p. 23. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. Lim, K. C. (1965, July 29). Popular interest and better standards expected. The Straits Times, p. 12. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
12. Bigger and better sports festival planned. (1965, April 10). The Straits Times, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
13. Frida, E. (1965, June 18). The ‘Little Olympics’. The Straits Times, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
14. Silvam, K. (1984, August 19). The history of the Pesta Sukan. Singapore Monitor, p. 22. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
15. Singapore Sports Council. (2014). Pesta Sukan. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from Singapore Sports Council website: http://www.sportsingapore.gov.sg/sports-education/history-of-singapore-sports/sporting-events/pesta-sukan