Tickets for SEA Games opening and closing ceremonies go on sale

Singapore

THOSE who have pre-registered to buy tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies of this year's South-east Asian (SEA) Games now have a week to snap them up before everyone else.

A priority sale for the two ceremonies - the opening is on June 5 and the closing, on June 16 - began on Thursday for sports fans who had indicated their interest last year.

They would have received an email with a special link to book their tickets online for the two ceremonies, to be held at the 55,000-seater National Stadium at the Singapore Sports Hub.

The general public will be able to get their tickets from Jan 22 at the official Games website (seagames2015.com), the ticketing hotline at +65 31588080, at Singapore Post branches and at the Singapore Indoor Stadium box office.

Tickets to the opening ceremony start at S$12, and go up to S$60.

A range of concessions are available; a group of at least four senior citizens or full-time national servicemen, for instance, pay as little as S$4.80 per head, depending on the zone in which they sit.

Tickets for the closing ceremony range from S$12 to S$40, with a similar menu of concessions for youth, seniors, full-time NSmen and those who make payment with DBS or POSB credit and debit cards.

The Sea Games 2015 organising committee said on Thursday that ticket prices for the opening and closing ceremonies are being kept affordable in a concerted effort to make the event accessible to all.

Ticket sales for the various competitions - there are 36 sports in total - will begin in February, with pricing details to come later.

APACTix, a full-service ticketing company, has been selected as the sole ticketing partner for the SEA Games. It started operations in Singapore in May 2013, providing ticketing services for the Singapore Sports Hub under the brand of Sports Hub Tix.

An estimated 7,000 athletes and officials from 11 Asean nations are expected to jet into town for the 12-day event.

This is the first time Singapore is hosting the region's biggest multi-sport competition since 1993. The biennial event is billed as one of the main highlights of the country's 50th anniversary celebrations this year.

Lim Teck Yin, the event's organising committee chairman and the chief executive officer of Sport Singapore, said: "It is our turn to host the SEA Games after 22 years and it will happen during Singapore's golden jubilee.

"The occasion calls for a fitting celebration - one that will bring communities together and invoke a sense of pride and ownership in Singaporeans," he said.