Extending Senior Citizen Rate for Usage of Mainstream ActiveSG Sports Facilities to Persons with Disabilities
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns MP Ong Hua Han’s inquiry on extending senior citizen rates for ActiveSG sports facilities to persons with disabilities (PwDs) to promote inclusive participation. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong Chun Fai responded that SportSG currently facilitates free group entries and provides $1,000 in credits via the Social Service Corporate Membership scheme. He noted that 50 organizations have enrolled since 2022, and various recreational programmes are offered alongside ongoing enhancements to facility accessibility to better support PwDs in sports. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai highlighted that the Ministry is gathering stakeholder feedback to update the Disability Sports Master Plan and further improve access to exercise opportunities. The Ministry will study the suggestion to extend senior citizen rates to PwDs as part of its ongoing efforts to promote inclusive sports and enhance access for individuals of all abilities.
Transcript
42 Mr Ong Hua Han asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth whether the Ministry can consider extending the senior citizen rate for usage of mainstream ActiveSG’s sports facilities to persons with disabilities (PwDs) to encourage more PwDs to use such facilities for exercise and promote inclusive sports participation.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: SportSG agrees with the objective of enhancing access to sports for persons with disabilities (PwDs) and has facilitated free group entries for PwDs from Special Education (SPED) Schools and Social Service Agencies through the Social Service Corporate Membership (SSCM) scheme since 2022. This corporate membership also provides $1,000 ActiveSG credits for the booking of sports facilities for regular sports programmes. Around 50 SPED Schools and Disability Adult Centres/Homes have enrolled on the SSCM scheme.
To promote inclusive sports participation, SportSG has also introduced a range of programmes so that PwDs can take part in sports. These include learn-to-play programmes, recreational programmes and the annual Play Inclusive campaign. We will also continue to enhance our facilities so that persons of all abilities can use them comfortably.
We recognise that more can be done to increase access to opportunities for exercise and sports participation among PwDs. We have, thus, been working with various partners to engage stakeholders to gather ideas to update the Disability Sports Master Plan. We will study the suggestion on extending the senior citizen rate for usage of mainstream ActiveSG's sports facilities to PwDs as part of our ongoing efforts to promote inclusive sports.