Pesta Sukan, or the Festival of Sports, has an interesting story attached to it, as Laokokok explains – the festival first began in 1964, when Singapore was part of Malaysia and it came under the Ministry of Culture. This mass event drew in thousands for a national walking, jogging, running or cycling event. These days, our mass sports event landscape has changed somewhat. Can anyone say the Sheares Bridge Run and the New Paper Big Walk?
I’m not too sure how many still remember it – “Pesta Sukan”. First what is Pesta Sukan? It means “Festival of Sports” in Malay. The common phrase now is probably “…Singapore International Triathlon…” and who would remember Pesta Sukan?Pesta Sukan first started in 1964 when Singapore is still a State of Malaya. Remember we gained independence from Malaysia in 1965 August 9! So maybe because of that, Pesta Sukan was used instead of Festival of Sports.
Read all about Pesta Sukan here.
Tags: Pesta Sukan, Festival of Sports
1 Response
I remember the pesta sukan 1964 as I was the fencing coach for the Shell fencing Club at that time and trained the team for that event. I am currently in Singapore, the first time since 1967. I am hoping that via this way I can get contact with some of the people from that time. i.e Willy chan, Sue Long and Mary Khong. Any of you out there that remember me?
Posted on February 10th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
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