News

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally announcement of the Kallang Alive Masterplan filled me with excitement ( , Aug 19). It is a wonderful and inclusive plan and I look forward to the promised sports activities for all ages and all levels. As a tennis enthusiast, I am already benefiting from the new Kallang Tennis Hub with its 12 open courts and seven indoor courts. However, as with all outdoor tennis courts nationwide, most of them remain unused during the hours of 11am to 4pm, and during periods of rain. With the land scarce in Singapore and the increasingly hotter temperatures going forward, would the Government consider building covered tennis courts such as the one at Heartbeat@Bedok? A quick look at the ActiveSG+ booking portal shows that every available playing hour at that facility is booked. This shows that there is demand when courts are covered. Should it rain, utilisation of open courts is reduced even further. This leads to frustration in trying to book a usable court. Some have engaged in creative ways to go around the booking system with bots, for which a huge revamp of the ActiveSG booking portal had to be undertaken. Covering outdoor tennis courts will ease this supply crunch, make them usable in all weather, and allow tennis enthusiasts of all ages and all levels to more fully enjoy the game.