Changing Conditions Impact Singapore Clubs In This Essay.

The Singapore Turf Club

Discuss about the Changing Conditions and Its Influence on Singapore Clubs.

A club is an altar for families to enjoy and celebrate their occasion. Clubs encourage a sense of community, providing a place for a get-together and enjoy their leisure time. Many private organizations which are member-owned or proprietary-owned in Singapore face challenges today. It is becoming difficult for the clubs to retain and attract its members because of increase in competition, changes in the lifestyle of members, changes in the economy, changes in legislations and environmental conditions. These changes create an impact on the employees of the club, local, communities, economies, members and various other businesses.

These multi-million companies should have a proper policy, governance, and management who are competent enough. Very few members of the club analyze their membership and others decide to remain members in a vibrant social network and quality programs. Clubs are a stable business sustaining through the market and economic fluctuations. The organizations provide employment to 100-200 people and spend on goods and services in the local communities. Clubs should provide a quality experience to its members in every activity areas and conduct an environmental program facilitating growth and development of social capital (Club Managers' Association Singapore, 2016).

The Singapore Turf Club currently at Kranji was founded in 1842. It is the only horse-racing club providing horse betting services in Singapore. The organizations offer to bet on races from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Macau, South Africa, Europe and occasionally from Korea, Dubai and Japan (Benton, 2013). The Singapore Turf Club has two racecourses in Singapore. The Singapore Turf Club manages funding activities through Singapore Totalisator Board (Winslow, Cheok & Subramaniam, 2015). The club plays a role in making Singapore a powerful and better nation with better people. It is a non-profit organization donating its surplus revenue to various charities regularly. The club conducts fun activity session for the kids regularly and provides a better life for the less fortunate, the poor, weak, sick or disabled (Hey, 2016). The club strongly promotes to enjoy the sport of horse racing and quiver a little without affecting their lifestyle and finances. Many companies sponsor featured races in Singapore adding value to such partnership at the Singapore Turf Club and benefit both the parties. Famous brands providing sponsorships automatically increase the awareness of horse racing sport (Wai, 2015). This also boosts the brand image of the company by taking part in a different platform and increasing their revenue (Singapore Turf Club, 2016).

Competitive Changes Faced by Clubs in Singapore

The clubs in Singapore face various competitive changes. The Turf Club in Singapore provides value to their most valuable members. The club should provide complimentary service to its members during their special occasions. This will help the members to let them know about their value in the organizations. The clubs need to create an image of exclusivity. It is the members who create the brand and meet like-minded people in the group. In Singapore, the Club Managers' Association Singapore (CMAS) is an association of club professionals and managers which started in 1996. Its primary purpose is meeting, networking and sharing towards professionalism of the club industry. This association has members who manage prestigious sports club in Singapore.

In the new Asian Club Managers Conference in Singapore, the club presidents and General Manager from overseas shared their experience and discussed the different topics relating to the future of the club. Peter Goh, the President of Club Managers' Association Singapore, said that the association would focus on the preparation for future. The organizations might face various challenges. The discussion took place about potential solutions for managers and owners of the club giving providing useful and structured ideas on improving club offerings to attract and retain members (Club Managers' Association Singapore, 2016).

The government’s policy has been promoting sports to frame a healthy population for building a great nation and spreading harmony. The mission of the Singapore Sports Council is to create a fit and healthy nation which is based on the approach of promoting sports participation from the competitive to the high-performance stage to enhance the quality of life and build a better society (Li et al., 2015). The first objective is to promote sports by regular participation in fitness and sports activities and collaborating with several agencies. The second objective is to promote excellence by identifying and grooming potential athletes and become a role model for the entire nation. The third objective is to co-ordinate with the planning of providing quality sports facility to Singapore citizens which are affordable and provides quality service. The fourth objective is to promote and educate the public on adopting games in their daily lifestyle.

The function of Singapore Sports Council focuses on planning, developing and coordinating sports activity in Singapore. In Singapore Sports Council possess a significant influence in sports of Singapore. It provides the fund to the sports. In 2002, Singapore Sports Council suspended funding to the national sports association for bowling Singapore Tenpin Bowling Congress, resulting in an ongoing investigation by Commercial Affairs Department in their financial matters. In September 2002, Singapore Sports Council formed a Bowling Review Committee to gain power on the fund management, games preparation and team selection for bowlers in Singapore for a period of four to twelve months.

The Role of Club Managers' Association Singapore

The Singapore Sports Committee has been trying to make environmental changes in the sports of Singapore. The Singapore Sports Committee is working with various economic agencies like Singapore Tourism Board, Economic Development Board to develop and add value to the sports sector and boost export-oriented sports activity by providing goods and services to meet the foreign and local demand, attracting foreign visitors for various conferences, events, sports science services, etc. Setting up a sports entrepreneurship clearinghouse can take the form of a virtual portal or a drop-in center providing a one-stop-shop solution to all the current games companies obtaining market information. Various events can be conducted for the businesses to discuss the sports-related business opportunities in Singapore.

The committee suggests that Singapore Sports Committee should capture springs and the Action Community for Entrepreneurship's knowledge and resources initiating the idea of promoting entrepreneurship and help Small and Medium Enterprises across various sectors. The sports hub (Benton, 2014) in the Marina Bay area will generate tremendous business opportunities relating to sports products and services at the top sports conference and events. The Singapore Sports Committee and Economic Development Board should talk about these developments with the sports enterprise and help them capitalize on the new opportunities (Lewis & King, 2014). The committee suggests that Singapore Sports Committee and Economic Development Board and other agencies should develop the Kallang area into a sports-centric business park anchoring top companies undertaking the range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer activities in developing new sports material, sports education service, etc. Other government agencies look towards outsourcing its sports functions to the private sector like marketing and operating sports facilities, handling sports award ceremonies and other events and promoting sports programs. This will help in creating cost efficiency and assist the private sector to build up sports related services and competencies, which later be offered overseas (Leng, 2015). The committee recommends daily television programming to feature local sports scene including national athletes, sports facilities and marquee sporting events. The critical success factor is to generate contents to attract high viewership. The use of new media technology like Internet Protocol Television is a developing technology which can deliver content to mobile phones, homes and other wireless devices. The committee suggested distribution and development of more media sports content. Videos of local school competition, marquee events can raise the interest and encourage people to attend the events and experience it personally. The committee suggests creating an online sports portal to gather sports enthusiasts, discussing their interests and knowledge. This portal should be a combination of media-rich content to give a high quality and satisfying online experience (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2016).

The Singapore Sports Council

The sport in Singapore goes through various legislative changes imposed by the government. The dispute among various stakeholders in sports like athlete selection by National Singapore Association can be resolved among the National Singapore Association members or proceed further to the civil courts resulting in an expensive process. Local sports associations are not familiar with the legal forms like professional athlete management, rights management, etc. Singapore Sports Council with agencies like the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Singapore Mediation Centre and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators has initiated Alternate Dispute Regulatory Framework in 2008. The committee recommends all the stakeholders in sports sector to adopt sports specific and comprehensive negotiation framework for games.

The board is expected to see great professionalism and speed in the resolving sports disputes. This framework can be a major factor in developing games industry in Singapore. Sports law is the application of legislation and disciplines to issues relating to sports, and the only legislation unique to games are the Singapore Sports Council started in 1973 (Pandey & Bhalla, 2013). The committee thinks raising the awareness of legal issues and implications relating to sports policy, process and programs would be useful (Manoli, 2015). A committee consisting of sports management practitioners and legal experts can be set up to study legal framework and practices governing sports, particularly in the established sports industries to educate sports fraternity and aware people about the sports issue and propose the new or revised legislation to support the sports industry (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2016).

With the government's effort to promote sports and sports excellence, the government will commit an additional S$500m to games over five years. These developments can lead to an increase in sports participation and growth in the sports industry. Countries like England and United States have seen events leading to rising in issues concerned with the sports regulation and organization. Singapore can see a similar development in the future.  The sports committee suggests that they should position Singapore to conduct international tournament and multi-sports competition so the people can experience the noise about the races regularly. This will leave a long-lasting impact at various levels. Tourism dollars can be generated from participants and spectators overseas.  This can open a way for different collaborations among local sports company, organizations and international sports companies by sharing their best practices and allow athletes to compete against the world’s best athletes in their home ground (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2016). 

Environmental Changes in the Sports Industry

A clear vision for sports is a must before starting any sports promotion programs. A strong sports culture is supported by active citizens taking part in the sports. In various countries, sport is a lifestyle for the people which are evident in the community sports scene. The government must commit to sports development by investing in this sector for a longer term. Sports bring many benefits to the participants, and the countries are exposed to multiple benefits of sports like physical and mental benefits, social benefits and economic contributions. Public and private agencies should share the responsibility of promoting and developing sports to achieve greater success. A different approach should be adopted for the sports excellence result. A focused and structured approach (Chan & Matchar, 2015) should be taken to turn the athletes into champions. To manage sports activities and events, public and private partnership can provide a winning solution to all involved in sports. An organized and networked approach is helpful to bring sports to the masses by bringing professionalism into the sports sector. It is a classic method to gain sports excellence at the highest peak (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2016).

References

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Chan, A., & Matchar, D. B. (2015). Demographic and structural determinants of successful aging in Singapore. In Successful aging (pp. 65-79). Springer Netherlands.

Club Managers' Association Singapore. (2016). Club Managers' Association Singapore. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from https://www.cmas.org.sg/

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Leng, H. K. (Ed.). (2015). Emerging Trends and Innovation in Sports Marketing and Management in Asia. IGI Global.

Lewis, C., & King, M. (2014). Designing the world's largest dome: the National Stadium roof of Singapore Sports Hub. The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering, 7(3), 127-150.

Li, C., Koh, K. T., Wang, C. K. J., & Chian, L. K. (2015). Sports participation and moral development outcomes: Examination of validity and reliability of the prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport scale. International journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 10(2-3), 505-513.

Manoli, A. E. (2015). MR Haberfeld and Dale Sheehan (Ed): Match-Fixing in International Sports: Existing Processes, Law Enforcement and Prevention Strategies. Trends in Organized Crime, 18(3), 280-283.

MCCY - Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. (2016). Mccy.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from https://www.mccy.gov.sg

Pandey, S. K., & Bhalla, I. (2013). Sports and Competition law.

Singapore Turf Club. (2016). Turfclub.com.sg. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from https://www.turfclub.com.sg/Pages/Homepage.aspx

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Winslow, M., Cheok, C., & Subramaniam, M. (2015). Gambling in Singapore: An overview of history, research, treatment and policy. Addiction, 110(9), 1383-1387.