It has been 44 years since Myanmar last hosted the SEA Games. As preparations move into the home stretch for Southeast Asia’s biggest sporting event, some may question whether the newly emerging country is up to the challenge. A tour of the capital city and its sparkling-new competition venues suggests visitors will be pleasantly surprised on the hardware side at least.
With the opening ceremonies fast approaching on Dec 11, and some preliminary athletic competitions due to start this week, the focus now shifts to the software side: officials, organisers and volunteers. But whether or not every aspect of the organisation is flawless, the country is trying to deliver a message to its peers that it is strongly determined to welcome and accommodate all guests and be a good host.
The determination is underscored by the well-constructed international-standard stadiums and more than a year of training and preparation for supporting volunteers and others involved in the games ranging from workers to various government ministries.
Construction is already complete of all 24 venues at four sites — Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, Mandalay and Ngwe Saung Beach — to be used for 33 sporting competitions in the 27th SEA Games.
In Nay Pyi Taw, where the opening and closing ceremonies will take place, all that remains to be done is last-minute landscape beautification at the Wunna Theikdi Sport Complex, comprising an outdoor stadium, indoor stadium and aquatic facilities, and at the Zayar Thiri Football Stadium.
Some of the venues were finished months ago. At Wunna Theikdi Sport Stadium, participants in the opening and closing ceremonies have been rehearsing every day, along with stagehands, light and sound technicians. At Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium, volunteers who have signed up to assist athletes and referees during the competitions are being trained daily.
Nearly 10,000 athletes and sports officials are expected to attend the SEA Games. They are assured of accommodation at hotels or the athletes’ village, but spectators and the general public might not find it so easy to secure rooms (see Page 3).
It takes around 15 minutes by car from hotel zone 1 to the Wunna Theikdi complex with eight-lane roadway access. Hotels in zone 1 will accommodate the government’s invited guests from Southeast Asian countries.
A large number of policemen will be deployed at every gate to provide security for all athletes and spectator. Only people with permission from the Myanmar government will be allowed to pass through the gates.
The oval-shaped Wunna Theikdi Sport Stadium, with 263 metres long, 213 metres wide and 25 metres high, can accommodate 30,000 spectators. It will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, and athletics events including 400-metre and 100-metre races. The Wunna Theikdi Aquatic Stadium features one swimming pool, one diving pool and an outdoor pool for water polo practice. It can accommodate around 3,000 spectators.
Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium is in fact three buildings connected to each other. Buildings A and C have 3,000 seats each, while Building B has 5,000 seats. Sports to be held in the indoor stadium are sepak takraw, chinlone (a Myanmar traditional sport similar to sepak takraw), karatedo, wushu and badminton.
All stadium areas feature free Wi-Fi, so visitors will be able to do all the things they are used to doing at home in other Asean countries with better communication infrastructure than Myanmar — from uploading pictures to updating their status. Frontiir, the official ICT sponsor and partner of the Games, has installed Wi-Fi in all sporting venues in four cities as well as the athletes’ village.
To travel to and from the events, the government has arranged for air-conditioned express buses from major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay to Nay Pyi Taw with lower fares than normal rates. A Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw ticket normally costs 7,000 kyat (230 baht) per person. The SEA Games rate will be reduced but the final price has not yet been confirmed.
From the public bus station near the Myoma market, one of the largest markets in the capital city of 900,000 people, passengers can take cabs or motorcycles to the stadium. The taxi fare is 3,000 kyat, which is equivalent to $3 or 96 baht. However, the number of taxis and motorcycles that will be available remains a big issue.
Free shuttle buses will be available to take people around the sport complex, a sign that organisers are trying to make things as convenient as possible.
From outside Myanmar, Bangkok Airways, the first airline to serve Myanmar’s capital, will have daily flights during the SEA Games. Normally it flies to Nay Pyi Taw three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thai Air Asia will also have daily flights from Bangkok directly to Nay Pyi Taw. Malaysian and Singaporean airlines have also announced plans for daily service during the event.
Nay Pyi Taw International Airport opened in December 2011 with the capacity to handle 3.5 million passengers per year. The international-standard airport is not very busy at normal times but is expected to see its abilities tested to the limit during the Games.
For the past month, thousands of students who will be performing in the opening and closing ceremonies, along with staff and volunteers from across the country have been busy making their final preparations in Nay Pyi Taw. Every day, around 10,000 volunteer students march outside Wunna Theikdi Sport Stadium to perfect their routines.
U Htun Ohm, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Culture, said that around 8,000 students aged between 12 and 20 would stage 10 performances during the opening ceremony, and 5,000 would put on five performances in the closing ceremonies. The ministry has been preparing for the performances since November 2012. The students have been rehearsing every day since the start of November. Performers now spend seven hours a day, four in the morning and three in the afternoon, getting their routines perfect.
U Htun Ohm said the ceremonies would feature traditional performances unique to Myanmar as well as those of other Asean countries. Significantly for Myanmar, there are 840 students from various non-Burmese ethnic groups participating in the performances.
“The theme of all performances is unity, and I mean unity in a twofold way,” he said. “The first is unity among Asean countries as we are one Asean and one identity. The second is the unity among Myanmar’s ethnic groups.”
Integration within Myanmar remains a major challenge, and the government hopes to show another aspect of society beyond the reports of strife and even violence directed at some minorities in the country.
“From the performances, we would like to deliver the message to Asean that we will have unity in the country. Myanmar is the golden land and we’re ready to be part of the world community,” said U Htun Ohm.
Elsewhere in Nay Pyi Taw, some 5,000 volunteers aged between 17 and 28 have been in the athletes’ village for the past month, working on the skills they will need.
Thee Oo Thazin, who will work as an interpreter for high-ranking officials, said she had just graduated from university and had yet to get a permanent job, so she applied for the position, from which she is also earning some money during training.
“Myanmar has not hosted a big sporting event like this for 44 years,” she said. “If I don’t participate in the games, I may have to wait for many decades before my country will be the host again. I’m a new graduate and I don’t know what job I will do next. So, I didn’t hesitate to be here. It’s a very exciting moment for me.”
The training for some of the volunteers started in March 2012, and around 3,000 liaison staff have been given the needed information about the SEA Games. About 2,000 more staff, most of them high-school and university students, are now in fast-track training one month before the events begin.
“What inspired me to participate in the SEA Games is that I would like to do this for my country,” said Yee Mon Aung, a liaison staff member. “The SEA Games is our country’s pride. You can see our pride from the well-constructed stadiums. We don’t want to feel embarrassed. So, we have been trained for more than a year to welcome all of you here.”