The South East Asian Games are back! Held in Singapore from the 5th to the 16th of June 2015, the much-anticipated 28th South East Asian Games bring together the best athletes and sportspeople from 11 different countries to compete in over 400 sporting events. The multi-sport event will be held at 30 different venues across Singapore that offer a wealth of facilities and amenities for participants and visitors - including plenty of Muslim-friendly facilities. This guide takes a look at some of the facilities that will be available for Muslim participants and visitors at the South East Asian Games 2015.
The 2015 South East Asian Games in Singapore will be held at many venues across the country and will feature a mix of new, existing and temporary venues. The three main event clusters are the Kallang Cluster, Singapore Expo and the Marina Cluster, while athletes will be provided accommodation at several hotels in Downtown Singapore.
The Kallang Cluster includes the Singapore National Stadium – which is the main venue where the opening and closing ceremonies will also be held – and will host most of the sporting events of the games. Finding Muslim-friendly facilities in Kallang will be quite easy. Leisure Park Kallang in particular is an excellent recreation and shopping centre in the area that offers several Halal dining options – including fast food chains such as Burger King, excellent Italian cuisine at PastaMania and a range of Halal snacks and coffee/tea beverages at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Kallang is also home to many mosques such as the Malabar Muslim Jama-ath at 471 Victoria Street, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque at 4001 Beach Rd and the Madrasah Haji Mohd Salleh at 245 Geylang Rd.
The Singapore Expo is one of Asia's largest convention and exhibition venues and will be host to several sporting events at two halls, including boxing, sepaktakraw, judo, pencak silat, taekwondo and wushu. Singapore Expo itself offers a few excellent Halal dining options such as Burger King and fining Halal food will not be difficult. A prayer room is also available at Singapore Expo – located on the 2nd floor near Hall 6 – and can be used during prayer times. It is also possible to visit some of the mosques in the area such as the Majid Al Taqua at Simpang Bedok.
The Marina Cluster comprises the Marina Bay and the Marina Channel which will both host a number of events such as canoeing, rowing, traditional boat race and sailing – keelboat. There are quite a few Halal restaurants as well as vegetarian options in the area for Muslim participants and visitors. Texas Chicken is an excellent American fast-food chain at Gardens by the Bay and Pizza Hut is also available down Raffles Boulevard at Marina Square. Aquamarine Marina Mandarin at Marina Mandarin Hotel is another excellent dining option and is considered to be one of the top Halal restaurants in Singapore. Finding a mosque and prayer facilities will not be difficult in the area; Al Abrar Mosque at 192 Telok Ayer St, Haji Muhammad Salleh Mosque at 37 Palmer Rd and Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka at 10 Keng Chow Street are a few of the mosques in the near vicinity.
An excellent way to discover more Halal options and mosques in the area is by downloading the HalalTrip Mobile App. The app has been specifically designed to cater to the requirements of Muslim travellers and offers several functions – such as the unique Halal Food Spotter and Mosque Discovery feature – that enable Muslim participants and visitors at the games to locate Halal food and prayer facilities with ease.
With the Halal Food Spotter feature, users will be able to browse through various Halal dishes that are available closest to them, based on their current location. The Mosque Discovery feature is a useful tool for locating prayer facilities in the area and provides users a list of all nearby mosques together with prayer times and the distance to each mosque.
The HalalTrip App is available for download on both iOS and Android devices and is offered free-of-charge.
You can download the App here:
iPhone/iPad:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/halaltrip/id680194589
Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.halaltrip.app
