6 30 August 2009 THE NEW PAPER ON SUNDAY

News

$8m skate park opens in East Coast

It’s world class, says X-Gamer

REPORT & PICTURES: ZAIHAN MOHAMED YUSOF
zaihan@sph.com.sg

T
HE “ooohs” and “aaahs” echoed loudly at a
brand new skate-park in East Coast Park yester-
day.
The 1,000-strong crowd, with their necks craned
skywards, were treated to a dizzying show of aerial
acrobatics by professional extreme games athletes at
the inaugural Singapore Extreme Championship 2009.
The competitors came from various disciplines like
Skateboarding, Aggressive in-line Skating and BMX
Freestyling.
Earlier, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong “planted” a
skateboard into a “launch” mechanism to officially
open the $8 million Xtreme Skatepark @ East Coast,
near Bedok jetty.
PM Lee wasn’t the only person “planting” yesterday.
At the Combo Bowl – one of the three sections at the
skate park – famous X-Games in-line skater Takeshi
Yasutoko performed hand plants as well.
The trick involved him staying temporarily inverted
with only one hand supporting his body at the lip of the
ramp.
Known as the Japanese Bullet, Takeshi executed
more stunts, launching himself as high as 2m into the
air in a series of back flips and somersaults.
Said Takeshi, 23, who is in Singapore for the first
time: “This is a cool skate park because the concrete
surface is smooth.”

S’poreans lucky
X-Games BMX rider Tim Wood said Singaporeans
were fortunate.
Said the 34-year-old Australian: “Singaporeans are
lucky to have the facilities to learn how to be better
skaters and riders. When I was growing up, I had to
build my own ramp. And I had no one mentoring me.”
Wood’s largest ramp, which he had built in his back-
yard, cost more than $60,000.
He added: “What you have here is world-class.”
The skate park, built on 1.4ha of land, is about the
size of 21/2 football fields.
It has three courses with unique features like bank
walls, ledges and ramps of differing heights.
The skate park, a joint project by National Parks
Board, the National Youth Council and the Ministry of
Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS),
only became a reality because of what young Singapore-
ans said they wanted in 2004.

Dream big
Said Minister for Community Development, Youth
and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: “I hope it would
inspire young people. In Singapore, you can dream big
dreams.”
The skatepark also represented a “transformation of
attitudes”.
He added: “We used to be very risk-averse. If any-
thing goes wrong, we will look for someone to blame...
In life, you choose the level of risk you are happy with
and pursue your dreams.”
Taking risks to the extreme were 80 participants
from the region.
The competitors perfected their stunts during yester-
day morning’s practice session.
It was a combination of gravity-defying tricks blend-
ed with some spectacular spills.
One of them told The New Paper on Sunday that he
liked what he saw at the skate park.
UP, UP AND AWAY: (Above) The crowd gasps as aggressive in-line skater Takeshi Yasutoko launches himself more than
2m in the air. (Below) PM Lee Hsien Loong (centre) launches the skate park with Mr Mah Bow Tan and Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
Said Mr Mohd Zamri, team manager of the 11-man
Malaysian contingent: “The park is perfect with its com-
bination of a street course and challenging
ramps/bowls.
“In Malaysia, a skate park is usually designed as a
street course, not a combination of different courses.”
Closer to the sidelines, the future of extreme games
athletes may have already got the bug.
Boys like Samuel, 7, were spotted getting “air-time”
on their skate-scooters and skateboards.
After managing to get the wheels of his skate-scooter
2cm off the ground, Samuel, an American, said: “I don’t
know what you call this trick. I just made it up a few
minutes ago.”
The finals will be held today.
Entry is free.