SINGAPORE: Chinese automaker BYD was on Tuesday (Mar 17) introduced as the title sponsor of the Singapore International Marathon.

The event will be held from Dec 4 to Dec 6. The 5km and 10km races will take place on Dec 4 night, followed by the half-marathon on Dec 5 morning and the marathon on Dec 6 morning. Running events for children will be held on the morning of Dec 4.

Registrations begin in April.

This marks the first change in title sponsor since 2004. For the past 22 years, the marathon has been sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank.

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“The national marathon is a prestigious event, and we are proud to power its next era and to support an event that brings communities together through shared purpose and perseverance,” said Mr James Ng, managing director of BYD Singapore.

Adidas has been unveiled as the presenting sponsor, with the full name of the event now the BYD Singapore International Marathon presented by adidas.

Standard Chartered will continue its involvement as the event’s official bank.

Three race categories will carry sponsor names this year: the BYD Marathon, adidas Half Marathon and Standard Chartered 10km.

A cap of 52,000 participants will be introduced across all race categories, as part of efforts to enhance the overall runner experience, the organisers said.

This will be a dip from the 2025 event, which drew 55,000 runners. 

The move comes after complaints of crowd congestion at the finish line and along the route during the event held last December.

The announcement was made at a press conference at The Kallang by new event organisers SG International Marathon Private Limited (SGIMPL).

The organisers were unveiled in December after being selected through an open grant call by Sport Singapore (SportSG).

They take over from Ironman Asia, which had organised Singapore’s only marathon over the past decade.

“Alongside a growing roster of commercial partners, SGIMPL will focus on delivering a race with runner welfare and experience at its core, making this a national event runners look forward to each year,” the organisers said in a statement on Tuesday.

Event director Shalindran Sathiyanesan said the organising team comprises avid runners who have consistently taken part in and observed running events from around the world.

“Our love for running shapes our approach and frames our vision of what we would like to achieve and deliver for Singapore’s largest annual running event,” he said.

He added that the decision to cap participant numbers “reinforces our focus on creating an enjoyable race experience”.

“We are planning the race with the aim to deliver a meaningful and rewarding event for participants while continuing to uphold its status as Singapore’s only national marathon,” he said.

SportSG’s deputy chief executive officer of development Daryl Yeo said that with the new partnerships, Singapore’s national marathon is “poised to meet the evolving demands of the running community”.

“Our commitment remains clear: to expand the event’s global footprint and attract an elite field of professional and leisure runners to our shores,” he said.

The BYD Marathon will retain its World Athletics Gold Label status – the only race in Southeast Asia to hold the distinction.

All other race categories will be course-measured and certified by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.

SportSG, the Singapore Tourism Board and the Singapore Athletic Association will remain event partners.

SINGAPORE: A taxi driver who accepted a job on ride-hailing application Tada asked an 18-year-old passenger to sit in front with him and molested her while they were on an expressway.

Leong Wing Fatt, a 63-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 10 days' jail on Tuesday (Mar 17) after pleading guilty to one count of molestation.

The court heard that the victim booked a Tada ride on Dec 1, 2024 and boarded Leong's vehicle.

Initially, she sat in the back seat. Leong and the victim started talking and Leong suggested that the girl move to the front passenger seat. He claimed that he had to turn his head each time he wished to speak to the victim.

The girl agreed, and Leong pulled over for her to shift to the front.

During the ride, the girl video-called her friend unbeknownst to Leong.

At about 10.40am, Leong held the victim's hand and placed his hand on her upper thigh.

The victim did not consent to this and felt outraged. Leong's actions were captured on the video call by her friend.

Leong was later arrested and charged.

District Judge Paul Quan said this case involved a gross intrusion of privacy. He added that all passengers travelling on public transport are entitled to expect at all times that they can do so in complete safety, without being taken advantage of by public transport workers.

For molestation, Leong could have been jailed for up to two years and fined. He cannot be caned as he is over 50.

SINGAPORE: A recent radio programme by Australia’s national broadcaster made several “baseless claims” about Singapore’s political system, Singapore’s High Commissioner to Australia Anir Nayar said on Tuesday (Mar 17).

Mr Nayar noted in his response that the programme’s host and several of his commentators called Singapore a “one-party state”, an “autocracy” and “verging now on a flawed democracy”.

“They portrayed Singapore’s Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) – introduced to guarantee minority representation in parliament – as a 'tactic', among other 'roadblocks', designed to obstruct the opposition,” Mr Nayar said. 

The ABC Radio National's Rear Vision episode titled Singapore and the long shadow of Lee Kuan Yew was broadcast on Mar 7.

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It was hosted by Rear Vision presenter and journalist Antony Funnell and featured the following guests – Assistant Professor of politics and public administration at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Dr Stephan Ortmann; Associate Professor of international relations at Flinders University, Dr Michael Barr; Senior Research Fellow in the governance and economy department of the National University of Singapore, Dr Gillian Koh and Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, Joshua Kurlantzick.

In its introduction, the episode notes that Singapore has never had a change of government in its 61 years of existence, also drawing attention to what it described as the Leader of the Opposition being “deposed”.

Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh’s tenure in that position was said to have come and gone at the “whim” of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), with the programme stating that critics have referred to Singapore as a “one-party” state.

In its explanation on Singapore’s GRC system, Mr Funnell said the system has traditionally benefitted the PAP. Freedom House, an organisation that monitors political rights and civil liberties, is also quoted as saying that the electoral and legal framework constructed by the PAP allows for “some political pluralism” but “constrains the growth of opposition parties and limits freedom of expression, assembly and association”.

Mr Nayar pointed out gaps in the claims made by the episode.  

“From listening to your programme, your audience would not have known that Singapore, alone among Southeast Asian nations, has never declared a state of emergency or suffered martial rule, and never once failed to hold regular elections, throughout its history as an independent nation,” he said.

“Nor would they have heard that almost every constituency was contested in last year’s general election, which saw the largest number of candidates from multiple parties and independents in our history.”

He also said the Workers’ Party was returned as the sole opposition party in parliament, with increased representation, following the last General Election, adding that the WP fared better in the GRCs it contested – winning two of them – than in the Single Member Constituencies.

“Hardly evidence that GRCs are insurmountable ‘roadblocks’,” he said. 

Regarding the removal of Mr Singh as Leader of the Opposition, Mr Nayar said Mr Funnell failed to mention a key fact about the matter - that this followed his criminal conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee.

“Members of Parliament in other Westminster-based parliamentary democracies, including Australia, have been forced to resign if they have been found to have misled parliament,” he said.

Mr Nayar also highlighted that one commentator cast doubt on the impartiality of Singapore’s judiciary in political cases.

Mr Kurlantzick is heard expressing his perspective on Singapore’s judiciary in a section of the programme titled Succession and Institutions.

He claims that when it comes to matters related to politics and specifically those involving the PAP, decisions are not as well-considered compared with those involving business matters, and he would not consider them to be impartial.

Mr Nayar called this a serious allegation, but one made with no evidence.

“Singapore’s courts are widely respected internationally for their integrity, professionalism, and independence, and are routinely chosen by parties from around the world - including Commonwealth countries - to resolve complex international disputes. The claim that these same courts are impartial in non-political matters but compromised in political cases beggars belief,” he said.

Mr Nayar also said he was unsurprised that the commentators chosen for the programme were critical of Singapore’s system.

“Some have expressed similar views for decades, and made repeated predictions of Singapore’s political collapse. Time and again, Singapore has confounded these predictions, even as our political system and electorate have continued to evolve.

“What is surprising is that the ABC, a reputable national broadcaster, aired a programme that presented such a one-sided account and fell short of the standards of journalistic rigour that your listeners would expect.”