MANY Asian Youth Games athletes have been billed as stars of the future. But the public, it seems, remain apathetic.

There were many empty seats at Bishan Stadium (athletics), Toa Payoh Swimming Complex (diving), National Sailing Centre and Jalan Besar Stadium (football) - the venues which saw action during the first day of competition yesterday.

There were only 500 spectators at the 5,000-seater Jalan Besar. Organisers said about 2,100 spectators were at the 3,000-seater Bishan Stadium, but the figure includes several hundred staff and officials. At the 180-capacity Toa Payoh venue, there were about 100 people in the stands.

Most of the spectators, either friends of the athletes or their parents, gave two main reasons for the poor response - highly-priced student tickets and the mid-year examinations.

Interest is also low among the foreign press even though there are 43 participating teams. Of the 400 media accredited for the AYG, only about 100 are from overseas. The biennial South-east Asia Games, with about 10 competing nations, get about 1,000 accredited media.

Tim Ng, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)'s track and field teacher-in-charge, felt that more affordable tickets would attract students.

Tickets for finals and semi-finals cost either $8 or $4 (football only), while those for preliminary rounds cost either $4 or $2 (football only). They are on sale through Sistic or at the sports venues.

Said Ng, who was at Bishan to cheer for one of his students, 1,500m runner Zachary Ryan: 'For $8, students may want to watch a movie instead.'

There are discounts for bulk buys - 10 per cent for 50 tickets, 20 per cent for 100 tickets and 50 per cent for 200 tickets. But Zachary's mother, Ratna, said lower prices in general were also important to attract families.

Spectators like Hwa Chong Institution's Tan Wee Teck suggested pricing athletics tickets at $3 instead of $8.

The 17-year-old, who was at Bishan yesterday with 24 other friends to support their schoolmate and pole vaulter Sean Lim, added: 'We're having exams now, so we may not come any more.'

Some suggested that free tickets be distributed in schools. Victoria School's M. Devanand, 14, said this was a good idea.

Of the nine sports, only tickets to diving (150 daily) and bowling (200 daily over six days at Orchid Country Club) have sold out so far.

For housewife Brenda D'Cruz, however, ticket prices were no deterrent. She turned up at Toa Payoh Complex to watch diving even though there were no Singaporeans involved. She brought along her three sons - Christopher, 12, Tristan, 10, and Jared, 6.

'I wanted to expose them to life and sports,' she said.

Additional reporting by Christopher Ong, Lin Xinyi and Cassandra Lim