A new five-storey, 21,000 sq m clubhouse for Home Team national servicemen and the public officially opened yesterday.
HomeTeamNS Khatib features an indoor adventure hub with slides, obstacle courses and climbing facilities, a Peranakan-themed indoor playground, and an indoor airsoft arena for player-versus-player competitive team shooting games.
Dubbed Singapore's first "smart" clubhouse, it counts self-help kiosks, real-time visitor tracking and the use of a mobile app as some of the ways it is digitalising its operations.
The app lets members book facilities remotely and to check the capacity of facilities in real time, and provides contactless access via QR code scanning, said HomeTeamNS, which operates clubhouses for national servicemen and their families and has more than 200,000 members.
The app is used by members in place of physical membership cards, helping to reduce administrative workload.
HomeTeamNS chief executive Agnes Eu said digitalisation will help enhance the HomeTeamNS experience for NSmen. "Through back-end integration, we are able to analyse the data gathered to better understand their preferences and thereafter improve the way we engage them," she said.
Attending the opening event yesterday, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam, who is chairman of the HomeTeamNS board of governors, said HomeTeamNS Khatib is the first of the modern, new-look Home Team clubhouses. "We wanted the best in design, facilities and technology. We appreciate our national servicemen who have given a lot to ensure the safety and security of Singapore," he said.
As part of initiatives to build a stronger NS community, Mr Shanmugam said NSmen will be able to use HomeTeamNS gyms for their NS Fitness Improvement Training (FIT) from next month. A mobile app is also being piloted to streamline registration, attendance taking and performance tracking for fitness training sessions, he added.
Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, president of HomeTeamNS, said there has been a marked increase in membership sign-ups and renewals among members living in the north, from October last year to last month. This is compared with the same period from 2019 to 2020.
"The opening of Khatib clubhouse has been very well received by our members, scoring well above the industry norm in customer satisfaction," he added.
About 500,000 visitors have been to HomeTeamNS Khatib since August last year as Covid-19 safety measures were gradually relaxed. The clubhouse is home to Adventure HQ, an indoor hub complete with a roll glider, rock climbing walls, sensory adventure trails and rope courses.
Energy-efficient features include charging stations for electric cars and smart lighting controls.
It also has the first eMart located outside of the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force premises, where servicemen can purchase personal equipment and other items. There is a range of food and beverage outlets and recreational facilities, including a 1,500 sq m gym.
The Khatib clubhouse is the fifth HomeTeamNS clubhouse to open in Singapore. There are four others, located in Balestier, Bukit Batok, Chinatown and Tampines.
Another clubhouse at Bedok Reservoir Park is slated to open at end-2022, while the HomeTeamNS Tengah clubhouse will be completed between 2030 and 2035, and will replace the current Bukit Batok clubhouse.
