Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu has urged members of the sporting community to be creative and diversify their skill sets in order to survive the chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a live Facebook session that lasted nearly 90 minutes last night, she highlighted the support measures by Sport Singapore (SportSG) for those in the sports sector whose livelihoods have been affected by Covid-19 as she heard their concerns.

The circuit breaker measures designed to halt the spread of the virus has resulted in the closure of sports facilities, the cessation of all organised sporting activity, the cancellation of sports events both big and small and resulted in not just the loss of income for many but also the loss of jobs.

Last week, SportSG launched a national call for the sports industry to create innovative home-based activities and programmes for Singaporeans to stay active and united.

The Active Enabler Programme will have a total grant budget of $2 million, with the submission portal open till 11.59pm on May 8.

This follows last month's unveiling of 500 temporary jobs and training opportunities to help those from the local sports community whose incomes have taken a hit.

"Diversification is something we have to think about," said Ms Fu. "With the current situation, because things are quiet, it's really a good time for reflection and maybe we should all think about how we can make ourselves a lot more robust and how do we broaden our skill set so we're not relying on just a single set of skills."

She also urged them to start planning, during this lull period, for how their businesses will resume when the circuit breaker measures are relaxed. This is so they will be better placed to hit the ground running when that happens.

As an example to encourage them to think ahead, she asked them to envision what would happen if "we're able to go 5-10 pax per group kind of arrangement, what will that be, what kind of classes would I hold, where would I hold, what kind of timing. If I move on to 20, in the next step, what would that be, and so on".

Assuring her audience that "we know the troubles and challenges you're facing", she noted that "businesses will get job supplement support, which is wage support". Those who have premises with government agencies will receive some rental waivers too.

She also advised those struggling to consider loans and when cash flow is tight, to see if mortgage instalments can be deferred, as well as appealing on certain other official matters like income tax.

Those who participated in the Facebook Live session took the message to heart, though there was still confusion for some members of the sports and fitness community.

Personal trainer Benny Lam, who has been forced to transition from face-to-face to virtual sessions, told The Sunday Times: "I'm a freelance trainer and a one-man show, so I didn't feel the urgency to upgrade myself because everything was there.

"Now I can't do it any more, I'm forced to adjust. Because of that, I'm working on all the other things I'd been procrastinating on like social media marketing, creating posters."

Alex Salihin, the founder and head coach of Level gym, added: "When (Ms Fu) mentioned SEP (Sports Education Programme) and NTUC, that would be applicable for some of my guys... it is a lot of information and a lot of different sites to look at, but I feel fortunate to have access (to) the framework done by these guys. I've copied and pasted these links to my coaches."

Former national swimmer Tao Li, who owns a swim school, was grateful that there was support offered, but was unsure about the criteria for those eligible.

The two-time Olympian, who employs three full-time and seven part-time coaches, added: "I'm a business owner, but I'm concerned for my coaches - they can upgrade their skills but would it be relevant to what we want to teach them as swimming coaches?

"What's important to us as sports people is whether we are eligible and how we can apply for this support."

Rajesh Mulani is co-owner of The Cage and his three indoor football premises were closed a month before the circuit breaker. He acknowledged the importance of "getting digital, getting creative" but said: "I'm not sure how that translates to us at The Cage because we're not an academy or instructors, we're a venue and we host people... but the reality is what it is and sport will take some time to recover."

Tao, 30, stressed: "Having support from the Government is better than having none and there's no way our losses can be covered completely. The most important thing now is for us to cooperate and stay home as much as possible, so that we can resume operations and our businesses can slowly recover."