SINGAPORE - Community initiatives in the build-up to the 2015 Asean Para Games (APG) have reached out to over 200,000 Singaporeans, and more such events will be held to drum up support ahead of the Dec 3-9 showpiece.

With free admission to all 15 sports, Parliamentary Secretary (Culture, Community and Youth) Baey Yam Keng hopes to see packed stands and cheering crowds during the biennial Games.

He said: "Our athletes with disabilities deserve our support. They are training hard, sacrificing their time to do Singapore proud, and from the response we are seeing, the public recognise that and are going to back them. It's an exciting time for para sports in Singapore."

Mr Baey was speaking on the sidelines of the APG Unified Powerlifting Challenge at Marina Square on Saturday.

National powerlifters Kalai Vanen and Melvyn Yeo - who are Singapore's first APG representatives in the sport - skippered their respective teams in a friendly competition that drew many interested bystanders.

Kalai, 56, who lost his left leg to cancer, said: "It's so nice to see people coming up to us to wish us good luck and say they will be there to support us. Small things like this mean so much to para-athletes, and we hope the support stays strong even after APG."