SEA Games 2015: Your guide to the Games

SINGAPORE - The 28th SEA Games will be held here from June 5-16, and Singapore will be welcoming more than 7,000 athletes and officials across 36 sports for the region's biggest multi-sport event in the Republic's Golden Jubilee year.

The last time Singapore hosted the biennial Games was more than 20 years ago in 1993.

Here's what you need to know about the SEA Games 2015:

Can I still get tickets?

Ticket sales for the upcoming SEA Games in June have been better than expected, with some popular events such as the opening ceremony and water polo finals likely sold out. Swimming events have also proven popular.

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Where the cauldron will be located

The SEA Games cauldron will be located at the Waterfront Plaza at the Singapore Sports Hub, allowing members of the public to get up close and personal with the 19.2m-tall structure. Designed by DP Architects and made locally, the sculptural art piece takes its inspiration from the helix structure of DNA cells.

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What dishes will be served to athletes

All athletes competing in next month's SEA Games in Singapore will be treated to local fare like chicken rice and mee soto but they will be served 'high-performance' versions of these dishes.

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What to look out for ahead of the Games

The Singapore Sports Hub will host free sporting events such as the South-east Asian Basketball Championship, venue tours and meet-and-greets with Singapore's top sportsmen and women.

Through fun challenges known as the Experience Sports Super 10s, the public can also have a go at the 10 sports to be hosted at the Hub during the June 5-16 Games.

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Where to catch the events

There will be three main clusters for competition venues - the Singapore Sports Hub, the Marina Bay area and the Singapore Expo.

Other venues include Bishan Sports Hall, Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Orchid Country Club and Sentosa Golf Club.

Free admission will be offered to half of the 36 sports at this year's SEA Games, including athletics, archery, softball, tennis, squash, rowing, canoe/kayak, sailing, traditional boat race, water skiing, cycling, golf, triathlon, bowling, shooting, petanque, hockey and floorball.

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Who the athletes are

Some of the Republic's top stars will be in action, including Asian Games gold medallist Joseph Schooling (swimming) and three-time Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei (table tennis). Local fans will also be treated to some of the region's best sporting talents, including Thailand's 2013 world champion shuttler Ratchanok Intanon, Malaysian's first diving Olympic medallist Pandelela Rinong and Indonesian track and field starlet Maria Natalia Londa, who won a long jump gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Team Singapore will be represented in all 36 sports, and this will be the largest ever Singaporean contingent at the Games.

The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) Games Appeals Committee has recently approved the selection of 44 additional athletes. The athletes, headlined by swimmer Nur Marina Chan and the men's volleyball team, will join the 941-strong contingent who have already been selected to represent Singapore at the biennial showpiece.

Read more here and here.

How much it will cost

The SEA Games held here from June 5-16 will run on a budget of $324.5 million. The scale of the June 5-16 competition will surpass that of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) staged in Singapore in 2010. The YOG cost $387 million then.

Recent major sporting events in the region like the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon was reported to have cost South Korea around US$2 billion (now S$2.68 billion) while the previous edition of the SEA Games in Myanmar in 2013 was pegged at around US$400 million.

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Where to get SEA Games stuff

From limited-edition collectible pins to gel bracelets and tote bags - Singaporeans and tourists have been snapping them up as mementos of SEA Games 2015 from the merchandise store outside Takashimaya. You can also get merchandise from official website shop.seagames2015.com.

Closer to the June 5-16 Games, items will be made available through NTUC Fairprice, Cheers and all Times bookstores. Memorabilia will also be sold at selected competition venues during the competition period.

Read more here.

Watch the SEA Games videos

Team Singapore released music video "Unbreakable" on April 9. The song is a feature track of the 28th SEA Games' "Song of the Games" album.

The music video shows Team Singapore athletes, from 5 different sports, in their pre-games routines where they deal with nerves, psych themselves up and remind themselves of all that they've been training for.

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Singapore football legend Fandi Ahmad stars in another video filmed specially to promote the SEA Games in Singapore.

"Ordinary" tells the story of Fandi's rise from Kaki Bukit kampong boy to one of Asia's most talented footballers and among a handful to earn a European contract in the 1980s.

Watch the video here.

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