Singapore Confident Southeast Asian Games Will Come In On Budget

Singapore, "still stung by the vast overspend" of hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics in '10, is confident that next month's Southeast Asian Games "will come in on budget after a boost in sponsorship," according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. Toh Boon Yi, part of the local organizing committee for the June 5-16 biennial Games, said on Thursday that costs would stay within S$324.5M ($245.52M) after initial sponsorship targets of S$50M ($37M) had been exceeded. After another partner came on board to boost sponsor income past S$70M ($53M), Toh said, "Thankfully, we're now in a slightly more comfortable position because of the sponsorship amount we've raised" (REUTERS, 5/15).