University of Cebu-Main Campus

College of Hospitality Management

PRACTICUM with Conferences and Seminars

Case #2
SINGAPORE LATEST TO RAISE ISSUE ON SEA GAMES FOOD, LOGISTICS
Rationale of the Case:

MANILA, Philippines — Trouble continues to pile up for the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing
Committee (Phisgoc) less than a week before the formal opening of the 30th SEA Games.

Singapore emerged as the latest country to voice out its concerns over the Philippines’ shortcomings as
host of the regional multi-sport event.

In a letter dated Nov. 24 and addressed to Ramon Suzara, Chief Operating Officer of Phisgoc, Singapore
Chef De Mission Juliana Seow said Singapore’s delegation at the SEA Games has been dealing with
numerous issues ranging from accreditation to insufficient halal food for its athletes and transportation.

“We urgently seek your urgent and immediate attention to address the situations we are facing. We had
tried our best to be patient and understanding. As much as we had tried to resolve the situations ourselves
as well as with our sports and you, these situations cannot continue any further as our athletes are badly
affected and are not able to prepare for the games effectively,” Seow wrote.

According to the letter, a story of which was published by The Straits Times, Singapore’s football team
staying at Century Park Hotel was not given “sufficient halal food and had very limited food options” while
some of its officials “had to starve.” Singapore’s netball team at Somerset Alabang, which competes on
Monday, and its floorball team at Luxent Hotel, had to order food outside the hotel just to have a full
meal. “They had to order outside food to complete their meal and as you may already know, nutrition is
a very important part of the preparation and our athletes are starving.”

Food is just part of the list of problems the Singaporean contingent is facing, according to the letter. Also
adding to the team’s woes are accreditation and transportation issues.

“The Accreditation Centre at the airports were also not ready. We had to send our staff in our own vehicles
to Football, Floorball and Netball hotels and bring their accreditation to World Trade Centre to validate
and bring them back to the teams yesterday,” Seow said.

“Netball competition starts today. We cannot accept this level of service and we have not gotten our
vehicles in Manila. We had really tried to do this by ourselves and as more teams come, we really cannot
be doing everything by ourselves.”

Seow also urged a swift call to action by Phisgoc as Singapore gears up for its campaign. “We request for
your urgent and immediate attention to these matters. While we try our best to be patient and
understanding, we cannot make any compromise when our athletes are affected directly. We implore you
to address these situations now and we look forward to seeing positive action from your side.”

In a message to INQUIRER.net on Monday, Suzara said Phisgoc will tackle the matter during a Chef de
Mission meeting at 4 p.m. On Saturday, national football teams of Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and
Timor Leste also encountered mishaps upon their arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

https://sports.inquirer.net/374678/singapore-raises-food-logistics-issues-with-sea-games-
organizer
Case Study Report Outline:
1. Description of the Status of the Case
a. Describe the current situation of the case
- The situation of this case is that the team of the Singapore has been starving because
of the incompetent of the staff, they do not prepare for a sufficient halal foods and had
a very limited food options. The Singapore football team had to order outside foods
because they have to complete their meal and as we know the nutrition that the food
give is very important. Other team also suffer with the same problem and the
transportation is also not ready to accommodate the athletes they have to use their
own vehicles to have a transportation.
b. Describe the performance standards and measures (if any)
- As the problem arises the committee of the event had their meeting tackling the issue
and how they can solve the complaints of each team. They provide the proper meal for
each team, the accommodation, and also the transportation. They also ask the Filipino
media to focus on the positive stories on the event
2. Assessment/Analysis of the Case
a. Describe the operational strength of the case
- The head of the committee arrange a meeting to discuss the issues, complain and the
request of each teams. They response to the issues and request as soon as they finish
the meeting.
b. Describe the issues/problems/concerns within the case
- As the sea games is about to start the Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, and Timor Leste
team are having problems when they arrive in the Philippines. Lack of transportation to the
teams some buses are not insufficient for the players they are cramped and uncomfortable,
the players has been fetched two and half hours later than the schedule. The lack of halal
foods and limited food options are also one of the problem in this issue. The team have to
order outside to complete their meals in a day as we know foods gives nutrition’s to the
body and it is very important to the athletes to eat a proper meal. Lastly is the
accommodation of the athletes, the athletes have to sleep on the floor as they arrive to the
hotel
3. Alternatives for improvement
a. Present alternatives to address the identified issues/problems/concerns
- The committee should prepare and study the needs and practices of each athletes, so
that they can provide the proper needs of each team. Having a problem with the
construction of the facilities that can affect the game of the athlete and also having a
financial problem that is not capable to accommodate the athletes
b. Assess the alternatives to determine the viable solutions
- The committee should consider searching for the cause of each problem. If the
problem is in financial they should look for a place that can accommodate the needs of each
athlete’s base on their financial.
4. Recommended solutions/improvement
- Since the problem of this case is about the food, accommodation, transportation.
The committee should be attentive to the different culture practices about their
foods. Accommodation of each athletes should be prepared ahead of time before
they arrive at the hotel so that they can be at their room when they arrive at the
hotel. For the transportation the driver should know that heavy traffic is their
problem when they going to fetch the athletes in the airport, they should leave
early so that the athletes don’t have to wait.

5. References:
It is recommended that you source business journals, textual references as well as any
online sources to support your answers on number 5. Make sure to include it with facts and
figures. Please try to use your own words and ideas based on research rather than copy and
paste other’s words from the internet. You should use the APA format style for the citations
in this section.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COCZV8q43tc

https://sports.inquirer.net/375008/phisgoc-sea-games-issues-resolved

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2019_Southeast_As
ian_Games#:~:text=There%20were%20reports%20in%20March,billion%20from%20%E2
%82%B17.5%20billion.