I am an avid
local fan of Formula 1 Grand Prix. Firstly, I would like to thank
Singapore GP Pte Ltd for making 2009 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore
Grand Prix a success. Having watched F1 in Singapore for the past 2
seasons, I am certainly glad that there's improvements made this
year as compared to the previous year. More photoshooting points
are set up within the walkabout zone, which I am quite satisfied
because I am also an avid photographer. However, this year's grand
prix has also proved to be a less rewarding one especially for
those walkabout ticket holders.
The first
thing I would like to point out is on the movement that walkabout
holders are entitled to. I am not denying the fact that last year's
walkabout ticket holders were more privileged in terms of
accessibility. Indeed, this year walkabout holders are solely
limited to zone 4. And even after the race, walkabout ticket
holders are turned down by security officers when they just simply
wanted to have a peek of the garage. I do agree that while the
organisers are concerned about the ease of traffic of the crowd,
but I must also say that this is an annually event and why can't we
just have a peek of the garage and be satisfied?
Another
issue to highlight is about the selling of official programmes.
Ticket holders have paid quite a hefty price just to get a better
feel of the race, however, are rather "amazed" to their knowledge
that those magazines are sold at $20 still, even after the race
ended on Sunday. I am able to understand that while the organisers
wanted to prevent last year's incident whereby a lot of fans are
able to get away with free programme magazines after the race, but
however this year I witnessed officials who drove onto the pavement
to the official programmes booth and recalled all the remaining
stock. Another incident which I witnessed on Sunday was one tourist
who was hoping that the magazines could be bought at a discounted
price so that she could keep it as a souvenir. However, the staff
in charge of the booth insisted that the price could not be
discounted and to the dismay of the tourist, she left unsatisfied
and complained to her friends about it. In my opinion, those fans
who purchased the 3-day passes should be given the privilege of
getting the programme magazines free. The organisers may issue a
coupon for redemption of the offical programmes magazine per 3-day
passes purchased. Any additional magazines could be bought at $20
each.
This year's
event is certainly different from last year. I recalled last year
when the marshals were gladly giving away free drinks after the
race such as bottles of soft drinks and mineral water. However,
this year I witnessed the staff from the drinks booth consuming the
drinks themselves and this proved the unprofessionalism of the
staff. From these few incidents, I have actually reached a
conclusion that the staff are less flexible, and less friendly as
compared to last year. While I could remember the smiles on the
staff last year, I experienced a gloomy F1 sensation this year just
by the first impression of the staff. Comparing this year's
experience to the previous year, I could only rate a 6/10 for this
year.
I am
certainly looking forward to a better Formula 1 experience in
Singapore next year.
Ah I spotted the line inside the official guide 'Marina Square,
Esplanade Theatres and Suntec City will be open
for business as usual and are accessible to the public.'
I wonder if the bolded form is true?