The Ground Shifts – Literally
Then the land began to disappear.
Singapore’ s relationship with land is unlike anywhere else in the world. In a country of 744 square kilometers( 287 square miles – slightly smaller than New York City), every plot has a plan, and that plan can change. The outdoor paintball venues that had become essential infrastructure for the competitive scene were not immune to this reality.
The loss of the Turf City site at the end of 2023 was the most significant blow. Red Dynasty’ s Bukit Timah location- the venue that had hosted the SPS for 10 years, with fields large enough to run proper speedball competition formats- was reclaimed by the government when the Singapore Land Authority ended all leases on the site. For readers outside Singapore, Turf City was a 140-hectare former racecourse that had been repurposed for recreational and lifestyle use since 1999. Under Singapore’ s Urban Redevelopment Authority Draft Master Plan 2025, the entire site is now slated for transformation into a new residential estate of 15,000 to 20,000 homes- including the first public HDB( Housing Development Board) flats to be built in the prestigious Bukit Timah district in nearly
40 years. Think of HDB flats as Singapore’ s highly subsidized government housing, which roughly 80 percent of the population lives in- they are the backbone of Singapore’ s social contract, delivering the tangible quality-of-life improvements that the Asian Boss video describes as the government’ s side of the bargain with its citizens. The Turf City project will unfold over 20 to 30 years, with a new MRT station planned and 22 heritage buildings from the racecourse era to be conserved. It is, by any measure, a significant piece of national urban planning- and for competitive paintball, the end of an era.
Knowing it was coming did not soften the impact on a scene that had few alternatives.
Where Things Stand
Today, Red Dynasty operates from Orchid Country Club in Yishun. The current site serves its recreational and corporate clientele well but it does not have the footprint to host a speedball competition. Building a competition layout requires more space than the current site can accommodate. Organizing a full tournament with the infrastructure that competitive players expect is, at present, not feasible.
Players and family members at a fun friendly product throwout at the end of SPS at The Promontory at Marina Bay Sands
024 paintball. media magazine