I was there to visit the stadium’s gym, I heard it was cheap and good, $2.50 per entry. I had given up signing for gym membership, as I always ended up donating my membership fees after the third month.

I had heard a lot about the stadium, read it on paper, seen it on TV, and I never missed Singapore National Parade each year, live on TV. Yet, it felt different when you are actually standing there, in the stadium.

I was at the main gate, instead going into the gym, I decided to walk towards the running tracks, attracted mainly by the lush green fields, whose grass never seem to ever grow an inch longer. I felt like running to the middle of the field and start rolling like a lazy cat after a good meal, but I thought it might not be a good idea.

I looked at the running tracks, warmed by a late afternoon sun, the stadium was pretty much empty, a few joggers were running slowly on the track, they probably were running fast, but the tracks were so long, they appeared to be slow.

I looked up at the empty seats, gazing slowly from one end towards the other end, I felt so insignificant, I was so small, the stadium was so spacious, I felt like an ant in a big bowl.

I looked at the walls, the beams, the seats – the stadium must have been quite old, I guessed – they appeared to be washed out and parched by years of rains and direct sunlight.

I found out today, it was built in 1973. At 34 years of age, its structures still appeared strong as if saying give me another one-hundred years, and I can still host another hundred national parades.

Sadly yesterday, he bid goodbye to all of us, giving way to the new stadium.

Photo: About two months ago, photographer.sg organised a photo trip to Singapore National Stadium, out of so many shots I took, I think I finally managed to capture the soul of the stadium through this shot, strangely, he looks like the image I have of him when I first met him four years ago.

In memory of Singapore National Stadium.