The speedy rise of pickleball in Singapore has reached Parliament, with Jamus Lim proposing an unconventional answer to the nation’s rising scarcity of courts.
Talking in Parliament on 5 March 2026, the Staff’ Occasion MP for Sengkang prompt changing the “chronically underutilised” second flooring of Housing & Improvement Board multi-storey automotive parks into pickleball courts.
Singapore Has a Rising Pickleball Neighborhood
Lim famous that Singapore already has no less than 5,000 severe gamers, together with many informal members, and the game’s reputation continues to climb. Whereas pickleball gives clear social and well being advantages, he acknowledged that the restricted variety of courts—and protracted complaints about noise—have turn out to be main issues.
His proposal goals to deal with each points. The second ranges of multi-storey automotive parks, he stated, are sometimes spacious but underused. By putting in sound-dampening curtains, the noise generated by pickleball play may be mitigated.
Lim identified that related diversifications of public infrastructure have already taken place. Some indoor badminton courts in group golf equipment, for instance, now characteristic pickleball traces to permit twin use. As well as, elements of the Little India Bus Terminal are being retrofitted to accommodate eight pickleball courts.
He additionally addressed potential issues resembling security and top clearance, saying these challenges might be managed.
Lim added that the Housing & Improvement Board had beforehand signalled openness to various makes use of for multi-storey automotive parks. In a 2021 parliamentary reply, then-Minister for Nationwide Improvement Desmond Lee stated the company was open to changing such areas for communal services.
Opposition Is Loud
Public response to the proposal has been blended. Some residents welcomed the thought, noting that many automotive parks are solely partially crammed and that changing unused ranges might scale back the necessity to construct new services.
Others, nevertheless, raised issues about amplified noise or questioned whether or not the problem warranted parliamentary debate.
Nonetheless, supporters argue the proposal displays the calls for of youthful communities in estates like Sengkang, the place pickleball participation continues to develop quickly.
