Singapore finally gets to watch World Cup 2010, but at what price?

The news is out that our local pay-TV providers, Singtel and Starhub, have finally secured the broadcast rights to the World Cup. Much hand-wringing has happened over this when, for months, Singapore football fans did not know if we could see the 2010 World Cup while our Malaysian counterparts could.

Losing out to our northern neighbors can be a massive loss of face, and already we were wilting under the taunts of "Eh, bro! Come to my house in JB lah! We got World Cup!"

But once the euphoria of hearing that we got the rights to FIFA's biggest event wore off (I estimate about 12.3 seconds), Singapore fans reacted to the asking price of watching all 64 matches on pay-TV: a whopping S$70.62 (US$46) for early birds, and S$94.16 (US$63) for late birds, on top of the base charges if you were not already subscribing to pay-tv.

"Eh, bro! Come to my house in JB lah! We got FREE World Cup!" was the new refrain from our friends in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Heads we lose, tails we also lose.

Why must Singapore pay?

Incensed at having to pay so much to watch the World Cup, when so many countries will have it on free-to-air, some Singaporeans have called for a boycott of both companies' packages, on Facebook.

As I write this, there are more than 8,000 fans of the Mass Boycott Starhub/Singtel Overpriced World Cup Package Facebook page. I have never seen this kind of activism from Singaporeans. We are a passive and obedient lot when it comes to things like politics and freedom. But football is life. No, I am sorry, football is MORE than life.

I am not sure how the government feels about all this. On the one hand, I am sure the ruling party is now relieved that the football-loving demographic of the voting population is no longer angry at not getting to watch the World Cup. You don't want a World-Cup-starved electorate going to the polls and taking it out on you, after all. This is rumored to be an election year, you see.

But I wonder if the government now has to deal with the football-loving demographic of the voting population angry at having to PAY so much to watch the World Cup.

If I were the government, I'd look into some incentives to sweeten the ground. We've received recession stimulus packages and all kinds of monetary "ang pows" (red packets) in previous elections before. Why not a World Cup stimulus package?

I can imagine an announcement like: "In view of the rising costs of such a basic necessity, i.e. watching the World Cup, the ruling party is pleased to announce the World Cup Citizen Subsidy! This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it is an election year, of course."

I feel that it will go a long way in cooling things down, and may even win some brownie points. But knowing this government, I doubt they'd do it. They are probably expecting our undying gratitude for the chance to pay to watch our matches.

Making other plans for World Cup 2010

Many friends I know are already making alternative plans to watch the matches either online, at the coffee shops, or in Malaysia.

I quite like the idea of nursing a beer at a kopitiam (what we call our coffee shops), and watching matches with random strangers. The kopitiams all have their big screen televisions already installed (for the sake of their English Premier League customers) and there is ready access to cheap food and drink there. What's not to like? Even the beer-selling ladies are no longer old aunties in tight clothes but imported young lasses from China. Not that I would go there for the lasses, of course (really, dear wife, I only go for the beer and the camaraderie of like-minded sports fans).

If our MPs know what's good for their political careers, they should swing by the kopitiam and buy us all a round or two as well. We can get pretty riled up by a match, you know. And if they are coming by to shake our hands and kiss our babies, we would also welcome some Farmer brand peanuts to go with our beer.

I do feel a little skeptical that we can maintain our political resolve and stick to the boycott of the two pay-TV companies. Singaporeans can be a bunch of wimps when it comes to such things. Just like politics, we will bitch and moan and complain about things, but in the end, we will quietly succumb and pay for our World Cup, and even our own beer.