SINGAPORE, June 15 — The baton will be passed to Malaysia tomorrow at the closing ceremony to host the 29th SEA Games in 2017.

With it comes two huge tasks — organise a better event and more importantly, perform well.

Trying to match or even improve on the facilities Singapore had, especially at its Sports Hub, will be a futile exercise.

Furthermore, we have enough facilities so it will be a waste of money trying to build new ones.

Already, there is a move to upgrade the squash centre and indoor stadium at the National Sports Complex in a land exchange deal with a renowned property development company.

This should be the only new project for the Games while other facilities will do just fine with a bit of sprucing up.

The money saved here should be channelled into presenting a formidable challenge.

Singapore did well to surpass its previous best of 50 gold medals (it had 82 at press time) and looks set to finish second overall.

Judging by the medal tally, the gap between nations has been narrowed. This means Malaysia will have to work doubly hard to keep up with and match others.

Besides the Thais, who have been a perennial powerhouse, there is the much improved Vietnam while Indonesia is still a force to be reckoned with.

The Indonesians will certainly double their efforts to mount a strong challenge in KL, as it can serve as a morale booster ahead of their hosting of the 2018 Asian Games.

Malaysia will probably meet its target of winning 56 per cent of the medals at stake (which works out to a total of 187 medals). We may have bettered our previous gold medal total of 43 in Myanmar but really, with the kind of money spent, we just scrapped the barrel.

The silver lining is majority of the youth talent have done well and we, now more than ever, should place emphasis on developing them further.

For that to happen, a concerted effort from NSAs is required. All the bickering and politicking must be thrown out the window.

Most must change their mindset and adopt a professional approach. If there needs to be a revamp to bring in new blood with fresh ideas, so be it.

We need new, innovative ideas — why not keep up with times by developing sports using sports science?

Also, it is important not to spend lavishly. We should keep the Games simple and spend money where there are returns. Let’s cut out all frills, be prudent and deliver where it matters most.

Maybe it is asking too much but we cannot be just good host and always play second fiddle when it comes to performance.