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SEA Games: Philippines tops medal table amid organisational chaos
- Hosts finish top of the medal standings with 149 gold medals.
- Singapore dominate the swimming pool as Philippines rampages in boxing ring
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Why you can trust SCMP
The headlines from the SEA Games, which concluded in the Philippines on Wednesday night, have not all been positive.
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There were a slew of organisational errors that saw a shortage of halal food for Muslim athletes, football teams training on the street and confusion over accommodation.
Organisers apologised before the Games had even started, Then there was the typhoon that wrought havoc on events and online outrage at the behaviour of athletes to one another and a trending hashtag: #SEAGAMES2019Fail.
It even was likened to the notorious scam Fyre Festival by some.
There were more serious allegations, too, such as the claim that the Philippines authorities had not done enough to combat the rise of sex trafficking around the surging visitor numbers for the Games.
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So you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a disaster, but there were also plenty of feel-good stories from the past fortnight.
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