Youth Olympic Games in Singapore

I'm Singaporean, and I'm proud of my country's involvement in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games! Having the opportunity to watch visitors the world over converge on our little red dot to engage in various olympic sports, under age 18 nonetheless, is such an eye-opener and an experience that few people have the opportunity to participate in.

When the Beijing Olympics came around 2 years ago, a cousin of mine announced that she had purchased tickets for the Rowing event, a sport she was involved in some years back, and was making a trip there to catch the event. Up till that moment, it had never occurred to me to go watch such a prestigious event live, and to pay for a flight there yourself even. So when the YOG came around, I believe it was this same inertia that gripped the country possibly resulting in the whole fiasco with the ticketing. A week before the event, it dawned on me that I should go catch some of these events, since there would be Olympic level competition (remember China's underaged gymnasts? Here's where they would shine!) at our very doorstep. And surprisingly enough, the tickets were CHEAP too! The tickets were subsequently sold out, and there were complaints about empty venues despite sold-out seats.

Sherm and I managed to procure tickets for the Football Boys Preliminary match where Singapore was set to play against Montenegro (of Serbia and Montenegro origin). We failed in our bid to get Equestrian tickets (by losing the spot due to a 12-hour delay. We even went to queue for tickets at the event venue 1 hour before commencing!), and I missed out on some Diving tickets (Basketball by then was all sold-out). I forewent Canoeing, since I recalled that it wasn't much of a spectator sport unless you could see them up close (those long competition days back in '96/97 were not much fun waiting for our events to come up). The Singapore Cubs were fantastic by the way, managing to inflame such passion that had not been seen since Singapore recaptured the Malaysia Cup in 1994.

Anyway, there's a small host of shit-stirrers here in our sunny island, who just can't begin to see what an immense achievement our country has won by hosting these games. They nit-pick and shoot down every single fault and flaw of the games, from the 3X exceeded budget, to the food poisoning incidents, to the Olympic Village being in NTU, and of course, the rescheduling of students' exams.

I asked Uncle Gurmit, who was a volunteer at the Games' Tennis Centre if he felt if the the sacrifices that the school kids have made were worth it. He replied with fervour, "Of course!" His explanation was that this was an event that occurred only very seldom. Contributing to the success of such an international event should be ranked higher over a measly thing like exams, according to him. Not everyone is able to see beyond their 2 feet, but Uncle Gurmit made a strong point, and if we could see beyond how this bothers you or me, and look at the big picture, then one would really begin to understand and appreciate everything that has happened to make this YOG a success.

With this in mind, I took note to be especially courteous and smile at the YOG volunteers that I met, knowing that they were not getting paid for helping, and yet had taken the time to ensure things went smoothly. I enjoyed the football match very much, and have been thankful for the highlights on TV.

Somehow, watching the YOG on TV was especially moving to me, not simply cos I was witnessing the 'Olympic spirit' per se, but because MY country, My Singapore was hosting it, and I was proud.

Final note - Sherm would say that Merly and Lyo were really well designed (and I agree), and they probably helped her get into the enthusiasm of things. =)

Examples of Singapore's Driving Behaviour

While waiting to cross the road this morning, I witnessed yet another ludicrous Singaporean traffic incident.

There is a U-turn outside the AMK MRT station that has long been used as a convenient drop off point. Many parents, for instance, make the turn and immediately get their kids to alight. The problem here is that the turn is tight, which means any subsequent u-turning vehicle will be held up, thus blocking the entire 3-lane road. Perhaps as a result of this, the entire section up to the bus stop 20m ahead has been fenced up. This has not been much of a deterrent since the stop-and-drop has now been forced into the very apex of the turn (since drivers can only drop their passengers off at that point, or make their passengers walk an extra distance from the bus stop). I believe it's quite obvious what the consequent dangers are.

This morning, a white Mazda 3 did the u-turn stop-and-drop, blocking the path of an orange Chevrolet Spark that was following it. The Spark gave a burst of his horn, which was followed by the 3 inching forward slightly, allowing the Spark to maneuver into the lane. However there was Honda behind that also was caught in the midst of the flashing green arrow and that car too tooted it's horn.

At this point, the passenger of the 3 had gotten out and was gesticulating at the Spark as he walked by, letting some expletives fly even as he continued to stand nearby. The driver of the 3 apparently did not yet want to move off. This led to a 2nd round of horns blaring.

The Honda by now, had managed to get into the lane and was letting off 2 students as well at the same spot where I've previously highlighted that it was dangerous to do so. Passenger of the 3 also walked back to provide support to his driver who had stepped out by this time.

The Spark then started to inch backwards in order to allow himself room to go around the immovable vehicle, backing down from the confrontation.

2 kinds of wonderful Singaporean driver mentalities on display here:

1) the kind who deliberately flout driving rules then proceed to shout and bully their way out.

2) the kind who are usually chicken shit, but gain an obnoxious sense of power once they get behind the wheel of a car.

Someone should erect a sign that says simply "No Stopping, Fine $1000". I trust these incidences will subside thereafter. Especially if they get a warden to stand there for the next few days.

Look what I found at Google today!

NDP Preview 2010

Shermaine and I were lucky enough to get tickets to attend the National Day Parade Preview 2010 at the Padang. It seems a parade held at the Padang happens only once in 5 years, and this was actually my first time there, in all my attendances. Sherm and I have been trying to get tix for the past 3 years, and this was our lucky break! Moreover, we got to sit at the RED section, in front of Old Parliament House, which was shaded from the hot sun all the way! Great experience!

Sherm totally loved the Mobile Column, where all the combined defence forces' vehicles were driven by in formation, passengers at attention and saluting the crowd. I must say, having a couple of tanks rumbling so close by reminded me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan, where the US soldiers went cold upon realizing the German Panzer tanks were approaching!

The Performance itself, directed by Dick Lee, was actually pretty good. Not cheesy entirely, apart from the 4 hosts' costumes (and we felt the hosts didn't even seem needed). One oddity was when the 'Kamen Riders' came out and demonstrated martial arts on the Padang. Then later whipped out their light sabres.. But that was all forgotten when the show carried on, climaxing each sequence with short fireworks displays. Quality performances by Singapore Idol finalists, Corrinne May and Kitt Chan as well!

I feel Singaporeans should try to attend the NDP every once in a while. The parade successfully stirs a little pride for Our Nation, just enough to keep us going strong.