Sunday, August 15, 2010

10th entry - Singapore Youth Olympic Games

After many months of preparation, the Singapore Youth Olympic Games (SYOG) has finally begun. SYOG is the 1st major sporting event to be hosted in Singapore between 14 and 26 Aug 2010, with the annual Formula 1 night race following suit one month later. Singapore is especially proud to host the SYOG because it is THE inaugural Youth Olympics, i.e. first of its kind in the world. Sadly, I think there are many areas that can and should be improved and I hope we all can learn much from the experience.

The opening ceremony could be critically described as a somewhat embarrassing ensemble of "al-cheapo" performances. Some of the lack-lustre dances with cheap-looking costumes were quite unbearable to watch e.g. the one with the "cha shao bao" or BBQ pork bun theme song. One could hardly detect any energy in the dancers and poor coordination between the foreground and background made each performance visually distracting. There were some "stunning" crowd-pleasers such as the unique "water stage" and the lighthouse lit by the olympic flame), and some of the music pieces were good. If the dance concept and choreography had capitalised more fully on the uniqueness of this "hardware", the effect of the performance would have been much better.

Some parts of the ceremony were quite humourous, but in the wrong way. During the segment when atheletes paraded on stage with their state flags, there many occasions where the flag-bearers walked in opposite direction to the volunteers holding up cards that spelt the names of the countries, instead of following behind the volunteers. Some of these "blur" atheletes were then seen running across the stage after they discover their blunder; one of the volunteers was even captured on TV sprinting across the stage to fetch the oblivious athelete to the rightful position. Another comic moment for me was when airport luggage trolleys were used to push musicians to the stage. Some of the costumes look quite ridiculous as well e.g. some dancers bearing glow-in-the-dark "lotus flowers" adorned fluorescent green clothing that made them look like radioactive frogs or aliens.

I wonder if the performers are really to blame, given that volunteers were not treated well. A volunteer took a picture of the meal he was served and posted it on his Facebook page, igniting a furore (see news article). Extracted from the article:

The meal, served in a plastic box, comprised a mound of rice, a meat fillet and six pieces of long bean.

Singapore Food Industries (SFI), a subsidiary of the Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Sats), provided the food. It had been awarded a $5.5 million catering services contract by the YOG organising committee.

When contacted, a Sats spokesman confirmed that the meal in the picture was part of a meal provided to the YOG workforce. A bottled drink and some fruit were also provided, she added.

'We have received feedback from the workforce regarding the meals served. We take their feedback very seriously and have promptly taken action to improve and ensure that the portions and variety served will provide the workforce with a balanced meal.'

In its response to the criticism, the YOG's organising committee said: 'Our workforce is key to the successful organisation of the Games and their health and physical well-being is important to us.'

Added a spokesman: 'We are aware of the feedback (on the meal) and have taken immediate action. We will work with the caterers to continually improve the meal standards.'


Many online forums that discussed this issue were apparently shut down subsequently, but many people were unhappy over how our volunteers were treated. A cursory glance through some of the forums on YOG indicate that there are many disgruntled voices over other related issues such as the astronomical amount of public funds set aside for YOG, earlier reports of volunteers becoming victims of sexual harassment by YOG overseas delegates, and the shabbiness of the Olympic facilities (including the NTU hostel that was converted into a village to house the atheletes, and some of sporting event venues that appeared run down and old).

Organising such a large-scale event is indeed a feat of epic proportions for Singapore, considering the amount of resources (not just time and money, but also manpower support) that had to be pumped in. I think it is all too easy to criticise the organisers and government for all the blunders and problems, as many fail to realise that it is actually the first time that Singapore is hosting such an event and slip-ups are bound to happen. On the other hand, members of the organising committee really do need to reflect on their mistakes, especially when the issue is about failing to have the right spirit and attitude.

Are we being too unforgiving and intolerant of others' mistakes? In a way, this could be a reflection of what the world has become. Even the Olympic Games is a harsh arena where the slightest slip can have devastating consequences and cost the country and its athelete a hard-earned medal. But is it a bad thing to be critical and demanding? How else can we make improvements, right? I think its ok to be critical and demanding of others, if we apply the same standards when reflecting on our own mistakes. Otherwise we will be practising double standards. I remember this saying: when we point one of our fingers at others, at least 3 of our other fingers are pointing at ourselves.

Check out the photos of the YOG Opening Ceremony.

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