ElaineJust like how Greece will always be remembered for holding the first Olympics games, Singapore will now have a place in the history books for being the first to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
Instead of the usual professional looking, power-suited young individuals, fresh-faced young students and teenagers were scattered around the campus of Singapore Management University on Jan 10.
It was a historical moment when the Guest-of-Honour, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and other invited VIPs unveiled the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) logo that Saturday afternoon.
In conjunction with the launch of the Youth Olympic Games logo, the CAN! event was put together by 4 tertiary institutions: Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and the Singapore Management University (SMU). CAN! stands for Create Action Now and is a call on youths to be part of Singapore 2010.
The day-long event was filled with fun activities that included the CAN! Run, CAN! Play carnival and CAN! Party. (back to top)
Fencing was one of the few sporting activities in the CAN! Play carnival that was specially lined up for the event.
“I’ve never done fencing before. I think it’s very fun. I might consider taking up this sports next time,” said Saranya Thiru, the sporty 11-year-old student from Northland Primary School who was there together with her school Netball team.
Other activities included Basketball competition, Judo, Handball and even Equestrian.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw those horses. There were actually on the grounds in a school,” said Lee Xiu Xian, 22-year-old girl who visibly enjoyed the 2-minute joy ride on the stallion as part of showcasing the Equestrian sport. (back to top)
While the fringe activities were ongoing, the main highlight of this event was of course, the launch of the YOG 2010 logo. Dr Balakrishnan arrived promptly at the site with the other invited ministers and VIPs to witness the launch of the logo.
“The launch of the logo today is a major milestone for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, said Mr Ng Ser Miang, Chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC).
The red flame on the logo represents the passion to learn and the power of positive thinking while the purple star symbolizes excellence and the pride of representing one’s nation. The crescent represents dynamic youth, full of promise. The word mark “Singapore 2010” denotes individual and unique characters that signify harmony among the diverse participants.
The launch mechanism was created by a group of Nanyang Technological University students from the different faculties. The model of the mechanism is developed with multiple steps to generate a chain reaction. It has differing movement actions – upwards, downwards and sideways motions – with the use of rolling balls, sports apparatus and other kinds of gadgets and materials.
Despite coming from different expertise areas, the team worked together and overcame odds during the project. “Our different trainings in school made it exciting for us to apply what we learnt together,” said the Chairman of the launch mechanism team, 21-year-old Iris Kam Sok Yee.
She also mentioned that she is very honoured to participate in this launch event and that the team is also very excited to be part of the Singapore 2010. (back to top)
Right after the launch of the logo, the CAN! Run was flagged off by Dr Balakrishnan where the runners made their way around the campus. The CAN! Run is a 2010 m fun run organised in celebration of Singapore 2010 and was free and open to public.
When the UrbanWire spotted a few students who had just finished the 2010 m run, we found out that they were sports leaders from Siglap Secondary School. The three of them, Roszieva, 14, Ahmad Khidhir and Jeremy Ong, both 15, were from the soccer team.
Will they be joining the Youth Olympic Games? “Of course!” quipped Roszieva, who clearly had plans to join the Olympics next year. (back to top)
Now how could this event not end with a party? The CAN! Party that was held during the evening wrapped up this whole occasion nicely, with young featured talents such as Mi Lu Bing, Samba Masala (see picture below) and Sonofa working up the stage.
The turnout was rather disappointing, with less than a 100 people staying behind to watch the performers. Nevertheless, the small number of people at the party made it more personal, allowing the performers to interact more with the audience.
There were occasional technical hiccups, but the performers made it up with their strong vocals and dynamic stage presence. (back to top)
Now that the logo has been launched, all the world and of course, Singapore, will be watching out for this first ever Youth Olympic Games next year.
The UrbanWire wishes to congratulate Singapore for clinching the honour of hosting the first Youth Olympic Games next year.