Interesting Green: For a fortnight, I felt 16 (YOG)

WEekend today August 28 - 29, 2010, VOICES, PAGE 6
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Website: http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100828-0000051/For-a-fortnight,-I-felt-16
By Edric Sng, edric@mediacorp.com.sg, 05:55 AM Aug 28, 2010

PHOTO: Blazing the trail at the opening ceremony
The Marina Bay floating platform was the stage for the spectacular Opening Ceremony on Aug 14. A crowd of 20,000 watched a spectacular show, anchored around the theme of “Blazing the Trail”. Among the highlights were a lion dance show, a fireworks display and a sublime moment during which Singapore sailor Darren Choy ran, seemingly on water, to light the Olympic Cauldron.
TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, PAGE 12
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PHOTO: On Feb 21, 2008 IOC president Jacques Rogge announced that Singapore would be the first city to ever host the YOG. The news sent thousands at the Padang, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, into exuberant celebrations.
AFP, TODAY FILE PHOTO
From: What a journey it has been,Tan Yo-Hinn, yohinn@mediacorp.com.sg Dr Jacques Rogge opened the envelope and uttered the sweetest 25 words: “The International Olympic Committee have the honour of announcing that the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010 are awarded to the city of Singapore.” The Padang, and an entire nation, burst into cheers.
TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, COMMENTARY, PAGE 8
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PHOTO: Team from TODAY and Edric Sng
http://sgstb.msn.com/i/BC/93A97C61C32D7D3135F2BCECAC2EE5.jpg
http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4109095
The writer is Today's Voices editor.

PHOTO: From Athens to the heartlands
It involved some 2,400 torchbearers, from celebrities Joanne Peh and Randall Tan to ordinary Singaporeans from all walks of life and ages, crisscrossing the island for six days in early August.
The sight of Low Wei Jie chasing the flame reflected the spirit of the Games by a member of the public.
TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, PAGE 10
http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20100827/2708HNP016.pdf

PHOTO: Blazing the trail at the opening ceremony
Asublime moment during which Singapore sailor Darren Choy ran, seemingly on water, to light the Olympic Cauldron.
TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, PAGE 12
http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20100827/2708HNP018.pdf

Ivan Heng, seated not five spots to my right, had whipped off his trademark black-rimmed glasses to wipe off a tear. He wasn't the only one.

On Thursday night, I somehow found myself seated just beside the team that put together the Youth Olympic Games closing ceremony. I would've thought that Heng, the event's creative director, would be backstage creatively directing things, but there he was in the stands with us, wearing the silly flashing hat, laughing and crying with the rest of us.

The bit that got to him - and to many around me - was a video montage of the Games highlights, a series of photographs of athletes crossing the finish line, dancing on the sidelines, having a laugh over a meal, biting their medals, cuddling Lyo and Merly stuffed toys. You remember.

The day before the closing ceremony, I was at Marina Reservoir taking in the canoe/kayak finals. The sport meant nothing to me, but that didn't matter; it could just as easily have been curling or kabaddi. I was there to find out for myself if there was any grain of truth to all the letters we've been publishing on the Voices pages about the infectious enthusiasm of the Games.

Some East European, I think, took the bronze in one of the events. When he was in his canoe, from far, he looked a man, muscularly cutting through the water, But up close, at the medal ceremony, he was all boy - ruddy cheeks, buck teeth, cuddling his Lyo stuffed toy. And when his name was announced, he bounced onto the podium with the kind of big, pure smile you don't see at the Olympics for Grown-Ups, the kind of joy that suggests he wasn't just doing it to score a better shoe sponsorship deal.

I could've cried.

If you've been moaning about the inconvenience the YOG has caused you, I suspect you didn't attend any of the events, didn't really watch the TV broadcast to see what the Games meant to the young 'uns playing their hearts out. I suspect you've missed the point of the whole shebang.

You'll be an adult for the rest of your life, but you're only young once - before work deadlines and housing loans get the better of you. Watching the athletes and eager volunteers throw themselves into everything they did with unfettered gusto, I felt that little bit younger.

I suspect Ivan Heng did, too.

By Edric Sng, edric@mediacorp.com.sg, 05:55 AM Aug 28, 2010
The writer is Today's Voices editor.

PHOTO: Blazing the trail at the opening ceremony
By SPH-SYOGO C/Alph onsus Chern, Bryan van Der Beek, Chong Jun Liang, Gavin Foo and Leonard Phuah.
Today file photos
TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, PAGE 12
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Thank you, Mum.
For enduring morning sickness and jeans with elastic waistbands.
For carrying us in your arms, slings, wraps, strollers and minivans.
For teaching us to crawl, walk and run before we could swim, shoot, fence, row and cycle.
For being a full-time mum, chauffeur, coach, personal chef, doctor and cheerleader.
For never missing a day at the track or in the pool.
For being at every practice, match, meet and competition.
For believing in our dream before anyone else did.
For seeing the first Youth Olympic Games as not the end of an Olympic journey, but the start of one.
For doing the hardest job in the world.
Thank you for being a mum.
From P&G, Proud sponsor of Mums TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, PAGE 19
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PHOTO: Blazing the trail at the opening ceremony
From Russia - with love
By SPH-SYOGO C/Alph onsus Chern, Bryan van Der Beek, Chong Jun Liang, Gavin Foo and Leonard Phuah.
Today file photos
TODAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2010, PAGE 12
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