YOG Withdrawal or Hangover?

Yakki and I are feeling a bit down after the end of YOG.

Is it withdrawal or hangover?

Someone to cheer us up

Emmanuelle "Sloan McQuewick" Chriqui

Photos: The Total Package Promo Photoshoot for Entourage

The Art of Pausing for Applause

Anyone who watched the opening and closing ceremonies of the Youth Olympic Games would have noticed that the speeches by Mr Ng Ser Miang were very well choreographed. It was written and planned to the second, probably by a junior staff member.

This is what we think was on his hard-copy transcript.

Photo: ChannelNewsAsia

"Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore,

Mr Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee,

Friends and Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have done it!!

We have delivered the inaugural Youth Olympic Games!!!

(Pause.)

(Look at crowd.)

(Wait for applause.)

Young Olympians, blah blah blah. Thank you Chefs de Mission, team officials, coaches and Athlete Role Models ...

(Pause.)

(Look at crowd from left to right. Good speech etiquette.)

(Wait for applause.)

The journey for the last 2 ½ years has been exhilarating and fulfilling. Thank you friends. Blah blah blah. Thank you, President Jacques Rogge for your vision...

(Pause.)

(Look earnestly at crowd.)

(Wait for applause. Wait for applause.)

(Applause finally comes.)

My fellow Singaporeans, we have worked hard together to host the world. We have fulfilled our promises and undertakings and made Singapore proud. Thank You, Terima Kasih, Xie Xie, Mi Ker Nandri.

(Pause. Long pause if required until obligatory applause comes after awkward silence.)

More thank you you and thank you him and thank you her.

(Pause. Look even more earnestly at crowd. Soak in the atmosphere. Indulge in the final moments of glory. Just wait for applause.)

Thank you!

(FINAL pause. Final applause. Wait for fireworks. Wait for screams. Wait for clappers. Wait for cheers. Wait till everyone in the crowd and at home watching the television feel compelled to do something, anything.)"

- Phew. Finally done. Experience in PSLE Oral Examinations does come in handy 50 years on. -

End of One Dream, Beginning of Many

Photo: SPH-SYOGOC-Xinhua

The 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore came to an end last night. As the Olympic flame extinguished, it marked the end of an eventful journey. The memories of the YOG will forever be etched in our hearts.

Inspiring was one word I remembered Yakki mentioning during the first Cubs game he attended.

The Games is pretty inspiring huh.

The Flame as Last Spotted in Marina Bay

Photo: ChannelNewsAsia

I totally agree.

Pre-YOG, we squirmed when we heard that we could be fined $130 for not giving way to the YOG buses. But we knew that us fine Singaporeans do need monetary incentives many a times.

During YOG, we saw the SFI food being served to the volunteers and felt that for a $5.5 million food tender, SFI could have done a better job and not short-change the volunteers or us taxpayers.

And yes, people will whine about the $387 million spent on the Games. With one or two itching to be arrested by criticising the Government on an anti-YOG facebook page.

But let's be objective and break it down for all.

The last 12 days have brought 3,600 youths from all over the world and 20,000 volunteers in Singapore together. For many of them, what an experience it is to participate in the first ever Youth Olympics and interact with youths from 204 countries.

It did take Singaporeans a bit of warming up to react to the YOG atmosphere. We were off to a slow start with the publicity of the YOG fairly poor leading up to the opening day. Tickets are moving slowly. But once the flame was lit and kiasuism activated, Singaporeans were quickly snapping up tickets to the popular sports. The YOG spirit in Singapore suddenly came alive.

The YOG also gave us football fans something to cheer about with the success of our national team, albeit a very very young one. It's not the bronze medal success that we're speaking about, but the quality of football they displayed. Attacking, positive, spirited, entertaining and most importantly, fun football.

Cubs packing the Stadium like no other S-League match can

There will be the cynics and the critics and the skeptics and the whatevers. But we enjoyed the Youth Olympics. And if these people can deliver a better experience at a lower cost to us all, then please go ahead and indulge us.

Until then, we will remember the good old times long after the flame has gone.

The butterflies in the stomach, the joy of bonding and the pleasure of scoring we will forever reminisce.

Chile wins Girls Football Gold

Eyes on the ball

Who says girls can't play football?

They certainly can, perhaps less aggressive, tactically disciplined and skillful than the boys, but they made up with passion and sportsmanship.

We were at Jalan Besar for the fourth time this Youth Olympics and were treated to an interesting brand of football. Girls football that is.

Future starlet for girls football?

The girls from both Equatorial Guinea and eventual champion Chile impressed us with some nifty footwork and brave challenges. But it was their level of sportsmanship that truly convinced us that the girls could teach the lads a thing or two about football.

Thumbs-up from the Guinean camp

There were virtually no Oscar-like acting from the girls after a bad challenge. No arguing with the referee. No diving. No time-wasting. They made football seem like a gentle(wo)man's game. All these coexisting with the will and determination to win the gold medal.

The Chileans won the match on the penalty shootout 5-3, clinching gold for the young ladies. And girl, did they celebrate.

Shootout Ecstasy

Chilean Flag Flying

For more pictures from the match, go to our Facebook Page.

Isabelle Li, China Born or Not?

Isabelle Li of Team Singapore won the silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games table tennis today. But many have wondered about her place of birth.

Confirm China-born la.

Ya man, she shouts and plays like one.

China written all over her face?

Straits Times Photo: Chew Seng Kim

I guess there are a lot of skeptics when it comes to Singapore table tennis players. After all, most of the senior team who won the World Championship a few months ago are born in China, then inducted into the Singapore ecosystem through the Foreign Talent Scheme.

So, we had to do our research and find out if Isabelle was China-born.

A quick check with Google seemed to confirm that she's Singapore-born.

Then, her parents lei?

Some of our friends remained unconvinced she's truly truly truly Singaporean. We found out that her mother's family name is Sim. Should be a "true blue" Singaporean, right? Sim does sound Singaporean aye?

Then, her Dad's probably from China.

...

Hopefully, Straits Times will do a feature and shed some light on the matter. I guess people simply cannot believe that a Singapore-born Singaporean can compete on a world stage in the sport of table tennis.

Sailing ok. Table tennis should be China-born. Bowling yes. Badminton probably Indo-born.

Do our athletes' places of birth matter to you?

Cubs, our Nation's Pride

Dejected Cubs congratulating the Haitians

We were at the Jalan Besar Stadium to witness our cubs' loss against the Haitians tonight. The cubs didn't play as well as they did in their past two games, but they certainly put in tremendous effort in their bid to qualify for the Final.

A combination of careless mistakes, poor finishing and perhaps bad luck knocked our cubs out of the running for the gold medal. Still, they are our nation's pride and have inspired many.

The disappointment really had to be the crowd at the stadium tonight. The grandstand fans were pretty fantastic, but the fans at the gallery area, where we were situated, were poor.

One of the few decent fans in the gallery

It's easy to cheer on your team when they're beating the Zimbabweans and the Montenegrins. It's so easy to jump on the bandwagon and start purchasing the match tickets on the back of two victories.

But it takes a real fan to stand up and cheer the team on when the team is down, when the team needs your support.

The gallery crowd watched the game like it was an EPL match shown on a tele at home. Comfortable in their seats, silent when the cubs were chasing the game, letting out the rare yelp when the cubs missed their chances. That's not the way to support your team.

Worst of all, when the cubs conceded a late penalty, streams of fans at the gallery stood up.

"Fans" emptying the terraces before the final whistle.

To leave their seats.

For the exit.

WTF seriously.

A brilliant and sublime display of true support for the team that they had recently adopted after two inspiring YOG wins. Leaving the 15 years olds in the lurch when they had been hit by penalty decision is a disgrace. The team was staring at a two-nil defeat and all these fair-weather fans could think about was beating the traffic or going for supper.

The cubs have proven that there's hope with our nation's football. They impressed. They delighted. They fought.

Taking on the world

But it's time the fans do their part and put the nation above themselves.

Our Cubs Rock!

Football is a funny game and Singaporeans are funny supporters. Having beaten Zimbabwe in their opening match, fans began to ravage the YOG ticket website and stream into Jalan Besar Stadium on the back of the impressive victory.

Yakki and I, being the ardent Lions fans, got our tickets (preliminaries, semis, finals) way before the euphoria began. Self pat on the back.

All would have known by now that we defeated the Montenegrins 3-2 with goals from Muhaimin Suhaimin, Jeffrey Lightfoot and Brandon Koh. A great display by and of our multicultural setup in Singapore.

Minutes before kickoff, we were off to a beautiful start on a breezy Thursday evening when we spotted a fan outside the Jalan Besar Stadium.

No need for more description. See pictures for thousands of words.
Lightfoot's Cool Head

Brilliant Tackle on Montenegrin Ballerina

Fans and players showing appreciation

Anyway, the press always covers a match in great detail when we're doing well. So needless for us to say more when you can them on the official papers and websites.

For more Yakki's action photos of the match, check out the album on our Facebook Page.

Cubs' Scorcher against Zimbabwe

Video Courtesy of Yahoo! SEA

Our Cubs Are Toothful!

Die-hard Singapore fan

The inaugural Youth Olympics has begun! And after a fairly lacklustre build-up to the Games, Singapore seemed to have finally woken up and come to life in the past three days.

The YOG opening ceremony was quite impressive with the fireworks and water displays capturing many spectators' and audiences' attention, but I think 12 year old boy Low Wei Jie's 15 km run over 2 hours to follow the Olympics flame as well as Singapore's brilliant start to its football campaign have really contributed significantly in stirring the nation's enthusiasm in the Games.

A great pre-match huddle

I was at the Jalan Besar stadium for Singapore's opener against Zimbabwe and within 10 seconds of the game, our Cubs stole possession from the Zimbabweans and unleashed a scorcher to put the Zimbabweans in their place. The Africans had boasted about beating us by a minimum scoreline of 5-0 prior to the match.

Cubs' style celebration

Ten minutes later, a diminutive Muhaimin calmly placed the ball past the 'keeper after being set up by his team-mate to put the Cubs 2-0 up. The fully filled Jalan Besar Stadium was rocking!

More celebrations from the Cubs

The Cubs continued their form and finished the Zimbabweans 30 minutes into the game with another brilliant team movement.

Singapore 3 Zimbabwe 1

I'm looking forward to the next YOG event and really hoping to get tickets to the Singapore-Montenegro game on Thursday.

And for more reasons to attend the Games, we spotted a few YOG personnel/volunteers/fans worth a second look.