Budget YOG $387m / Needy $175m

last SG · 2010-07-07T22:35:38+00:00

hmm.. 80,000 tickets bought by MOE.. out of the total 100,000 tickets sold... which means only 20,000 tickets actually bought by individuals...Possibly the r...

Rock^Star SG

As the opening ceremony was in progress on the north bank of Marina Bay, some kind of Youth Olympics carnival was going on on the south bank, just in front of The Sail building. Its centrepiece was a huge concert arena with perhaps 1,500 seats laid out, and in which a band was playing. I took this picture:

I wonder how much of the S$387 million — the estimated cost of the Youth Olympics — went into that.

I saw a bit of the fireworks overhead, but since I didn’t have the right camera and tripod for proper pictures, I decided not to stay for the main fireworks display. What’s the point of staying? Better to get home before the crowd spills out of the opening ceremony, packing the trains.

Back home, I turned on the television and caught the tail end of the opening ceremony, in which a ghastly oversized bird built of chicken wire mesh and neon lights borrowed from Geylang (our red light district) floated across the bay. Perched on top of the contraption’s head was somebody holding aloft the olympic torch.

Down on the water were eight to ten dragon boats playing the role of marine outriders to the fat bird. I was horrified that we chose kitsch over the authentic. We didn’t need the bird. It would have been more elegant to convey the torch at the head of a dragon boat. How much did that fowl cost? More money wasted.

Source: Yawning Bread

Rock^Star SG

Leong Sze Hian -

I was told that the mother of a Natonal Servicemen (NS Men) was griping about her son not being able to attend a family event because he had been ordered to attend the Youth Olympics Games as a spectator.

He will be given an early dismissal from the army camp, to go home to change to civilian clothes to attend a YOG event.

She is rather concerned that although her son would normally already be very tired after a day’s training, he would still have to go for the YOG event, which finishes very late.

Does YOG or the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) reimburse such NSmen for their transportation costs, to and from the YOG event?

Are they reimbursed for any meal and drink during the event? Or are they served free food, like the ones that have been highlighted online?

Are their attendance taken at the event to ensure that they turn up?

It was reported in The Online Citizen article – “YOG – Another farce?” (Jul 10) – that the sluggish sales of 320,000 YOG tickets on 26 May mysteriously shrunk to 245,000 on 7 July, of which 80,000 of the more than 100,000 sold were purchased by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

MOE declined to disclose how much they paid for the tickets, or how much the schools and students allocated tickets may have to pay.

Does MINDEF have to pay for the tickets like those bought by MOE?

From brisk sales of close to 50 per cent of the 245,000 tickets sold (or about 38 per cent of the original 320,000 tickets figure), it then became 70 per cent sold on 2 August, according to the report “YOG ticket sales picking up, with 70% sold” (Channel News Asia, 2 August).

Were any of these tickets taken by MINDEF?

If more than 70 per cent had been sold as of 2 August, why is there a need to send NSmen to be spectators?

Are the amounts paid by MOE and MINDEF included in the almost-more-than-four times YOG budget over-run of $387 million?

If not, then what is the additional sum to the total YOG costs?

By the way, I think the media may not know how to count, as every media report said that the YOG budget was three times over-run. $387 million divided by the original budget of $104 million is about four times over-budget, or about 300 per cent over-budget!

Why is it that there have been no media reports about MINDEF taking YOG tickets and the costs of these?

Are the T-shirts given to all ministry staff the same as those given to volunteers?

If they are different, how much do they cost and how many were given away to each of the two groups?

Rock^Star SG

I believe the NSFs will get off days for attending the YOG but I'm not too sure about transport allowances. Anyone can clarify?

And there's no mention of NSFs and students who were "volunteered" to attend, in the media. TOTAL media blackout.

Wmyongj SG

I am here in PRC, there is no reporting of YOG.

So why waste so much money for an event for Kids?

GHoST_18 SG

the YOG event is much better than our NDP...

Rock^Star SG

Singapore’s reputation as a neat, organized and efficient country lies in tatters yesterday as the much anticipated YOG Opening Ceremony, billed by the Straits Times as Singapore’s “BIGGEST” show turned out to be a NIGHTMARE to both the organizers and viewers alike.

[Get instant updates and discussions about the YOG on our Facebook page here]

The most important section of all past Olympic Games’ opening ceremonies is the part where all the participating nations are introduced with their flags displayed for to see which are usually well choreographed and rehearsed with not a single mistake tolerated.

There were not one, but multiple screw-ups at this section of the YOG opening ceremony as the flag and name bearers appeared completely confused with the way they should be heading after making their appearances on stage leaving shell-shocked volunteers scurrying all over the place to direct them to their rightful locations.

The flag-bearers were supposed to follow right behind the ushers holding placards showing the name of the countries and they were to walk in alternate left and right to lie up in front of the podium.

In the snapshot below, the athlete carrying the Algeria flag appeared lost as to where to go and lingered on the stage long after his name-bearer (circled in red) had walked off:

yogalgeria

Next, the athlete bearing the Azerbaijan flag walked in the opposite direction of his name-bearer:

yogazer

Similarly, the Bosnian althlete seemed clueless on where he should be heading as well:

yogbosnian

The Jordan althlete stood still staring at the crowd upon appearing on the stage, looked around and then turned and walked off in the opposite direction, prompting one frustrated volunteer (circled in red) to rush after him and in the process almost collided with the name-bearer of the next country:

yogjordan

As one netizen Benny Lim summed up the entire debacle succinctly:

“The projection introducing the different countries participating in the YOG was so bad (one side is brighter than the other – so I believe it’s made up of two projections). The athletes did not know which way to go. C’mon, this is the most important part of the opening. All I (as well as the rest of world) could see was the crew running about to pull back the athletics that went the wrong direction.”

It is absolutely unacceptable that the YOG committee can make such an elementary mistake in front of the world which displayed their lack of preparation for the event. Were there any rehearsals conducted for the athletes beforehand to instruct them on where to walk? Their nonchalant, cavalier and comical demeanour displayed on stage is an insult both to the host and the IOC.

After splurging nearly $400 million dollars of taxpayers’ monies on staging the YOG, such a sloppy, unmotivated, disgraceful, pathetic and atrocious performance at the opening ceremony calls for an immediate internal inquiry.

Contrary to showing what Singapore is “capable” of as proclaimed proudly by PAP minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the YOG opening ceremony has managed to showcase the utter incompetence, impotence and ineptitude of the PAP regime to the rest of the world which brings to mind the escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri two years ago.

Source: Temasek Review

Rock^Star SG

yogshow08

1. The YOG bus lane is ridiculous. Using fear to inject graciousness is not going to work. Singaporeans are educated individuals. After all, isn’t it dangerous for such a big bus to be driving faster than a normal car on the expressway?

2. The opening ceremony had too many repeated concepts with the recent NDP. Once again, we saw how Singapore developed as a multi-racial society; the symbolism of the 5 stars on the flag. All these concepts are good for NDP but not for YOG. The opening of YOG should be about making Singapore’s culture accessible to world’s youths in the way they like it.

3. I do not get the strong feeling of excellence, friendship and respect from the entire opening ceremony. I don’t see how fighting with your inner monster and playing with fire contribute to the values.

4. With such a budget, I expect the ceremony to be almost flawless. The projection introducing the different countries participating in the YOG was so bad (one side is brighter than the other – so I believe it’s made up of two projections). The athletics did not know which way to go. C’mon, this is the most important part of the opening. All I (as well as the rest of world) could see was the crew running about to pull back the athletics that went the wrong direction.

yogshow19

5. The YOG commentator should be fired!!! He destroyed the experience of viewers watching from home. His comments were running in conjunction with the live broadcast. Also, he kept talking about how many years he had stayed in Singapore blah blah blah. Who cares about that? Worst of all, he didn’t even have the decency to let us enjoy one act completely without injecting his very own comments.

6. Sean Kingston’s NO SHOW completely destroyed the Olympic spirit. Each of the 5 musicians of the YOG theme song represents a continent, just as each circle of the Olympic flag represent a continent. With the missing Sean Kingston, the 5 circles on the Olympic flag is incomplete and sadly, it has to happen in Singapore.

7. Finally, did SYOG Chairman, Mr Ng SerMiang, rehearse his speech? He seemed to have memorised the speech quite well. Nonetheless, why wasn’t there any decent individual correcting his pronunciation during a rehearsal before allowing him to speak to the world with such bad pronunciation?

yogshow23

8. Home viewers were forced to watch advertisements (sponsors I think) even it means depriving us our one and only YOG experience. We missed a portion of the opening each time after an ad. I think we even missed 80% of a piano recital after one ad. I didn’t know what went on there?

Source: Temasek Review

Rock^Star SG

Was the opening ceremony really like NDP??

Terminator Hitman SG

???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terminator Hitman SG

any chiobus at yog by the way??

Rock^Star SG

Terminator Hitman SG

........no chiobu so nobody go.

Arapahoe SG

nice picture.....

Rock^Star SG

The “infectious” apathy of Singaporeans has afflicted the doomed Youth Olympic Games right on the very first day as there were plenty of empty seats galore at the stadiums hosting the competitions.

The badminton match between India and China was played to an almost empty indoor stadium with the camera crew trying desperately hard to avoid the empty seats to no avail:

yogbadminton

yogbadminton01

There were also some problems with the official YOG webcast as highlighted by netizen Rurik Aurvandil:

“Schedule is still all screwed up. YOG 2 for example still reflecting taekwando when they are in fact playing a badminton match. They seem to have some problems filling up the time. According to schedule, got 1 hr “no transmission” from 5 pm to 6pm. The empty seats are so embarassing that they are doing everything they can to avoid showing the seats. As a result, the camera shows the match from “unconventional” angles which make it hard to follow what is happening. Match officials and technical staff still outnumber audience in the few shots where you can see the empty seats.”

[Source: I hate YOG Facebook]

The PAP regime’s desperate attempts to promote the YOG in the HDB heartlands floundered spectacularly as well. Contrary to Channel News Asia’s earlier boast that Singapore’s heartlands have “joined” the YOG “celebrations (read article here), few Singaporeans bothered to participate in the YOG publicity gimmicks or watch the competitions on the giant TV screens set up at community clubs.

Only a couple of Singaporeans were seen at Anchorvale Community Club yesterday evening watching the LIVE telecast of the YOG competition with a few aunties appearing more interested to chat with one another than the proceedings on the screen in front:

yoganchorvale

[Source: Vote PAP out Facebook]

The YOG has been an embarrassing $389 million dollar FLOP for the PAP regime, prompting IOC President Jacques Roggges to express his concerns at the “subdued” enthusiasm for the games displayed by Singaporeans so far.

Source: Temasek Review

Rock^Star SG

A letter from the YOG organizers to the parents of a student:

Note what the letter says:

“Transport to and from the event will be provided for your son/ward. Please ensure that your son/ward brings sufficient money for his break as refreshment will not be provided. However, your son/ward is allowed to bring a water bottle provided the water bottle does not have either the “Nike” or “Adidas” logos. In addition, your son will be given an EZ Link card to commemorate YOG 2010.”

Note also: The event takes place on a Saturday.

[Emphasis ours]

Mr Brown has a few questions:

Let me see if I get this right.

1. The school has “volunteered” the boy to be a spectator for a Youth Olympic Games Track and Field event on a SATURDAY.

2. Then, tells the parents that the kid will not be given any refreshments so the parents have to bear the cost of pocket money. On a Saturday.

3. Then, tells the parents that the kid is ALLOWED to bring [sic] a water bottle (how FREAKIN’ KIND of you!). Presumably this is so that he doesn’t die of thirst and cause the school any administrative headache.

4. However, said water bottle must not have “Nike” or “Adidas” logos.

Since when did school children forced to be spectators at a sporting event have to adhere to branding guidelines? I understand if the athletes are covered by sponsor restrictions but SPECTATORS too?

Next you’ll be telling parents that the kids can only wear certain brands of UNDERWEAR to spectate YOG events too.

Vote PAP OUT to Save SG SG

Singapore has a lot of these irrational rules and restrictions that stifles the society.

This control freak PAP regime.

The worst is Lee Kuan Yew. Not even a chinese still want to act like chinese.

Pui!

GHoST_18 SG

welcome to singapore

Rock^Star SG

In a sign that the PAP regime is getting increasingly desperate to drum up flagging support for its inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG), not only are Singapore students being FORCED to watch the games, they are slapped with a $5 refundable deposit to ensure that they turn up for the games.

Students from Kuo Chuan Presbysterian Primary School were COERCED to watch the YOG Preliminary swimming competition at the Singapore Sports School on 19 August 2010.

[Get instant updates and discussions about the YOG on our Facebook page here]

To ensure that they actually turn up for the event, the school even COMPELLED them to pay $5 deposit upfront which will be returned they turned up on the actual day and confiscated if they do not do so:

yogkuochuan

The high-handed and arbitrary manner in which Singapore schools are forcing their students to support the YOG is peeving many Singaporeans off and degrading the Olympian values of “excellence, respect and friendship” as well.

While secondary, junior college and polytechnic students are forced to volunteer for YOG under long hours and being fed DOG food, primary school students are taught how to “cheer” at the games.

According to one netizen, the students were actually divided into groups and instructed to cheer for different countries to “spice up” the event.

The inaugural YOG is becoming a farce with such massive astroturfing engineered by the state to generate fake grassroots support for it.

The International Olympic Committee and the international media should look into this matter and take the PAP regime to task for damaging the good name of the Olympic Games after all the money spent.

Rock^Star SG

Now I know really why the YOG is a utter failure, been hearing on Talkback on 938 live on how people are upset over the budget of 300 over million from the initial 100 million.

Many are also upset over the delay of the sports facility delayed which are supposed for the YOG due to whatever reason. I am a volunteer/temporary staff working for YOG.

This is not my choice but many students like myself are being forced to work for the games saying failing which, you will not get your testimonial and/or may affect your grades. Is this ethical?

[Get instant updates and discussions about the YOG on our Facebook page here]

I was tasked to work night shift (I will not say who I am working for) because I am a guy and they say its better for guys to take the night job as it is unsafe for girls. We were supposed to work for 19 days straight with 2 days off only. With all the tight security, how can it be unsafe for the girls?

Many of the workers I spoke too said they were forced to come to work for the games and they do not have a pay increase although they got transport allowance. What they told me is that they say we should be proud of serving the country rather than asking for more money and its an experience of a life time that money cannot buy.

Budget wise, when I sit on the shuttle bus, I spoke to a few athletes and talked to them heartily. What I found out from some is that all foreigners invited to attend the games would be provided with a SIM card with unlimited local calls. The higher ranks one even gets a cell phone. So, is this where are they spending the money instead of promoting it? The marketing of YOG needs improvement where you can hardly hear any promotion being done. So, where did the money of 300 odd million went to?

The way they are treating the staff is horrendous. We are not allowed to take breaks for more than half hour. If we wanted to drink, we can only do so in the workforce canteen and if we happened to be in the canteen and wanted a drink, they told us cannot even though there are no atheletes and will reprimand us continuously. We are not allowed to sit anywhere near the canteen otherwise it is a violation of rules. The officials however are allowed to sit down even if there are athletes. This is double standard. The YOG committee keeps walking around to scold all kinds of workers and many which I spoke off is very fed-up and they are not sure they will stay on with the current situation or rather they do not know how long they can tolerate this. To me, even if I am not well,

I will not force myself or tell myself to hold on for the games, after all, are we recognised or appreciated?

So ironically, they treat the foreigners so well but the locals badly. Many places are short-handed and those there are force to work harder to make up for the short-fall otherwise they may get a pay cut. So must rules to follow, many are unhappy. Another factor is I know from the place I work is many who are working for YOG are Malaysians or Chinese and not many Singaporeans except we the students and a few top guns. To me, the games is really a failure at one angle.

Please keep my letter confidential if not my personal particulars to be personal as I am afraid to be black-marked (you know what I mean）. I am really afraid to write this letter as if they know I wrote it, they will blacklist me.)

After all, this is just my personal feelings and what I gathered after chatting with many of the various individuals working there. I am writing this just to inform you about happenings from the YOG to vent my frustrations and let people know about it. The more I am scared to write, they more they people would bully the workers. I will be really happy to tell you more by phone if necessary.

John Lim

Rock^Star SG

In yet another embarrassing blow to the credibility of the Singapore YOG Committee (SYOGOC) and the PAP regime, a free shooting event at YOG venue *SCAPE Youth Space was stopped abruptly when the canvas roof covering the basketball court fell apart under heavy rain.

According to the official Singapore 2010 YOG website, the YOG’s FIBA33 (basketball) will be the first international street basketball event to be held in the *SCAPE which will also be one of the venues for the Culture and Education Programme.

The shocking incident was reported in the afternoon by an auxillary police officer Mr Mohamad Zen on his Facebook:

yogzen

[Source: Mohd Zen Facebook]

Mr Mohd Zen wrote that the roof canvas gave way suddenly due to the heavy downpour and the water came down hard into the spectator stand.

His account was corroborated by a report by Yahoo News just minutes ago.

When contacted by Yahoo News, SYOGOC said the incident occurred at 4.2o pm.

“The canvas roof in front on the sideline had given way due to heavy pooling of rainwater. Some FIBA officials and SYOGOC staff got wet but, no one was injured. The Skills Challenge for Basketball at *scape Youth Space has been cancelled today [Tuesday] due to weather conditions. It was originally scheduled to take place from 4pm to 6pm,” the spokesperson added.

[Source: http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/08/18/canvas-roof-falls-apart-at-yog-basketball-venue/]

The identity of the contractor responsible for putting up the roof canvas is not known, but SYOGOC probably has some explaining to do as the incident could pose a grave danger to the participants at the event.

This is the first YOG event which has been cancelled as a result of dismal weather condition.

There were no immediate comments from Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the PAP minister in charge of the YOG. Neither did the state media carry any reports on it.

In an interview with BBC News a few days ago, a smug Dr Vivian proclaimed that the YOG is “a chance to extend Singapore’s image as an efficient globally connected city.”

Besides showcasing the very real infectious apathy of Singaporeans, it has now displayed the utter incompetence, ineptitude and impotence of the PAP regime to the entire world with this disastrous screw-up which should not have happened in the first place.

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