As a Singaporean, I should be very proud that Singapore is hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. But somehow, like most singaporeans, I am not really interested (according to a poll by CNA). Maybe because its not just us, the world seems to be turning a blind eye on the games too. I was looking at Yahoo.com and Yahoo.com.sg, there was no mention of the opening ceremony that happened yesterday. This is a far cry from the attention and praises the media had on the Beijing Olympic games 2 years ago. Was it a failure in our publicity effort? Maybe. Maybe its the lack of a certain thing that we can marvel at and call it a symbol of the olympic games. The Beijing games have the Bird Nest and the Water Cube..we have nothing. We dont even have a proper stadium for the opening ceremony. Its the first day of the games, so its still hard to say if the attention will grow over the next few days. But seriously, Yahoo Singapore dont even have a page dedicated to the olympic games...how sad is that!
The opening ceremony last nights has some high and low points. There were no spectacularly choreographed stunts or performances. Perhaps its unfair to compare it to the Beijing Games but pole dancing for the olympic games? Seriously? There were some cringe-worthy moments like when they welcome the athletes with "客人来看爸爸，爸爸不在家.." ..what were they thinking? and I know the wonder girls are hot and korean culture is the IN thing now but glorifying "Nobody , nobody but chu..." in the opening ceremony? And the familiar children day song "Sama Sama..." and "There are five stars arising..out on the stormy sea"..I thought I was watching some children's day celebration or the retelecast of last week National Day Parade. Then the flag bearers nearly screwed the ceremony up when many of them look lost after they appeared on the stage. Some turned left when they supposed to go right while some just stood right at the center only to realised that they are not supposed to be there. This is not supposed to happen, considering its just a simple matter of communication. Just follow the damn person holding the card in front of you! How difficult is that? The flagbearers cannot be blamed as they genuinely looked lost. The organiser should be blamed for not briefing them properly on what they were supposed to do.
Anyway, it was not all bad. There were some great moments during the ceremony. The fireworks display was amazing. The best I have seen since the opening of the Esplanade theater. The water stage called the reflecting pool is kinda cool as well.
The Olympic rings formed on the reflecting pool is really beautiful.
They really brought out the big guns for the fireworks display.
This is a really beautiful picture with MBS as the backdrop.
Its the moment that everyone , at least those who cared, was waiting for.. the olympic flag raised on singapore soil for the very first time. Tan Howe Liang, our first olympic medalist is one of the flag bearer. I was hoping he will be the final torch bearer.
I liked the idea of the pheonix delivering the olympic flame.
And the final torch bearer goes to...Darren Choy..who? That was my first reaction when I heard his name. A quick google search revealed he is the world champion for sailing. His parents must be really proud of him being able to light the olympic flame.
The olympic flame blazing above Darren Choy. The tornado effect is a nice touch. The light house design is rather cool too.
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