Updates on Youth Olympic Games

It has been a few days into the Youth Olympic Games, and I must really say it is a resounding success that was beyond my imagination! I felt that the Opening Ceremony and the events up till now have been carried out rather smoothly, and there has been a rather positive response to the crowd. Before that, tickets sales have not been rather good, and usually half of the seats in the arena are empty. This does not reflect well on the host country, hence the Singapore National Olympic Committee had launched a new scheme to resell tickets that were unsold before the match started. Thus, many people were able to watch Singaporeans in action, as well as top youth athletes from all over the globe. When the President of the Olympic Committee visited Singapore, Rogges said that it was very successful, which has boosted Singapore's reputation internationally. However, to my disappointment, Singapore's sole representative at the badminton competition had been knocked out by Malaysian Loh Wei Sheng. It was very regretful that Singapore was unable to win a medal in the badminton event. In other events, Singapore took home a silver and bagged 3bronzes so far. In conclusion, I wish all the athletes participating in the Youth Olympic Games good luck!

Youth Olympic Games

The Youth Olympic Games will kick start from tomorrow onwards! I very excited to have world class athletes competing for glory for themselves as well as their own country, and achieving the one of the top youth sporting accolades. It is also a chance for the athletes to have a gauge of their standards at world stage. However, I feel that the hosting rights should have been given to Moscow instead. As we can see, successfully hosting international sporting events would reap greater benefits for a developing country rather than a developed country. The infrastructure, transport systems of the country would be improved and even the people there would be friendlier. Take South Africa for example. It has successfully hosted the renowned FIFA World Cup, therefore boosting its tourism, economy, and reputation. Even world leaders such as Barack Obama praised South Africa. Another example would be the Beijing Olympics. The Olympics has improved the quality of air, quality of people as well as infrastrcture of Beijing. Thus, I strongly feel that Moscow should be given the hosting rights for the Youth Olympic Games.

Visit to Peranakan Museum

Today, Ms Lim brought my friends and I to the Peranakan Museum for a field trip! Everybody was excited as we were about learn more about the Peranakan culture and its past, in order to have a deeper understanding of the literature text we were studying, Emily of Emerald Hill. Ms Lim also gave us a worksheet to fill up, as we went from a place to another. As I have watched the Channel 8 drama "The Little Nonya", I had a little knowledge of the Peranakan culture. As we strolled in the Peranakan Museum, I found out that there was Peranakans were actually Chinese, with a little Malay in their culture. We also learnt about food, rituals, clothings and even saw the utensils and cutlery of the Peranakan families. From this field trip, I was able to have a greater understand of Peranakan Culture and better imagine the life of Emily in the Play.

Youth Olympic Games Torch Relay

After much anticipation, the Youth Olympic torch has finally arrived in Hwa Chong! We were expecting a whole array of activities, such as lion dance and performances put up by the various CCA groups to add on to the celebratory mood. However, it was a letdown for all of us. The first dissapointment was that we had to wait for half an hour for the arrival of the Youth Olympic Flame. It was disgusting. Surely the time could be put to better use? With so many test coming up, we can barely cope, yet they wanted us to waste half an hour just to cheer when the torch arrived? Secondly, the Flame arrived in a small candle and the torch was not even lit. How is it supposed to be a relay when the torch is not lit? It was dissapointing for all of us. As we had to stand by the roadside, we could not see any of the action that took place somewehere else. Then, we had to wait for another half an hour before we were let off. The third dissapointment, which was the greastest dissapointment for me, took place while I was crossing the road. At a zebra crossing, I was about to cross. However, a car driven by a Youth Olympic Games offical told me to stop and let him go first! I was so angry. Does being an Youth Olympic Games offical make you higher ranked than other civilians? Even World Champions are just another motorist on the road, much less an official. This has made me both displeased as well as dissapointed.

Hosting China Students for Immersion Programme

The week before national day was celebrated, Ortus hosted a group of students from China, and I was involved in leading them around the places of interest in Singapore. However, contrary to my belief that China students are disciplined and well-behaved, the students were not only talkative but also disobedient and did not listen to of our instructions. Thus, our plans were greatly disrupted and could not follow as planned. Originally, we were supposed to bring them to Little India, followed by Chinatown and then to Toa Payoh. However, the students were uncoorperative and moved very slowly. Hence, after visiting Little India, we skipped to Toa Payoh to have our dinner. We did not even have the time to bring them around to show them our HDB flats and bubble tea. After dinner, we took a charted bus from Toa Payoh to the Night Safari. When we entered, many of them did not follow closely to each other, resulting in the group being split into two groups for the tram ride. The China students also disobeyed instructions and continued using flash photography despite repeated reminders. Finally, after the tram ride, it was time to head home. This trip has changed my mindset of China students and will make me think twice before hosting anymore in future.

National Day Celebration

It was a long weekend for us, with five days of holidays! It was a good time to regenerate, relax, before all the term test came in. On Friday, I had CCA Appreciation and thus missed the national day performance at Kah Kee Hall. However, the CCA Appreciation ended earlier, thus I joined my friends at Kah Kee Hall and managed to catch a little of the sing along session. My class also won a consolation prize for the most united class award! I think it was because all of us came in school uniform and P.E. Attire instead of red and white, hence we received a consolation prize for being "united". During the sing along session, we sang "Stand up for Singapore" and "Peng You". Both are rather sentimental songs. My friends and I had fun singing the songs together. On Monday, I watched the full parade held at the Padang. I think it was a sparkling performance and managed to show off Singapore's military prowess. My favourite was the fireworks, which was dazzling. Fireworks exploded and lit up the night sky for a full three minutes! It was so loud I could even hear it from my house! (But there's a lag between the screen and the actual 1 because light travels faster than sound) However, the angle of camera taking the fireworks was not really good; hence it was unable to catch the desired effect of the fireworks. After that, I also watch Ip Man and I felt that it was a good movie that could portray national pride (but in the case of China, not Singapore). All in all, I enjoyed my national day celebration!