Thursday, August 26, 2010

YOG ticketing Glitches

August 22nd, 2010

As mentioned earlier, schools are ‘invited’ to attend these games. From my understanding, school tickets are sold to schools at a much discounted prize of $2. It has been inconvenient for spectators who wish to watch the games especially when our local athletes have succeeded to advance to the next round of competition.

To simply put it, school students only attend the games in the early morning/afternoon aka curriculum time. During these times, athletes who are competing would only be in their preliminary rounds. What follows are the inconveniences that schools have brought to YOG spectators.

1) Schools are assigned a sport to watch. Students watching the games do not know how the sport is being played, the rules etc. These students buy a bulk of tickets, thus causing the tickets to be ‘Sold-Out’. Shouldn’t the NSA be granted a certain amount to sell to their own sporting body at a discounted price as well? Esp since these ppl would actually KNOW what they are watching?

2) Schools only attend Prelims which is held during the curriculum time. They do not attend the exciting matches which are usually held in the evening, thus leaving the competition venue barren during telecast. It makes SG appear to be non-supportive of their own games.

3) Due to the tickets that schools have bought, they have limited the tickets for sale and prevent people who wish to come down to support the players during the more important matches after they have advanced to the following rounds. People who genuinely want to support the players are not given the chance to do so. So much for sporting nation and cheering on Team Singapore.

For example, during the TKD match on the 16th when Singapore’s Darryl Tan clinched the first bronze medal, there were an influx of
supporters who wish to support him for the silver medal match. However, the tickets were ’sold out’ but it was evident that the venue was empty during the broadcast.

Similarly, during Nurul Shafinas match on the 17th, after she has successfully clinched the bronze medal, many people wanted to support the TKD player but were unable to do so due to the ticket’s being sold out. Only the JCs were present during her exciting match where she almost won the game. Given that they were more local supporters who were there to cheer her on, she may have
possibly succeeded in winning Singapore’s silver medal with a strong crowd behind her.

What I am suggesting is that YOG committee should have looked at these problem. Since they have made schools attend a sport, they should have seen that schools would only be able to attend the games during curriculum time and will leave once its evening. They then should release the seats that these schools have purchased and allow them to be sold to the general public who are able to attend and cheer our local athletes at that particular time. If these schools wish to watch the game, they should report 2 hours before, rather than just disappear, leaving the place with empty seats during LIVE telecast.

Frankly speaking, I was disappointed that my friends and I were not granted tickets especially since I really wanted to support my friend and fellow Singapore athlete during her silver medal match. Her extended family members were equally disappointed. Yet, during broadcast, it was evident that there was a lack of local supporters and a lot of empty seats…So much for ‘Sold-Out’.

JANET YANG

http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/404587?page=7

IOC Vice President Thomas Bach raised alarm bells on YOG’s spiraling costs

August 22nd, 2010

One of the Vice Presidents of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Mr Thomas Bach has raised alarm bells on the spiraling costs of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore which has exceeded more than three times its initial budget to a shocking $387 million dollars.

“The financial requirements of the games should not limit future host candidates “to the same relatively small, exclusive circle of (developed) countries capable of holding Olympic Games,” Thomas Bach said. (read article here)

There were some concerns that the sky-rocketing costs of hosting the YOG may deter developing countries from bidding for future games.

In contrast, the twelfth Island Games – a biennial mini-Olympics for island communities to be staged in the Swedish-speaking island of Aland for roughly the same number of athletes last year cost only S$4 million dollars.

“A country which is able to organize Olympic Games should therefore not be considered as a host for Youth Olympic Games,” he added.

Mr Bach is the second IOC Vice President to express his doubts about the YOG. Another Vice President Mr Richard Pound boycotted the event completely.

“It would be hypocritical to spend even more of the IOC’s money to come to something in which I do not believe”, says Pound. Instead of going to Singapore he went on vacation. (read article here)

Mr Pound also doubted that the YOG will be a hit among the youth, contrary to what IOC President Jacques Rogge had proclaimed.

“Will the Youth Olympic Games get one more — what we call ‘a couch potato’ in America — into the swimming pool or on the track?” said Dick Pound. All the people involved are minors. They are still doing sports,” he quipped sarcastically.

Despite the exorbitant costs of hosting the YOG, Singapore Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said he would still bid for the YOG at the present cost.

“I think this is not a trifling amount. But it is an amount that will give us value for money in terms of positioning ourselves, in terms of marketing ourselves, in terms of making sure we are on everyone’s radar screen the next time they make an investment decision,” he said during an interview with BBC News.

[Source: BBC News]

The beleaguered Dr Vivian has come under fire of late from Singaporeans for bursting the YOG budget and a litany of comical screw-ups tarnishing Singapore’s reputation in the world.

An online citizen set up by a school teacher to demand a public apology from Dr Vivian has garnered more than 300 signatures in one day alone.

[Please sign the petition demanding a public apology from Dr Vivian Balakrishnan for mismanaging the YOG here.]

http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/404587?page=7

Singaporeans demand a public apology from Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan for mismanaging the Youth Olympic Games (YOG)

We hope if Brunei becomes a host country. 'Problem' like this would not happen.

taken from here
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/vivianyogapology/

We are Singaporeans who are dismayed, disappointed and disgusted with the performance of Singapore's Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan in his handling of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and are demanding a PUBLIC APOLOGY from him for the following:

1. Exceeding the initial YOG budget by more than three times:

The budget has ballooned from $107 million dollars to a shocking $387 million dollars. In contrast, Dr Vivian allocated a miserly $92 million dollars to help poor and needy Singaporeans in the same year. Till today, Dr Vivian has yet to account to Singaporeans as to what happened.

2. Failure to engage and consult Singaporeans before bidding for YOG:

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan did not bother to seek the views of Singaporeans before launching an official bid for the YOG in 2007. He simply went ahead and bid for it without conducting a study to assess the level of public support of it. Even Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself has expressed doubts if Singapore is ready to host the YOG. As a result, the YOG is becoming "Your Own Game" instead of a genuine national event involving all Singaporeans.

3. Lack of enthusiasm and support among Singaporeans for YOG:

Dr Vivian has more than two years to publicize and promote the YOG among Singaporeans. Nearly $10 million dollars of taxpayers' monies are spent on giant YOG billboards and banners put up all over Singapore and yet few Singaporeans are remotely interested in it. In an online poll conducted by Channel News Asia two weeks ago, 88 percent of some 6,400 Singaporeans said they are "not interested in the YOG at all" while 4 percent has never heard about it despite the extensive coverage given by the Singapore media. The lack of interest from Singaporeans for the YOG is evidenced by the rows of empty seats at its games and events with the live band at Marina promontory playing to a non-existent audience for days.

4. Lack of interest and publicity from the international media:

Dr Vivian claimed that YOG is supposed to put Singapore on the world map, but interest from the international media has been scanty at best. Billed as Singapore's "biggest" show, the YOG opening ceremony did not even make the sports headines of major international papers with the limelight stolen by the English Premier League, PGA and Rogers Cup. News coverage of the YOG was relegated to inconspicuous corners of most foreign publications if they do appear at all. Other than the relatives and friends of the athletes, hardly anybody has heard of YOG outside Singapore.

5. Ticketing lapses:

This must be a first in an international sporting event - tickets are sold out but yet the seats are empty causing athletes to perform in near empty stadiums. It turns out that MOE and various state agencies have bought the tickets in advance for distribution to their students and staff, few of whom bother to attend the games, resulting in genuine fans not being able to watch them on the day of the competition.

6. Forcing students to attend YOG events:

Due to the lack of support from the people, Singapore students are being forced to attend YOG events with a primary school principal even asking the students to pay a $5 "deposit" to ensure they turn up. Another primary school coerced its students to stand in the rain for hours to welcome the YOG torch rally. Some are threatened with not being given their testimonials or corrective work order if they do not support the YOG. Dr Vivian has achieved the unique feat of turning the "Youth Olympic Games" into the "Youth Arirang Games", reminiscent of the annual mass games conducted by North Korea.

7. Giving YOG volunteers substandard food while treating athletes like kings:

While athletes are given three daily buffet meals, YOG volunteers who have to work for long hours without rest are given substandard inadequate food not fit for human consumption. From the callous manner which the volunteers are being treated or rather mistreated, it is pretty obvious that Dr Vivian does not acknowledge, let alone appreciate their contributions at all. They are nothing more but mere "slaves" in his eyes to ensure that his YOG becomes a success, if ever.

8. Safety issues at YOG venues:

A roof canvas collapsed in a heavy downpour at a YOG venue *SCAPE. Fortunately, nobody was injured as there are few people around at the scene. A temporary platform collapsed injuring a journalist from China. These lapses in safety are almost unheard of in international sporting events.

9. Mass food poisoning outbreak at two YOG venues:

On 15 August 2010, 26 YOG volunteers came down with diarrhoea and abdominal pain after taking contaminated meals provided by the YOG food caterer. The volunteers and public were not informed of the mass food poisoning outbreak until three days later after the news was leaked and spreading like wildfire on the internet, suggesting of a cover-up by the organizers. In the first place, such a lapse in the food hygiene should not have happened at all. Instead of calling a press conference to explain the incident to concerned parents, Dr Vivian simply said during a side event that the investigations will take "some time".

10. Daily inconveniences for Singaporeans:

Ordinary Singaporeans struggling to make a living have to put up with many unexpected inconveniences caused by an over-zealous administration under the charge of Dr Vivian desperate to make itself look good in the eyes of the world. Motorists are told repeatedly to give way to YOG vehicles in YOG-designated lanes or fined $130. Bus routes are diverted with little warning and commuters have to walk long distances to reach their destinations. NTU has been turned into a "high security prison" with many road blocks and diversions. School examinations were re-scheduled so that the students can support the YOG. Parents have to stay up late to wait for their children to return home after their volunteer stint. The list goes on.

Conclusion

The YOG has no tangible benefits for Singaporeans and is nothing more but a $387 million dollar "vanity fair" of Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. If he still has any sense of shame left in him, he should apologize to Singaporeans unreservedly and explain and clarify the lingering doubts about the handling of the YOG on our minds.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Look at what the Singapore Youth Olympic Games have in store!!

click for larger image

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Spelling errors aplenty on YOG signage

As the inaugural YOG is about to kick off in Singapore, STOMPers are spotting egregious spelling errors on signage posted up everywhere.

STOMPer Rina said:

"Came across this major typo error on this badge in one of the YOG souvenir shops.

"Nice Youth Olympic 'villoge'."

Another STOMPer Crystal wrote:

"On the sign posted, it says that children/infants require 'seperate' tickets."

YOG organisers promise better food, but is this enough for a 25-year-old volunteer?

STOMPer YOG volunteer is upset with the small portions of food given to YOG volunteers, even after promises from the organisers to imporve the quality of food.

In an earlier posting by STOMPer Fox, he talked about how dismayed he was when he saw the small servings of food given to YOG volunteers, even when they worked so hard.

STOMPer YOG volunteer said in his latest email yesterday (Aug 14):

"SFI and the YOG committee assured us a few days back that the food quality would improve.

"However, I am dismayed that no action has failed to materialise from this debacle.

"Are the organisers getting complacent and taking us volunteers for granted? Today (Aug 14), I arrived at ECP for a YOG rehearsal at slightly after 9am.

"I did not have time to have breakfast and so I had to wait till after the rehearsal for lunchbreak at around 12 or 1pm.

"And this was what greeted me. What appalled me even more was that when I asked for a slightly larger piece of chicken, the servers told me bluntly 'Sorry... this is standard size.'

"Great, so no breakfast and when I tried to get a larger portion for lunch, they refused.

"Are they saying a 10-year-old volunteer has the same nutritional requirements as a 25-year-old?

"Are they saying everyone needs only a 'standard size serving'?

"YOG you better wake up your idea."

Posted on 14 Aug 2010 Volunteers work so hard for YOG and this is all we get for food

Volunteers and NS men who are taking their time to help out at the Youth Olympic Games need to be treated better, says STOMPer Fox, who was dismayed by the small servings of low quality food given to them.

The food provided for volunteers is insufficient and unacceptable, says Fox, who is also upset that the committee took so long to respond to feedback about their experience.

STOMPer Fox says:

“Our volunteers don’t deserve this kind of treatment, especially not our activated Ns men and poor student turned volunteers.

“Shame on this.

“You can even count the number of beans.

“According to some volunteers we spoke to, they have been complaining to the YOG committee about the food for a number of days to no avail.

“It’s only after the matter was blown up in cyberspace did the organisers bother to take any action.

“As usual, there were no immediate comments on the embarrassing saga from the YOG committee”.

Friday, August 13, 2010

The importance of good food for volunteers, more of course for the athletes.

Controversy over meal packs for YOG volunteers

By Fann Sim – August 13th, 2010

Photo of the meal served to YOG volunteers.

By Republic Polytechnic’s Fann Sim

Local internet forums are buzzing over the sub-standard food being served to the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The issue surfaced after a volunteer snapped a photo of the meal and uploaded it onto his Facebook page.

According to the volunteer, a typical lunchbox consists of a piece of meat (fried chicken in this case), long beans, corn and white rice. Debate has raged on since the photo was posted on Tuesday.

Netizen Chris Liew, 33, an investment banker said, “Even if the meal was an isolated incident, such a logistics oversight of providing sub-standard meals to our volunteers should have been avoided at all costs.”

Another full-time NS man Leslie Wong, 20, who was stationed at the Marina Bay floating platform, was quoted on The Straits Times as saying, “One of the meals was a dry, tasteless piece of chicken with a few slices of carrot and soggy rice. I ended up throwing most of it away.”

Online socio-political website The Temasek Review even had an anonymous volunteer comparing the bland meals to “dog food”.

Food for the volunteers is provided by Singapore Food Industries (SFI), a subsidiary of the Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Sats). Sats has confirmed that the meal in the picture above was indeed part of a meal that was provided to the YOG volunteers.

“We have received feedback from the workforce regarding the meals served. We take their feedback very seriously and have promptly taken action to improve and ensure that the portions and variety served will provide the workforce with a balanced meal,” said the Sats spokesperson.

YOG’s organising committee have also been quick to respond: “We are aware of the feedback (on the meal) and have taken immediate action. We will work with the caterers to continually improve the meal standards.”

YOG volunteers Yahoo! Singapore spoke to had a mixed experience.

20-year-old Audrey Ng, a volunteer at the National Sailing Centre had a better dining experience.

Ms Ng said volunteers there are given meal coupons they can redeem at various food vendors.

When asked if she’s been given lunch like the one pictured above, she said ‘no’.

“The food at the other venues seems lousy. Ours is not that bad and we have free flow of drinks here. I’ve heard from my friend that the food provided was quite bad on the first day of rehearsal but it’s getting better,’’ said Ms Ng.

But 21-year-old Md Raziman Sani, a full-time NS man activated to volunteer at the YOG floating platform, agreed that the food he’s being served is similar to the lunchbox pictured above.

“Our meal consists of rice that’s cold, vegetables and a meat usually chicken or fish. It’s nice and generally enough to fill us,” he said.

For dinner, volunteers are given free drinks such as a can of Coca-Cola, green tea or ice lemon tea. On top of that, they get a packet of wet wipes and dry tissue and once a week, they get ice cream.

“We also got vouchers from McDonald’s and some Old Chang Kee vouchers,” said Raziman.

$3 Old Chang Kee voucher given to the volunteers at the Floating Platform.

Clearly, there are different caterers for different venues so standards vary.

And surely the YOG athletes at the Games Village are being treated to a different kind of feast.

So it would seem that the very least YOG organisers can do is ensure that Singapore’s own army of volunteers — many of whom are sacrificing their precious time — are well-fed and taken care of.

How about the foods that you've 'enjoyed' at Kolej Pendeta Za'ba's Games Village? Comments?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Some parts of the report

click for larger image

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Singapore YOG Village wows athletes

Participants showered with treats, including air-conditioned rooms

By Lin Xinyi

(From left) Village Mayor Teo Ser Luck, Chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee Ng Ser Miang, deputy mayor Joscelin Yeo, International Olympic Committee Executive Director for the Olympic Games Gilbert Felli, and deputy mayor C. Kunalan setting off streamers to mark the official opening of the village yesterday. -- PHOTO: SPH-SYOGOC/GEOFFREY PEREIRA

View more photos

WHEN Oscar Ooi boarded a taxi with three travel bags yesterday, the driver asked him which country he was heading to.

The national youth handballer was indeed heading to a destination filled with foreign cultures. However, he will not be flying anywhere.

Oscar, 17, was among the first Singaporean athletes to check into the Youth Olympic Village at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) yesterday.

The Republic's handball, football and diving athletes moved into the village hours after it officially opened.

For the next two weeks, the village will be the home away from home for some 5,000 local and foreign Youth Olympic Games athletes and team officials.

And Village Mayor Teo Ser Luck, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, has already promised athletes a historic experience.

The village boasts a village square - the gathering point for Culture and Education Programme (CEP) activities, retail outlets and a dining hall.

The CEP activities, which include talks with YOG ambassadors such as Chinese diving sensation Guo Jingjing, team-building activities at Pulau Ubin and educational trips to the Marina Barrage, do not start until Friday but they are expected to play a big part in the athletes' YOG experience.

Gilbert Felli, the International Olympic Committee's Executive Director for the Olympic Games, said: 'The world is going to look at (the CEP) to see if it works.

'This will really help us to put the concept together because this is for the future of the youths in the Olympic movement.'

The low level of activity at the village yesterday did little to dampen the mood of the athletes.

Upon their arrival, they were each given a pre-paid transport card and a Samsung smart phone pre-loaded with an application that allows users to receive YOG-related content and services.

South African hockey player Jacinta Jubb, 17, said: 'I was blown away by how much stuff we were given.'

For Nick Fransman, 18, lunch proved to be the highlight of the day.

The variety of food available at the dining hall includes Asian and European cuisine, pasta and seafood, and allowed the Dutch shuttler to try a bit of everything.

But the biggest cheers were reserved for the air-conditioned rooms.

Malaysian swimmer Kevin Lim, 18, said: 'It's amazing. Usually if you stay in a hostel, you won't expect air-conditioning. What I've seen so far has exceeded my expectations.'

More than 1,000 athletes and team officials from more than 100 national olympic committees have already arrived in Singapore.