SINGAPOREANS' INVOLVEMENT IN YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

SINGAPOREANS' INVOLVEMENT IN YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES:

1\. Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) if he will provide an update on the Youth Olympic Games (YOG); (b) how are our youths involved in this important event; (c) how many foreign visitors are expected to come for the YOG; and (d)

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how will local youth athletes be able to directly benefit from Singapore's hosting of the YOG.

The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am pleased to inform Members of this House that the preparations to host the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are well on track. The key components, such as the competition formats and events schedule, venue masterplan, Culture and Education programme (CEP), the Olympic torch run and the Youth Olympic Village, have all been finalised. We have tested many of these plans and, in fact, the ongoing testing is occurring right now. We have also completed the construction or upgrading for 14 out of the 18 competition venues. The remaining four will be completed within the next two months. Training of the 20,000 volunteers, including over 1,000 public officers, is also going on in earnest.

Just two weeks ago, the International Olympic Committee Co-ordinating Commission made its fourth and final visit to Singapore to inspect our preparations. Sergey Bubka, the Chairman of the Co-ordination Commission, informed me personally that he was confident and sure that we would be able to deliver on time, on target and an exciting and innovative programme for the YOG. This is an important endorsement of our operational readiness at a critical stage of preparation.

Our young Singaporeans have also been involved in many aspects of the Singapore 2010 experience thus far. Through the Olympic Education Programme and the Friends@YOG programme, both the Ministry of Education and the Organising Committee have reached out to over 500,000 students, from Primary Schools to Junior Colleges and Universities. The Olympic Education

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Programme allows schools to engage their students and connect them with the Olympic values of Friendship, Excellence and Respect through lessons and activities. The Friends@YOG programme is one which enables our schools to twin with respective schools and national Olympic committees in other countries. So far, our schools have linked up with over 130 national Olympic Committees in other countries. And because of this programme, we have had an opportunity to link up with countries who we would not otherwise have traditionally strong links with.

In addition to these school-based programmes, young Singaporeans have also participated in the Singapore 2010 CAN! Festivals. CAN! stands for Create Action Now. These festivals were organised around the themes of Culture and Heritage, Digital Media, Environment and Arts. The youths have made their presence felt online too, through the WhyOhGee youth micro-site. They have expressed their views there and also contributed their own perspectives on the latest happenings and issues related to Singapore 2010.

We are happy that almost all these projects are initiated by young Singaporeans themselves. To date, we have some 177 such projects and initiatives which have reached out to another 108,000 young people. Because of the universal appeal of the Olympic movement, these activities have not only been focused on sports but, in fact, have extended to other youth-centric areas such as dance and digital media and the environment. The Organising Committee and the National Youth Council have also supported another 30 projects initiated by young people to celebrate the Games through the Singapore 2010 Young ChangeMakers scheme. This is a scheme that provides seed funding for self-initiated projects by young people.

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The Organising Committee has also worked with community partners to involve disadvantaged youth in order to make the YOG an inclusive event. The Wheelchair Basketball Association, Special Olympics Singapore, Singapore Boys’ Home, St Andrew’s School of Autism, Students Care Service, Beyond Social Services and Kaki Bukit Prison School are examples of partners who were actively involved in the Singapore 2010 CAN! events and other YOG initiatives. Our youths from the Singapore Boys’ and Girls’ Homes have also participated by designing and creating art pieces as YOG corporate gifts. These beautiful handicrafts have been presented to foreign dignitaries and they have made the point that this is an inclusive event for all people. Some of these art pieces are currently on display at the YOG Learning Centre at Kay Siang Road.

The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will receive some 5,000 athletes and officials from 205 National Olympic Committees, along with them will come more than 1,200 media representatives, 20,000 local and international volunteers and 370,000 spectators. This will be unprecedented in terms of the diversity of background and culture of the visitors for a single event in Singapore.

Our hosting of the YOG will reap significant benefits for our local athletes. Up to 130 Singapore athletes will be competing in the Games. To support our youth athletes, the Singapore Youth Sports Development Committee, chaired by my Senior Parliamentary Secretary, is investing up to $6.2 million to help the National Sports Associations to set up a youth talent pipeline, and prepare our athletes for the YOG and beyond. This will enable more training and competition opportunities for our young athletes. There will also be more youth coaches, who will continue to develop future cohorts of Team Singapore athletes beyond the YOG.

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The YOG is a once-in-a-lifetime event for Singapore but it is meant not just for young people, not just for sports and athletes but also indeed for all Singaporeans. It will be the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, and the way we conduct it will set a benchmark and will set standards for the future. It is also likely to be the only time that the Olympic movement and Olympic flame will be in Singapore in such an intimate manner and be deeply embedded in our own local community.

So, I would like to call upon all Singaporeans to come forth and support this special event. You can be friendly and gracious hosts to our YOG visitors. You can cheer on Team Singapore at the stadiums as well as foreign athletes who will be competing here and seeing Singapore for the first time in their lives. You can also show support for the Olympic torch runners as they make their way through various parts of Singapore. The local relay will cover all constituencies and most schools. So there will be a chance for you to participate, to witness and be part of a historic event.

We are asking all Singaporeans to make history and to make this inaugural YOG a resounding success that all of us can be proud of and all of us can remember.

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan (Nominated Member): Sir, I am very happy to hear about all these exciting lead-ups because this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for Singapore. I have three supplementary questions for the Minister. The first is media coverage, whether there are plans to cover the events extensively through the local channels. Second question is the Minister's comment on how he intends to create the buzz that we are all looking forward to. Hearing from him now, I know that there are a lot of exciting ways in which the community can participate. It is important that there should be sufficient information given to the public

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so that we know, too, how we can be a part of this important event. Finally, can the Minister share with us plans that he has on the fringe, events leading up to the Olympics itself where the community and Singaporeans in general can just be a part of the excitement of this important event?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: There will be extensive media coverage. As I said earlier, first, on the international media front, we will have over 1,200 journalists in Singapore and many of these journalists will be focused not just on sports, but also on the other facilities and attractions and entertainment that Singapore will provide. This will also be carried through newspapers as well as on television all over the world. We have had a large slate of international media companies who has confirmed their presence here. On that level, there will be extensive coverage. I believe StarHub will launch an Olympic channel which will be free, and will provide almost round-the-clock coverage. There will also be arrangements with MediaCorp as well as SingTel and people will be able to consume the media on mobile platforms, phones, digital devices, television and radio. We are also looking into opportunities to telecast certain of the more interesting events at public viewing sites either along the roads or where there are big screens already present. So I do not think there will be any shortage of media coverage, both internationally and locally.

The Member's second point was with respect to how to get involved. As I said earlier, there are numerous ways, depending on your interest and your time availability and your ability to commit to specific duties. We already have 20,000 volunteers training in earnest. If there are still people who are lining up and wanting to put up their hands, they had better do so very quickly. We also want support for our local athletes. Over the next few

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weeks, as the National Olympic Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, selects our athletes, we will provide more publicity because everyone wants to know who our local champions are, and the people to cheer for. We also need all Singaporeans to be gracious hosts. There will be many people – the young people, the parents and grandparents accompanying athletes and the officials – in Singapore because this is an international event involving the whole world. Many of them would never have been to Singapore and who would not even understand Singapore. We need Singaporeans to convey their impression of what Singapore is all about, who we are, how we are, and do so in a gracious, friendly, authentic and sincere way. Get away from all the usual stereotypes. We hope that tickets will all be sold out. We want to make sure that each event will not only be focused on the top athletes in the world taking part but also to create the atmosphere and the support, both inside and outside the stadium.

Finally, even for those of you who may not be totally obsessed with sports, there will be fringe activities. For instance, there will be nightly concerts at Marina Bay which will provide the youthful, vibrant and dynamic buzz on the Bay itself. There will be many other cultural activities which, to a large extent, will be driven by young people and by our schools. In our twinning arrangements, there have also been opportunities for young Singaporeans to discover the different cultures, different ways of life, language and civilisations. All in all, you will see, in a sense, the world coming to Singapore. We have an opportunity to be host and we can showcase the world and showcase ourselves. That is where we can create magic and that is what makes the Olympic events anywhere in the world special. It is that special chemistry of sports, entertainment, activities, hospitality, graciousness and participation by everyone concerned.