3......2....1.. *YOG countdown clock revealed!!!!* (By Lim Rui How )

Monday, August 24, 2009

The Youth Olympic Games will be hosted in Singapore and what better way to get everyone into the spirit than by getting them to come down and join us in the revelation of the Youth Olympic Games count-down clock? Getting off from the MRT after an hour long ride will be a relief especially if you were standing and had no space to move about. Even on the MRT, there were traces of the YOG carnival which has already started at the Padang. I alighted at City-Hall Interchange and went up to the street level. ‘Wow’ was the word I used to describe my surroundings. The atmosphere at the Padang was pumped and ‘alive’. More than 5000 people have attended this event which will initiate the 1-year count-down to the Youth Olympic Games which will be held in Singapore in 2010.Here is a little something about the Youth Olympic Games. It consists of 26 sports and 201 events The 26 sports are as follows: Aquatics. Archery. Athletics. Badminton. Basketball. Boxing .Canoe-kayak. Cycling. Equestrian (horse riding). Fencing. Football. Gymnastics. Handball. Hockey. Judo. Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Table tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Wrestling.

Where ever I go, all I see are people who support Singapore in hosting the Youth Olympic Games. The entire Padang was buzzing with excitement. There were a number of sports which the public can try such as sailing, fencing and archery. Most people say Singaporeans are not physically active, but they are wrong. What I see with my own eyes are Singaporeans, young or old trying out the sports offered with sports such as archery having a queue that snakes here and there.

Of course, archery is not the only sport which we Singaporeans are interested in. To try out these sports, the public has to redeem coupons and they were all fully redeemed. This is concrete prove that Singaporeans are more than just mindless machines who do nothing but stare at the computer screens.

This was only a small margin of the total number of people attending the carnival.

At 7.10pm, the area center stage which was right outside the steps of City Hall was buzzing with excitement as the time for the unveiling of the Youth Olympic Games count-down clock draws near with one hour more to go. It also happens to be the place where Singapore was chosen to host the Youth Olympic Games last year on the 21^st of September. In the duration of this 1 hour, there were performances and mini activities to pump up the crowd and keep them entertained. With just 30 minutes to go until the unveiling, the crowd was pumped up and ready to celebrate.

Everyone is waiting for the YOG count-down
clock to be unveiled.

10 minutes to go and people started taking cameras and handphones in preparation for the glorious moment with some even cheering and recording the whole event. Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security S. Jayakumar, the guest-of-honor was moved by this occasion and atmosphere. “If anyone has any doubts about the support, enthusiasm and spirit of the young for the YOG, they should come here and listen to all of you.” he said. 3 minutes to go and the crowd starts to go crazy, screaming and shouting. 1 minutes more and the atmosphere is intense. 3…2…1…the curtain drops… and the clock is revealed and the crowd goes wild. Flashes were seen in the air as the crowd and photographers started snapping photos. The clock was unveiled at 8.10 pm which if changed to 24-hour would be 2010 which is the year when the Youth Olympic Games will start. With the unveiling of the clock comes the count-down.

20 minutes to go until it was exactly one year before the start of the Youth Olympic Games next year and the crowd was dancing with the host giving comments. 10 minutes to go and everyone were still jumping up and down, with the host egging them on. 2 minutes to go and everyone started to go out of control with the host looking at the clock and finally counting down with the crowd as it reaches 0365 days,

00 hours,

00 minutes and...

20 seconds.

3…

2…

1... !!!

With 365 days to go, YOG will be in
Singapore!!

The Youth Olympic Games will be hosted in Singapore on the 15^th August, 2010.

So people, let's get ready and join in the fun..! =)

With Love @ 23:55