Why Singaporeans can't be bothered about Youth Olympics?
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Why Singaporeans can't be bothered about Youth Olympics?
What are some of the reasons?
Singapore unmoved by throws of youth
By Stanislaus Jude Chan
SINGAPORE - Just a month after the buzz from the vuvuzelas ended at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Singapore is busy preparing to host the next major event in the world sports calendar - the Youth Olympic Games. But few seem to know, or care, about the inaugural youth version of the venerable Olympic Games.An online survey by state-controlled media Channel News Asia found that 88% of 6,430 respondent said they were "not interested at all" in watching any of the action at the International Olympic Committee event for athletes between 14 and 18 years old.
"It's obvious that the Singapore government knows very little about what the sports world wants, and even less about its marketing," says opposition politician Dr Chee Soon Juan. "The public wants to watch top athletes in their prime in action, not when they are still in the process of getting there."
The Games are "a waste of time", says Malcolm Hoe, a 26-year-old undergraduate. "I'd rather stay at home and watch the English Premier League on television."
Some 5,000 athletes and officials from more than 200 countries are expected in this city state of 5 million people for the Games that start on Saturday and run to August 26.
"The Singapore government is spending all this money on an experimental event that has turned out to be one that few care about," says Chee. "In contrast we spend about 100 million [Singapore] dollars [US$74.2 million] on the needy in Singapore."
The initial $75 million budget for the Youth Olympic Games - one of the reasons Singapore held the edge over Moscow in the race to host them - has been blown out of the water. The organizing committee announced in July that projected government spending for the 13-day Games will now be approximately $287 million.
Niam Chiang Meng, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), admitted to being "a bit naive with our initial estimates".
With the MCYS also in charge of welfare and social schemes, critics like Leong Sze Hian question if the government "could have spent the money to help Singapore's pathetic - almost non-existent - social welfare system" instead.
"Only 3,000 people are on the Public Assistance scheme, which pays a paltry $360 a month," says Leong, past president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals. It was "last disclosed in parliament that, in a year, 50% of applicants were rejected," he adds.
"As to how much of the benefits [reaped from the Youth Olympic Games] will trickle down to citizens, we don't know because whatever cost-benefit analysis, if one was done, is not made public," says Leong.
Youth Olympic Games organizers also received flak from the public over the inconvenience to be expected from the designation of lanes along seven expressways and 15 arterial roads for the Games. Motorists who fail to give way to Olympic vehicles will be fined $97.
Even accommodation for youth athletes at the Games has been the subject of outcry.
"I used to have hostel accommodation, but was forced to move out to let the athletes take my room," posts one undergraduate, 'Darren', on an Internet website. To accommodate the Games, he claims he now has to travel some two-and-a-half hours each day to get to his university campus located at the western end of Singapore.
Still, some believe that the "prospective prestige of this global event" will prevail. "It's also an excellent platform to showcase our up-and-coming athletes as well as our organizational capabilities," says Aaron Wong, a 27-year-old teacher.
Adrian Heng, a senior public relations consultant, says he does not envy the Games' organizing committee, which has to achieve the "expectations of a nation that has become used to high standards of everything".
Despite big-money efforts to market Singapore as a regional sporting hub - with the establishment of the Singapore Sports School, the hosting of the world's first Formula 1 night race, and now the Youth Olympic Games - it is seeing one of the worst slumps in local support for sports.
For some fans, Singapore's decision to pull out from the Malaysia Cup football competition in 1994 marked the start of the demise in Singaporeans' interest in local sports. The problem, some say, is compounded by the government's policy of offering citizenship to foreign athletes to don national colors.
Citizens called it a "hollow victory" when the Singapore's women's table tennis team trounced China to win the republic's first world crown in the sport. All three members of the Singaporean team - Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei - were born in China.
Half of Singapore's football team are naturalized citizens, originally from countries including Brazil, Croatia, China and Nigeria. In 2009, nearly half of the players in the national rugby team went on strike to protest management's preferential treatment toward expatriate players. Interestingly, the 30-man squad consisted of only 13 local players.
"I think Singapore is being typically pragmatic in bringing in foreign talent, but this is really a microcosm of a wider social issue. You have to bring in the talent, but still give opportunities to locals," says Wong. "And this is part of a wider issue - the overriding importance of education in Singapore as opposed to alternative careers in sports."
Hoe says he has fond memories of watching Singapore's teams play against countries like Malaysia at the National Stadium, but "what's there to support now, when our national teams are not even made up of Singaporeans?"
(Inter Press Service)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LH11Ae01.html
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1 reason - it does not make ME rich
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Originally posted by Disman:
1 reason - it does not make rich
except for the companies involved in organising it.
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they spent so much $ on yog
they never give me $
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ha ha ha..... i like the verse in bold...... that is EXACTLY how i feel!!!
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Originally posted by Disman:
they spent so much $ on yog
they never give me $
i rather the gahment don give us money..... give you 200, take back 2000....
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Originally posted by Ä«Õß:¸ïÀë:
i rather the gahment don give us money..... give you 200, take back 2000....
Here, pay and payBefore election, they would just tell you:" this year economy very good, gdp very high - let me give us some $."
After election, you will know!
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Originally posted by Disman:
Here, pay and payBefore election, they would just tell you:" this year economy very good, gdp very high - let me give us some $."
After election, you will know!
now they wanna up anything, they will go ahead......you buay song is your pai sar....
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i think if we have had our very own winners in the international sporting scene, that would make singaporeans more interested.
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Yep, too much money spend for an event for kids.
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No school holiday(s).
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Cos these youth cannot come joo chiat pubs and many other pubs to drink, so they come or no come also no use, maybe those referees and judges can come and patronise our pubs and gals here.
Other than that, these youth are not that rich, eat and live at village sponsored by Singapore taxpayers, they also live and travel by buses sponsored by Singapore taxpayers too, so they actually can come here empty handed and still can survive and eat well. No wonder they need another hundreds of millions to help them. People olympic and international events make money, only singapore lose money.
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Originally posted by Disman:
Here, pay and payBefore election, they would just tell you:" this year economy very good, gdp very high - let me give us some $."
After election, you will know!
that's the same old shit from PAP wah.
before elections, give you money, after elections raise gst, erp, taxes etc.
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Originally posted by Vote PAP OUT to Save SG:
that's the same old shit from PAP wah.
before elections, give you money, after elections raise gst, erp, taxes etc.
work permit also.must increase the pub hostesses, etc work permit by 300%
then they will leave us alone
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Originally posted by Disman:
work permit also.must increase the pub hostesses, etc work permit by 300%
then they will leave us alone
why apply permit and let the govt earn the levy, go illegal lah. Just come here a month of social visit, go back with $10k in the pocket, singapore men are so generous. -
Originally posted by angel7030:
why apply permit and let the govt earn the levy, go illegal lah. Just come here a month of social visit, go back with $10k in the pocket, singapore men are so generous.ha ha ha ....well said......
there are A LOT OF THESE GIRLS around.....you bet.....
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No money for the following issues:
- Clearing clogged drain
- Install security camera with real camera inside
- Allow late payment for jobless or poor singapore citizens
- Build multi storey carpark
Got money to show off to the world and show how silly we are.
Too much money have got to their head.
Can only do wayang all the time and cannot do their job.
The worse thing is self-denial of the coming flop and failure.
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I am working in SAFTI MI and i can say that the organising of the YOG (they running from SAFTI to NTU today as i am writing now) is horrendous.
Typical of many government organisations, there a LOT of last-minute changes and too many 'heads' making decisions thus messing things up when in fact the overall planning should be finalised long ago. A well-organised event is one which will have minimal changes and that too due to unforeseen circumstances. There should also be only one person who they contractor should report to.
I should know as i am involved.
Thus, i am not suprised that the YOG budget go way beyond the initial assessment and i do not think we will ever see a change in the way most of our civil service sector plan things in the near future. So what to do, bite the bullet and hope the people sitting in ivory towers wake up form their dreamworld.
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Originally posted by Medicated Oil:
No money for the following issues:
- Clearing clogged drain
- Install security camera with real camera inside
- Allow late payment for jobless or poor singapore citizens
- Build multi storey carpark
Got money to show off to the world and show how silly we are.
Too much money have got to their head.
Can only do wayang all the time and cannot do their job.
The worse thing is self-denial of the coming flop and failure.
they don pay for all these expenses, WE PAY FOR ALL THESE EXPENSES!!!