Singapore youths start Asian Youth Games with a bang at opening ceremony

Story by Koh Yizhe. Photos By Marvin Lowe.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Monday, June 29, 2009 - The first ever Asian Youth Games (AYG) was officially declared open by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the opening ceremony held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

It was a ceremony with youth as its theme, with all performances by Singapore youths. Even the volunteers helping out are students themselves who are taking time out from their busy mid-year examinations to make an effort to contribute to the AYG.

Over 40 students from Jurong Junior College made the effort to help out as ushers at the opening ceremony just hours after school ended.

Amelia and Royce were two such cases. The two Jurong Junior Collage year one students were on the look out for anyone who needed directions and were delighted to answers any enquires.

"We got involved from our school's student counsel, but we only have just enough time to take a break after school before coming here. Whatever it is, though, we still think it's great that Singapore is welcoming different athletes from other countries to our shores to this event. The AYG is like a prequel to the upcoming Youth Olympic Games next year and we hope we will be involve as well!"

Their fellow schoolmate Perlyn Neo thought that the opening ceremony was "quite cool".

"I saw the preview of the opening ceremony last week and I felt it's quite cool! With the different schools participating and with so many dances and props, it is quite a spectacle. "

And it proved to be just that, with over 28 schools sending students to be dancers, vocalists and even violinists. But of course, it only came after months of hard work and hours choreographing the different dances.

Sabrina, a student from National Junior College expressed her relief after the ceremony.

“We have been practicing for about 6 months now, and we put in plenty of hard work. So now that it is all over, I guess I am overjoyed and relived that everything is over.”

Amanda from Crescent Girls' School, was seen embracing her schoolmates and was in tears following her performance.

"It’s an emotional time for me now. I am very happy to be part of this, but at the same time, sad because this is my last performance with my friends as I am in secondary four."

With that, the girls from Crescent thanked their dance teacher, giving a very big and loud, "I love you!”

Yeo Wanling, a fourteen year old girl from Deyi Secondary also shared her experience.

"Although the training was tiring, the process and outcome were very satisfying and unforgettable. I even feel like having performance every day instead of studying! Since last year, we started learning some steps, but we received comments that it was not suitable for the occasion, so we changed it."

"Most memorable event will be the rehearsals at indoor stadium, with our props and costumes, as well as eating lunch with friends. Overall, I feel very honoured to perform today because we are the first batch to dance for the first AYG in Singapore."

The breath-taking performances was clearly enjoyed by the spectators. Nydia Hartono, a relative of performer Nathan Hartono, really enjoyed the performance, describing it as "really good”.

She thought that although they were done by youths, it was “really professional” and she singled out the closing theme song "Asia's Youth, Our Future", sung by Nathan Hartono, to be the best act of the night.

But despite the glistering performances by youths from different schools, the lack of attendance due to the recent out break of the H1N1 influenza virus marred the event.

Patches of empty seats could be seen all around the stadium with not more than 75% of seats filled.

The volunteers didn't think it is a big issue, however, saying, "It doesn't matter and it is no big deal. We don't think it would really affect the way this event is ran."

Whatever it is, the first ever Asian Youth Games officially has started, with the Games cauldron lit by national icons Tao Li, Remy Ong and Jasmine Ser.

With the formalities set aside, Singapore's athletes were raring to go. When asked if he is ready for his first match against China, national basketball player Russel Low replied with a resounding "Yes!" and added, "We are ready to go! And we will definitely try our best against China on Wednesday."

Let the games begin!