i.justrealized

Not everyone is merry over Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Even as the YOG comes to a closing today, I still hear the resentment. I am largely indifferent over the matter and I don’t know enough of it to contribute an opinion.

Singaporean arrested after Facebook attack on govt

In a statement, police said they had arrested a “man in his late 20s” on Tuesday “in connection with investigations into offences related to incitement of violence”.

…Abdul Malik Ghazali, 27, who posted a series of comments on the social networking site critical of how Singapore is hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The August 14-26 event, held for competitors aged from 14 to 18, has generated limited public interest, with many events blighted by empty seats and the host country’s athletes faring badly.

Vivian Balakrishnan, the minister for community development, youth and sports, has come under particular fire from online critics over the games.

Abdul Malik’s postings on his own Facebook page and on a separate group account called “I hate the Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee” are also critical of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

He said it was time to “burn” the sports minister and the PAP. “Rally together and vote them out!!!” he wrote.

“I did not intend for it to be taken literally. I did not mean for someone to actually burn,” he said. –AFP (Source: Asiaone)

Here’s what the group has to say and what they describe themselves to be:

We are Singaporeans who are disappointed and angry with the YOG organising Committee (SYOGOC).

The SYOGOC ballooned its initial budget of S$105 million for the YOG to S$387 million. In contrast, this government allocated only $92 million to the ComCare and Social Support Programme for needy Singaporeans in 2010.

The SYOGOC chose to fake its ticket sales results by having MOE to purchase the bulk of the tickets. This has led to the strange phenomenon of the half-filled stadiums and competition halls, despite tickets being fully “sold out”!

Students were coerced by their schools to support the torch relays and to attend YOG events. The volunteers were badly treated with substandard and even unsafe food!

It is an event organised by the politicians for the politicians to look good in front of foreigners, and the government is splurging on taxpayers’ money like nobody’s business.

We hate the YOG Organising Committee!

The group has 2,796 members currently.

Okay time for Merly:

(Merly Youth Olympics Singapore 2010.)

Ridzuan was telling me merlion is a male. It clearly has long hair and is very feminine here:

(Merly Youth Olympics Singapore 2010.)

The Merly soft toy is available is many malls. There’s also a Lyo.

Here’s the cheer song of Singapore Youth Olympics 2010, whatever that means:

JJ林俊杰 ~ You Are The One, Singapore (Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010)

Meanwhile, this is the theme song:

Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Hey Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Ho. It’s hilarious, somewhat cringe-inducing too.

Got this through email, Michael Phelps during birth:

This is for the more imaginative:

Just something random.

And this is what Michael Phelps did when he wins his 100m butterfly:

Sportsmanship FTW!

• Singapore lost Table Tennis against China, it was a good match though. #
• Singapore lost but our table tennis playing still join in and sing China national anthem yay! #

Singapore lost, it was a good match considering that it sort of lasted quite long. Comparatively to Hong Kong’s match, it is already very good. Singapore’s table tennis team got a silver this time. This is also the first medal awarded to Singapore since our independence.

It’s a good year after all. This could well increase Olympics awareness in Singapore. It’s a little unfortunate that the table tennis team did not comprise of – ahem – too many Singapore natives. At least I can see Li Jiawei singing the Chinese national anthem too.

I guess that ends our Beijing Olympics quest for medals. I look forward to four years later.

[Note: If I could, I would have bury this post as inaccurate. It spreads around some friends and a couple of us picked it up and thought it was true.]

Hey, it’s nothing man. That little bit of Singapore flag brushing on the ground is a mistake and it’s really nothing compared to this:

Bush Dissrespectful to American flag

Oh no he didn’t!

Same data for the Olympics, different way of presentation:

From Sina and CNN.

At Sina Olympic front page:

At CNN Sports Illustrated:

Singapore news site, Channel NewsAsia:

Singapore rather covers Thaksin in the front page. That’s because we haven’t won any medals yet. Channel NewsAsia Beijing Olympic site talks about the Olympic spirit, the dance and some Olympic history.