TR EMERITUS

By Aloysius Sim, a Youth Village volunteer I am a volunteer for the youth Olympic village in NTU whom, initially, was very intrigued and impressed with this “global” event that is to be held in Singapore, but is now utterly disappointed . First off, my Institute “**ATEC” volunteered almost everyone within the institute for this event of course, with certain legit penalties/disadvantages to our grades and attendance if we do not. We started volunteering one or two days after our tests, that have been modified, crammed, trimmed, drilled into us within the most impossible and unreasonable duration. I am in charge of a Hall, whereby consists of 5 Blocks, of a nearly 300 or possibly more athletes and delegates combined, from different countries. I am the supervisor for the hall, and working WITH, not under me are 1-3 officers a shift, depending on the turn-up and schedule given to us. A.M and P.M shifts are 8 hours, night shifts are 10hrs. Gladly, the people I’m working with, god bless them, are pro-active and efficient, making life less painful for this duration. Do let me state clear that WE, the volunteers within the village ARE working hard, I daresay, mostly not for the YOG, but for our comrades that are working alongside us, be it the translators, the caterers, laundry coordinators, event planners, NTU hall office staffs and housekeeping staffs(do forgive me if I left anyone out). I know not of what goes on within the YOG committee, but I DO KNOW that the Residential Centre manager, Housekeeping manager, Room allotment manager and duty-managers to name a few, ARE working at least 14-16 Hours A DAY, on shift, to keep the village in order, despite the lack of staff, resources, means and constraints. I know that for I speak to them every day, hear them through the walkie-talkies. See their sweat soaked uniforms as they trudge through the maze-like NTU to assist us with unreasonable and unyielding demands from international delegations. Work force = All volunteers and staff “working” within the village. What we face: 1)      Many of us till now are still facing problems with the ez-link cards that are given out to us that should provide complimentary public transportation to the Village. Meaning, as of now, some of us are still paying for our transport. Try going back and forth from Simei (Cost X 29 trips). 2)      Shuttle buses from Boon Lay interchange, the only means of getting into the village comes in 30min intervals, are single decked, shared by the whole workforce with the village and sometimes delegates, are ALWAYS filled to the brim leaving some unable to board during shift changing times. They have yet to rectify the issue or they might even not be rectifying the issue, for all we know, they might just be averting their eyes from it. 3)      Internal shuttle services within the village are no better for they are shared by not only the workforce and delegations, but the full strength by the thousands within the village. Bus stops are constantly packed with people, and do note, they are single-deckers again. 4)      Food served for the volunteers, for an example, 2 vegetable items, 1 meat item, a fruit and drinks from sponsor, coca-cola. What I had yesterday, Baked carrot sticks, Baked potatos, 1 piece of dry bland almost unsalted chicken, rice and a banana. Note the food are portioned and they had on more than one occasion ran out of food and volunteers sent out for lunch had to go back to work without food for it took too long for them to replenish the food. I believe everyone has an idea of what the athletes have already so I shall not elaborate. 5)      The delegates, representatives of each of their own countries, are mostly demanding and unwilling to listen to reason. Not that I blame them for the facilities are indeed limited and “shabby” in some instances. But not to say all of them are bad, there are also some delegates of some countries that are understanding and a pleasure to work with. I have personally experienced and also heard from staffs of other halls relating events of delegates hurling vulgarities at them. Some of them will also ignore our advice or enforcement of the no-smoking rule within the village. They will also ignore the village rules and put up their own signs on toilets, corridors. 6)      The athletes in their bulk of numbers will at times make it a point to make fun of or irritate us for their own fancy. Some of them smoke within the compounds despite our enforcing of the no-smoking rule within the village. They will often not heed our advice, for example, of not sitting on railings and the 2nd and third stories of the buildings. 7)      Some of the workforce staff that are attached to the delegates, instead of working with us, will sometimes demand and refute our claims despite providing proper paper work and explaining proper procedures that are etched for the benefit for all. 8)      Internet via cable is only available for the Chef De Mission’s room and his officials will have to head down to the village square business centre or book meeting rooms within the hall to get it. Athletes are only allowed internet access within the “TV-Rooms” which is a public area and privacy is non-existent. Sad thing is that I had on an occasion had a young athlete pleading with me to find a place whereby he could use access the internet to have a private conversation with his family back in his country. I could only advise him to seek his Chef de Mission to allow him access through his room or request for a booking for the meeting room. 9)      We are given empowerment to use our own means to provide for our guests and that we did. We come up with solutions to solve issues, we help the delegations out manually if we have to, we do some clerical work of them if we can, some of the nicer delegations in return control and discipline their athletes to our benefit in return. Now, this, all this, happened before the opening(I wrote this on the 13th august) And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We do not know everything, but we are trying. We can’t do everything but we attempt. We shouldn’t bend the rules but we sometimes do. Come on, we’re people too. Try asking an average chef to create a menu degustation, I’m sure he’d be dumbfounded as well. If you’re not a volunteer, if you had not experienced what we’re going through, please do not even think about criticizing the volunteers on how ill-informed we are, how unmotivated we are. If I were to tell YOU to “volunteer” or face an impending penalty, I’d love to see how YOU would react.     EDITORS’ NOTE: Has your life been turned upside down by the YOG? Please share your views with us. We assure you that your identity will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL. We will be your UNCENSORED VOICE. We will publish your letter in FULL with ZERO editing, moderating or censoring. You do not have to suffer in silence! You have the RIGHT to speak up as a citizen of this country. Remember: you are a CITIZEN of Singapore, not a SLAVE of the PAP regime. Our mailbox has been swarmed by letters from YOG volunteers for the last few days. Unless you specifically want us to publish your REAL NAME, we will use a pseudonym instead. Please understand that due to manpower constraints, we may not be able to publish your letters immediately and we will have to stagger them a few hours apart to ensure that they get maximum exposure. Please keep your feedback coming! Singapore for SINGAPOREANS! Your interests always come FIRST.     Related articles: >> PM Lee: YOG has struck a "chord" with our people >> Dr Vivian: YOG venues will not become “white elephants” >> Online pressure forced SFI to provide better food for YOG volunteers >> Civil Service Club offering free YOG tickets >> Journey of YOG flame costs Singaporeans $7 million dollars >> Corny YOG propaganda in Straits Times >> Tharman: YOG enthusiasm is real >> Polytechnic student: I don’t care about YOG >> JC students being “volunteered” for YOG >> YOG: What the HELL is that? >> PAP provides YOG athletes and officials three daily buffets >> YOG students being given “dog food” >> Singapore students forced to volunteer for YOG >> Poor ticket sales forced closure of YOG gallery section >> PM Lee calls on Singaporeans to support YOG >> Young Singaporeans hurl vulgarities at YOG >> Dr Vivian wants Singaporeans to celebrate YOG >> NTU students complain about YOG >> Dr Vivian: Sports is not about “petty politics” >> More than 300 Singaporeans joined “I hate YOG” Facebook >> CNA poll: 90 percent of Singaporeans “not interested” in YOG >> Slovak YOG Ambassador slams YOG venues of “school standard” only >> Two Facebook groups calling for boycott of YOG >> Free condoms for YOG officials and athletes >> Singapore helping to repair Jamaica’s stadium in return for YOG marketing >> Former stripper to choreograph opening ceremony of YOG >> Desperate PAP wants Singaporeans to get “passionate” about YOG >> PAP to Singaporeans: Give way to YOG vehicles or get fined $130 >> PM Lee wants Singaporeans to do their part for YOG >> Only six teams in YOG soccer tournament Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

Associated Press, 13 August 2010 IOC president Jacques Rogge expects the Youth Olympics will overcome spiraling costs and the so-far subdued fan enthusiasm to evolve into one of the world's premier sporting events. The Youth Olympics, which open in Singapore on Saturday and run through Aug. 26, will feature about 3,600 competitors aged 14 to 18 from 204 countries competing in the same 26 sports on the current Summer Olympics program. "Very soon, the Youth Olympic Games will become as much an indispensable fixture of the Olympic calendar as its grown-up brothers," Rogge wrote in the days leading up to the inaugural event. Cost estimates for the event have skyrocketed. The IOC initially projected in 2007 the Youth Games would cost $30 million to stage. By the time Singapore won its bid in 2008, the budget was up to $76 million. The government said in July it expects a final bill of $287 million. Read rest of article here.  Read More →

While Singapore YOG volunteers are being fed "DOG" food for working long hours sometimes under the hot sun, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is basking in the full "glory" of the YOG. He was conferred the "Gold Olympic Order" by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday for his "outstanding merit in the cause of world sport and faithfulness to the Olympic ideal." 'Thanks to the support and initiative of Prime Minister Lee, Singapore has been able to prepare a Youth Olympic Games that will leave a great legacy for his country, the Olympic movement and, most importantly, the youth of the world," IOC President Jacques Rogge told PM Lee. PM Lee has initially said in 2007 that Singapore might not be "prepared" to host the YOG after all. It is not known what made him changed his mind in the end. Despite the extensive media coverage on the YOG, the response from Singaporeans has been most disappointing so far with 88 percent saying that they are not interested in the YOG at all in a recent online poll conducted by Channel News Asia. Thanks to massive "astroturfing" efforts by various government agencies such as MOE to generate fake support for the YOG, a grand "wayang" was put up which even manage to pull a wool over the eyes of PM Lee himself. "It has been a challenge and great satisfaction for us to organise this first Games. I think it has struck a chord with our people," PM Lee was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. Interest in the YOG was further dampened by recent revelation that Singapore volunteers are being given substandard food not fit for human consumption while the foreign athletes and officials are given three daily buffet meals, sparking a massive furore among Singaporeans with many calling for a boycott of the YOG. YOG has indeed struck a "chord" with PAP leaders so far with all of them putting up a brave front pretending that YOG is a "success" when most Singaporeans don't seem to care a damn about it.     EDITORS’ NOTE: Has your life been turned upside down by the YOG? Please share your views with us. We assure you that your identity will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL. We will be your UNCENSORED VOICE. We will publish your letter in FULL with ZERO editing, moderating or censoring. You do not have to suffer in silence! You have the RIGHT to speak up as a citizen of this country. Remember: you are a CITIZEN of Singapore, not a SLAVE of the PAP regime. Our mailbox has been swarmed by letters from YOG volunteers for the last few days. Unless you specifically want us to publish your REAL NAME, we will use a pseudonym instead. Please understand that due to manpower constraints, we may not be able to publish your letters immediately and we will have to stagger them a few hours apart to ensure that they get maximum exposure. Please keep your feedback coming! Singapore for SINGAPOREANS! Your interests always come FIRST.     Related articles: >> Dr Vivian: YOG venues will not become "white elephants" >> Online pressure forced SFI to provide better food for YOG volunteers >> Civil Service Club offering free YOG tickets >> Journey of YOG flame costs Singaporeans $7 million dollars >> Corny YOG propaganda in Straits Times >> Tharman: YOG enthusiasm is real >> Polytechnic student: I don’t care about YOG >> JC students being “volunteered” for YOG >> YOG: What the HELL is that? >> PAP provides YOG athletes and officials three daily buffets >> YOG students being given “dog food” >> Singapore students forced to volunteer for YOG >> Poor ticket sales forced closure of YOG gallery section >> PM Lee calls on Singaporeans to support YOG >> Young Singaporeans hurl vulgarities at YOG >> Dr Vivian wants Singaporeans to celebrate YOG >> NTU students complain about YOG >> Dr Vivian: Sports is not about “petty politics” >> More than 300 Singaporeans joined “I hate YOG” Facebook >> CNA poll: 90 percent of Singaporeans “not interested” in YOG >> Slovak YOG Ambassador slams YOG venues of “school standard” only >> Two Facebook groups calling for boycott of YOG >> Free condoms for YOG officials and athletes >> Singapore helping to repair Jamaica’s stadium in return for YOG marketing >> Former stripper to choreograph opening ceremony of YOG >> Desperate PAP wants Singaporeans to get “passionate” about YOG >> PAP to Singaporeans: Give way to YOG vehicles or get fined $130 >> PM Lee wants Singaporeans to do their part for YOG >> Only six teams in YOG soccer tournament Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →