You couldn't make this up. With all the mishaps and foul-ups thus far, you'd think that things can't get any worse for the Youth Olympic Games. It did. We now have complaints that YOG officials turned away spectators when the sports arenas were full - of empty seats.
People who had gone to watch the games, some even relatives of the athletes, have been told that tickets were sold out only to find out later that the stands were near empty. Frustrated spectators have demanded answers from the organisers.
What caused the problem? When sales of the tickets remained sluggish in the lead-up to the Games, the organisers pressed the panic button and decided to offload the unsold tickets to whoever would buy them in bulk.
Up stepped the Education Minister to rescue his brethren Sports Minister. The Ministry of Education "bought" 80,000 tickets for its students. (Here's one for the economic supplysiders to mull over.)
But someone forgot to tell the students that they were supposed to actually attend the games. But with most of them having to prepare for their term exams, many students, probably at the behest of their parents, decided to give the Games a miss.
(Reports are beginning to surface, however, that schools have been coercing their students into attending the YOG. Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School even collected $5 from each student to be refunded only if the student showed up at the event. The Olympic Spirit remains hale and hearty!)
But YOG minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan didn't get the memo. The tickets were sold and that was that, he must have thought. If Singaporeans weren't interested in watching the competitions, we'll just get students to fill up the seats.
But the minister didn't figure that there would be some people who might still be interested enough to turn up on matchday to catch a game. The gatekeepers simply followed instructions - those without pre-purchased tickets couldn't enter, empty seats or no.
And so the situation was set-up for an(other) epic embarrassment: An international sports event with no one to cheer on the sportspeople.
Which leads one to wonder: How does the good doctor do it? How does he preside over such a monumental screw-up like this and then tell the people - apparently with a straight face - that the empty seats are due to people coming late and leaving early?
The YOG has been a sorry story of stumble after fumble so much so that it borders on the comedic. The bloated budget, the food poisoning of volunteers, empty concerts, the lack of public enthusiasm, the indifferent treatment of our volunteers, etc have not endeared Singaporeans to the Games.
The lack of interest in the event by the rest of the world is turning out to be a blessing in disguise.
One cannot but feel sorry for the young athletes who must have worked their hearts out for this week. They should know that Singaporeans are proud of each and everyone of them. The organisers did not do them justice.
When this is all over - when the tents are taken down, when the YOG flame is extinguished, when all the hardworking volunteers have returned to their normal lives - one question will ring out very loud and very clear: How will Minister Vivian Balakrishnan explain how he managed to take $400 million and turn the YOG into such a spectacle?
Before he comes up with more answers designed to showcase his arrogant defiance, he should draw a deep breath and note the anger and disappointment of Singaporeans over his infamous handling of the Youth Olympic Games 2010.
"Sorry" is the word that Singaporeans are waiting to hear from him.
Fri 20 Aug 2010 9:27 AM
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Kit - Couldn't resist...
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Elton John
What have I got to do to make you love me
What have I got to do to make you care
What do I do when lightning strikes me
And I wake to find that you're not there
What do I do to make you want me
What have I got to do to be heard
What do I say when it's all over
And sorry seems to be the hardest word
It's sad, so sad
It's a sad, sad situation
And it's getting more and more absurd
It's sad, so sad
Why can't we talk it over
Oh it seems to me
That sorry seems to be the hardest word
What do I do to make you love me
What have I got to do to be heard
What do I do when lightning strikes me
What have I got to do
What have I got to do
When sorry seems to be the hardest word
Fri 20 Aug 2010 12:56 PM|
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xhosux - YOG tix
This time, I wouldn't blame Vivian B for the initial poor show-up at YOG. Think he'd hv done sumthin if he knew about it. I'd say, Straits Times, with its always "upbeat" angkat-bottom news, had given all, incl the Govt, a wrong impression of attendance-fervor. With an ass-saving "upbeat" smokescreen, how can Govt see a proper reality? This is the one time when Viv's public declaration - "Govt doesn't need the press to be its mouthpiece" - rings, ironically, true!
Fri 20 Aug 2010 2:07 PM
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claude - Just when you think things can't get any worse
You must be joking "Sorry" is the hardest word for YOGA minister.
With the Blessings from the Father, the son and the holy Goh, why bother about Singaporeans?
The YOG has been a sorry story of stumble after fumble and you forgot to mention the tumble of the PAP regime soon.
Fri 20 Aug 2010 7:44 PM
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fish n chips - Dr. C 2 Dr. B
Dear SDP, the bashing and gloating over the failures and misfortunes of Vivian must stop now and I mean now with immediate effect. This chap is already a broken man who has fallen from grace trying to put up a brave front and giving his best shot with a last war cry I tell you.
We have eyes to see (we do not need this Ophthalmologist to give us sight). We seriously do not need more spectacles (pun not intended).
This YOG belongs to all of us, yes I repeat all of us. The only problem is that PAP as always has hijacked the honour and glory right from the very beginning to herself. Now she would have to bear the consequences of her own doings. Everytime I see Dr. coming out to defend himself again and again, I could only foresee Dr. as at best grasping at straws.
Bear in mind, our dear SDP, please do not indulge in schadenfreude and rejoice not. I have no advice to offer. I'm not in a position to do that. I only have a sincere and simple request. Please have a heart to heart, Dr. to Dr. talk and kindly offer your esteemed and wise solutions and encouragements. YOG is only left with 6 more days to go.
Godspeed and God bless!
Fri 20 Aug 2010 8:59 PM
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quantum - Sow and reap
Broken man? Wait till you see his year-end increment...
He has chose to forsake his eye doctor career, nobody forced him to.
Sat 21 Aug 2010 2:21 AM
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g_e - "We test pigs out in heavy lipstick" - LKY
What, no Schadenfreude at the death by a 1000 cuts being suffered as the Foreigner's Action Party and their clowns slip on one banana peel after another? Are you insane, sir? To paraphrase the BBC:
"Perhaps the greatest word in any language, Schadenfreude has become the defining emotion of the 20th Century. From the German, Schaden (damage), and Freude (joy), it means the enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others. It is the easiest, and often the most fulfilling, enjoyment available.
From the laughs generated by the clown slipping on the banana peel (PM: YOG 'struck a chord', hehe!) to the guilty viewing of television shows such as 'One Nation Under Lee', deliciously shameful pleasure has been refined over the decades. Americans have led in the race for more advanced forms of Schadenfreude, as evidenced by the proliferation of 'caught on tape' TV programmes and the otherwise inexplicable amount of attention focused on the President Clinton's indiscretions in the 'Oral' Office.
Recently, a study has shown that a certain amount of Schadenfreude can be helpful in relieving stress. This comes as no surprise to many. Everyone, at one time or another, most likely several times a day, has laughed at another's misfortune and felt that much better about themselves. It's healthy."
We positively OWE it to ourselves to squeeze the very last drop of mischievous delight from watching the slo-mo train wreck that is the YOG. You can't even begin to imagine how wonderfully therapeutic this is for us powerless citizens. After 50 years of unrelenting oppression in the little red police state, to be able finally to enjoy the sight of arrogant Dr Vivian '$30 is too much for the destitute' Balakrishnan and his smug sailorboy sidekick Ng Ser 'smiling child volunteers' Miang going down in flames with the RSS Epic-Fail YOG is a dream come true.
You see, it was never about the improving the pitiable state of Singapore sport which the FAP doesn't really give a damn about anyway because it does nothing for GDP numbers. It is difficult not to suspect that the YOG flying pig show was timed long ago to be a triumphant prelude to the General Election, a cynical exercise in self-aggrandisement designed to sweep a hopelessly unpopular government and its PM into his second term with a resounding three cheers of adulation from the usual suspects. Why else would they be willing, even eager, to pay a price to put lipstick on the pig that no other nation in the world was willing to pay? What is $400 or $500 million if success makes a lame quacker look a winner?
Unfortunately the best-paid government robots in the world didn't plan on Murphy's Law ('anything that can go wrong can and WILL go wrong') scribbling rude graffiti all over Lee's Gravy Train.
It's LKY's 87th next month, I believe. Luvverly present for the birthday boy. Haha! Altogether now, one, two, three.........R O F L M A O !!!!!!!!
Sat 21 Aug 2010 10:22 AM
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Tan Tai Wei
Isn't dangerous to have persons on the sport, seeing that seats aren't filled, selling them to the crowds outside? It can only be an unstudied assumption that ticket holders aren't coming or have gone off not to return.
Should we, just in order to create the impression of interest and support, or for whatever reason, risk lives? Should the assumption be wrong, and over-crowding occur, might not human stampedes happen in an emergency?
How could the fire department and other authorities concerned in our tightly controlled state machinery approve of this?
Sat 21 Aug 2010 5:46 PM
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fish n chips - Dr. C 2 Dr. B
This is a repost due to 2 URLs that were truncated...
Dear SDP, the bashing and gloating over the failures and misfortunes of Vivian must stop now and I mean now with immediate effect. This chap is already a broken man who has fallen from grace http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2016:18&version=KJV trying to put up a brave front and giving his best shot with a last war cry I tell you.
We have eyes to see (we do not need this Ophthalmologist to give us sight). We seriously do not need more spectacles (pun not intended).
This YOG belongs to all of us, yes I repeat all of us. The only problem is that PAP as always has hijacked the honour and glory right from the very beginning to herself. Now she would have to bear the consequences of her own doings. Everytime I see Dr. coming out to defend himself again and again, I could only foresee Dr. as at best grasping at straws.
Bear in mind, our dear SDP, please do not indulge in schadenfreude and rejoice not. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+24%3A17-18&version=KJV I have no advice to offer. I'm not in a position to do that. I only have a sincere and simple request. Please have a heart to heart, Dr. to Dr. talk and kindly offer your esteemed and wise solutions and encouragements. YOG is only left with 6 more days to go.
Godspeed and God bless!
Sat 21 Aug 2010 10:14 PM
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quantum - Dr to Dr
How can you compare one Dr who is sincere, has integrity and principles, honest about doing the right thing and making big personal sacrifices in the process and another Dr who only wants big salary money and material gains?
Mon 23 Aug 2010 12:23 AM
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Tan Tai Wei
Even should all these criticisms be fair, we shouldn't blame them on poor Vivian. Do you really think that in this autocractic system, the junior minister had been accorded the freedom to really decide on a major event like this?
Just as the Ho Ching and Temasek loss affair, as they say, was "advised" by none lesser than MM and the like, so also surely this!
Don't we notice that, with regard to "officials" up at certain levels, nothing they did could be wrong? So, for instances, whatever could happen as to policing and internal security, Wong Kan Seng was still right?
Mon 23 Aug 2010 7:01 AM
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firepower - It's entertaining
They say sports is entertainment, nobody told me the politics of sports is just as entertaining.
As the saying: “Some people open their mouth just to change foot”
xhosux
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan … “Govt doesn't need the press to be its mouthpiece"
I really wonder which organ do these ministers speak from :)
Keep it up guys. Really enjoying the sideshows.
Mon 23 Aug 2010 11:59 AM
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quantum - Freedom of choice
Tai Wei: Dr Vivian definitely has the freedom of choice. He has chosen to work for MM. Dr Chee has chosen not to.
Mon 30 Aug 2010 2:16 AM
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fish n chips
g_e
Always enjoyed your writings.
My only wish...ie to vote out PAP. Period.
What say you?
All the best to you and your future endeavours.
Don't stop writing.
BTW, I'm a Victorian.
You couldn't make this up. With all the mishaps and foul-ups thus far, you'd think that things can't get any worse for the Youth Olympic Games. It did. We now have complaints that YOG officials turned away spectators when the sports arenas were full - of empty seats.
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Elton John
What have I got to do to make you love me
What have I got to do to make you care
What do I do when lightning strikes me
And I wake to find that you're not there
What do I do to make you want me
What have I got to do to be heard
What do I say when it's all over
And sorry seems to be the hardest word
It's sad, so sad
It's a sad, sad situation
And it's getting more and more absurd
It's sad, so sad
Why can't we talk it over
Oh it seems to me
That sorry seems to be the hardest word
What do I do to make you love me
What have I got to do to be heard
What do I do when lightning strikes me
What have I got to do
What have I got to do
When sorry seems to be the hardest word