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Singapore to host 2010 Youth Olympiad

SINGAPORE: It was an enthusiastic “Final Countdown” party in Singapore on Thursday night. Led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, brimming with the intuitive confidence of winning the bid to host the world’s first-ever Youth Olympic Games in 2010, thousands of Singaporeans waited for the International Olympic Committee’s selection of the host-city.

And, as the clock ticked and Singapore won the bid, beating Moscow in the final postal voting by the IOC members, the City-State’s “final countdown” in the race instantly turned into the first and joyous episode in a long “Countdown to 2010” itself.

As the “live” announcement from Lausanne, Switzerland, concluded, evoking rapturous scenes at the “countdown” party, Mr. Lee gave expression to the national mood of celebration and self-confidence.

He said: “We dared to dream; we worked hard to pursue our dream, despite the odds. And now, that dream will become a reality. Tonight was a countdown just for the announcement, but now the Countdown to 2010 begins. We have two-and-a-half years to prepare for the Youth Olympic Games. It is going to be challenging, but it is going to be full of excitement and achievement. Let us welcome the world to Singapore and deliver an outstanding first edition of the Youth Olympic Games.”

Both the IOC announcement and Mr. Lee’s participation in the countdown party were televised live to audiences that worked hard for several months in what became “a national effort, a people’s effort” to win the honour to host the first-ever Youth Olympiad.

Local and multinational companies in Singapore had vied with young and old citizens and resident-foreigners to promote the bid.

The efforts took many forms, including television commercials. And, the younger enthusiasts hit the cyberspace to good effect through online blogs and websites.

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