Throughout the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, a special postmark was made available at the Youth Olympic Village (YOV). This postmark certainly resembles the metal date stamp found in post offices around Singapore. As the Youth Olympic Village was not open to public, my friend Terence Wong helped to make arrangements to obtain this postmark on 26 August, to coincide with the closing ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games.

The Youth Olympic Village, located in Nanyang Technological University, is home to more than 5000 athletes and team officials during the period of the Games. These guests are invited to participate in the Culture and Education Programme (CEP) during their stay in the Village.

Tomorrow marks the opening of the inaugural Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Of course, this would be incomplete without an opening ceremony.

Just like how a hundredth of a second determines whether an athlete is first an Olympic event, it is important to whip out one’s camera within a split-second to photograph that split-second moment. A sudden burst of fireworks inserted at the end of each segment. The appearance of performers at every corner of The Float@Marina Bay. To prepare for the unpredictable sequence of events, I was at the Combined Rehearsal last Saturday to find out where the surprises are inserted.

In order to keep the suspense for the two billion viewers worldwide, this post shall summarise the sequence of events. The opening ceremony starts at 1930 hours with a preshow segment to liven up the crowd. At 2000 hours, the live telecast will be shown to the world. Ten minutes later marks the countdown to the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

Bright beams emerge from skyscrapers in the background, including the Central Business District. Of course, there are some special effects over at Marina Bay Sands which will attract the attention of everyone passing by. This is followed by several performances divided into various chapters. We’ll leave that to tomorrow for you to find out.

Next is the traditional Parade of Nations, during which the athletes would march into the stadium according to their country. As with all other Olympic Games, Greece marches into the stadium first, while the host country Singapore enters last. Following which, speeches are made to declare the Games open. The Olympic flag is subsequently brought into the stadium and raised as the Olympic Anthem is played.

The athletes will then gather around a rostrum, where a representative from the athletes, judges and coaches each, will take the Olympic Oath. The finale segment, entitled Blazing the Trail, is where the Torch is brought into the stadium. The details of this segment are kept secret and were undisclosed during the combined rehearsal.

At the end of the event, spectators continued snapping photographs before leaving the grandstand. A final note to those who are attending the Opening Ceremony tomorrow – arrive early to get a good view, especially since is a free-seating event.

The National Day stamp issue for this year will be released early on Wednesday, 4 August 2010. Six monuments will be featured this time, the third of the National Monuments series. The designer for this issue is Leo Teck Chong. He was also the designer for the recently issued Starfish postage prepaid envelope.

The six national monuments include the Bowyer Block (1st Local), College of Medicine Building (2nd Local), Command House (55c), the Hwa Chong Institution Clock Tower (65c), the former Raffles College campus (80c) and the Tan Teck Guan Building ($1.10). These six monuments are also found on the $2 miniature sheet, featuring the architectural links between Singapore’s past and present built heritage.

To commemorate National Day, the NDP 2010 Logo will be featured as the datestamp.

The theme for last year’s National Day stamp issue was Sculptures, where the masterpieces of seven sculptors are featured.

This month, three notable Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games philatelic products from Singapore Post have caught the attention of collectors worldwide.

This colourful illustration book brings you through the journey, from Singapore winning the bid for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to the launching of the event. This commemorative book includes the stamps since Singapore won the bid and is an excellent souvenir. Price: $59.90 (US$44)

If you missed the sale for the first day covers in 2008 and 2009, here’s another chance. This attractive First Day Cover Pack houses the three different covers (2008, 2009 and 2010) issued to commemorate the Youth Olympic Games in a specially designed folder. Price: $19.90

This A5-sized MyStamp sheet comes with the latest Singapore 2010 stamps, with the mascots Lyo and Merly and the official Singapore 2010 emblem. For an additional fee, personalise this stamp sheet with your own photographs, perhaps at the Youth Olympic Games. Price: $15.50

Note: The prices shown above are inclusive of GST for purchases within Singapore. Images by Singapore Post.

Not long ago, I received a few colourful Canadian and Netherlands stamps, some of which are related to my stamp collecting theme of sports and nature. These stamps certainly show the heritage of the countries. Of course, many thanks to Alicia for the stamps and scan.