While reading the morning newspaper at The Restaurant earlier today, flipping through articles such as ‘Celebrating Singapore’s 44th Birthday’ and ‘The Moment: Have You Recited the Pledge?’, a colourful article entitled ‘Youth Olympic Games Stamps Counts Down with You’ written by renowned journalist Miss Ong Jue Qi caught my attention. The article was featured on page 11 of ZB Comma, a section in Lianhe Zaobao targeted at secondary school students.
Three large characters which seemed unsurprising familiar stood out from the page. The first sentence of the article read:
陈伟杰期待这星期五下午5时到政府大厦前的大草场。
This can be loosely translated as ‘Tan Wei Jie looks forward to going down to the Padang in front of City Hall this Friday at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.’
With just one year left to the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, some 5,000 people are expected to gather at the Padang to commemorate this significant milestone. The 10-metre high Countdown Clock sponsored by Omega will be unveiled at this historical event. Exhibits from the YOG Learning Centre will be on display during the event. At exactly 2010 hours, there will be a magnificent light display as the countdown takes place. Also, performances by top talents from schools as well as the entertainment scene will excite the crowd. The event will end off with a spectacular fireworks display.
Venue: The Padang, Singapore
Date: Friday, 14 August 2009
Time: 1700 hours to 2100 hours
At the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, some 3,600 young athletes, aged between 14 and 18, will be competing in the 26 sports events. They are accompanied by 800 officials from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with estimated 800 media representatives, 20,000 volunteers, and over 500,000 spectators. On 21 February 2008, thousands of Singaporeans gathered at the Padang for the announcement of the host city for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
Commemorative stamps and pens by Singapore Post and Pilot Pens respectively will be on sale at the event. Also, there is a specially created postmark available only at the event!
If you happen to drop by any Buzz newsstands at bus interchanges across the island, which can be easily identified by a bright orange sign, do pick up a copy of ZB Comma and read this wonderful article.
Here is a translation of the article:
Tan Wei Jie looks forward to going down to the Padang at 1700 hours this Friday, not just to attend the Youth Olympic Games One Year Countdown celebration, but to grab a set of newly released stamps: Countdown to the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.
Avid stamp collector, Tan Wei Jie, 17, Raffles Institution (Junior College), learned about the set of four stamps after receiving the Singapore Post philatelic catalogue at the start of the year and has been looking forward to the issue.
‘This is something definitely worth collecting, as it is a once in a lifetime event,’ he said. He intends to spread the word about the Youth Olympic Games to his foreign friends by affixing these stamps on Youth Olympic Games postcards and sending them overseas.
The One Year Countdown to the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, held from 14 to 26 August 2010, begins on Friday.
The four stamps feature the languages of seven participating countries as its background. Designer Leo Teck Chong says that he does not want to place excessive emphasis on the sporting element, but place it on the three Olympic values of Friendship, Respect and Excellence. Three of the stamps feature these values, while the last stamp portrays the warm welcome in the form of greetings.
He pointed out that this set of stamps is unique as it uses a bright and eye-catching colour palette to bring out the vibrancy in youths, as well as the use of pop art to bring liven the atmosphere.
Describing himself as ‘young-at-heart’, Leo Teck Chong looks forward to the arrival of the Games even though he is not an athlete. He sought opinions of his young friends in the process of designing the stamps.
Singapore Post has specially created a postmark for the stamp issue. The price for a complete set of four stamps is $2.72, the pre-cancelled first day cover costs $4.90, while the presentation pack is priced at $5.90. These items are available from 14 August at any post office and the Singapore Philatelic Museum. Interested buyers can order online at http://shop.vpost.com.sg.
Highlights of the One Year Countdown to the Youth Olympic Games include the unveiling of the Countdown Clock, the Youth Olympic Games carnival and performances by the local entertainment scene and students.
Even though the Youth Olympic Games is to be held next year, Wei Jie had been eagerly awaiting for the event from the time when Singapore submitted her bid for the Games last year, and he has applied as a volunteer. This year, he represented his school’s Collectors’ Club in organising an exhibition related to the Games, how could he ever miss this occasion on Friday?
