Through the kind assistance of Coca Cola Singapore’s June Kong-Dhanabalan, Ethan, Tina and I caught the opening ceremony of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
Touted as the more extravagant show ever staged in Singapore, the close to two-hour event featured the 3,600 athletes hailing from more than 200 International Olympic Committee (IOC) member countries in 26 events over the next 12 days.
That was my first reaction when invited by June Kong-Dhanabalan from Coca-Cola to hop on board their Happiness Mobile (Coke is the official worldwide sponsor of the games). Offering a bird’s eye view of the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame (or JYOF), I will feel what it’s like to be a teenager hollering my lungs out, waving my hands in the air, and cheering on an open-top “Hippo” bus. Of course, I was heartened to know that the blogfather mrbrown has already experienced this.
Here’s the custom-fitted Happiness Mobile
Held in conjunction with the upcoming Singapore Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the Singapore leg of the torch relay sees some 2,400 torchbearers (including June herself) conveying the Youth Olympic Flame through all the five community districts and ending in the heart of the city. Participants hail from the 500 odd participating schools, sponsoring organisations, as well as government agencies.