Andrew Loh –
On 23 April this year, I wrote an article entitled, “Have we lost our ability to appreciate?” It was a reflective piece questioning if we are able to appreciate the good things which Singapore offers. One of these things which I mentioned was the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). In that article, I said: “The Youth Olympics, which will take place from the 14th to 26th August this year, is another thing we can and should be proud of. And I commend the MCYS team, especially Mr Teo Ser Luck, for successfully winning the bid to bring the games here.”
It’s been three months since I wrote the piece – and many things have gone wrong with the YOG which makes me no longer proud of it. Let me explain my change of heart.
The first instance was when the Straits Times reported the “Give way to YOG vehicle” scheme. “The ruling, which will come into effect during the Youth Olympic Lane validity period between August 5-26, could see motorists face a $130 fine should they fail to give way.”
The ruling riled motorists, especially that they could be fined if they did not give way to these vehicles.
The second instance was Minister for Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS) criticizing Singaporeans for the lukewarm attitude towards the Games and in particular foreign-born sportsmen representing Singapore. The Straits Times, on 23 June, reported the minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan thus:
“Dr Balakrishnan referred to those who view Singapore’s foreign-born athletes as ‘less of a Singaporean, or less of a champion’, as ‘small-minded’, ‘unfair’ and ‘very, very selfish’.
‘To deny them the right to call themselves Singaporean is very, very selfish. It’s very unsportsmanlike… They have made great sacrifices to be here,’ he added.”
Then came the tickets farce. First, it was initially reported in May that there were 320,000 tickets up for sale. In July the number inexplicably became 245,000. No explanation of what had happened to 75,000 of these tickets.
Following that, it was trumpeted by the Straits Times that the “YOG tickets [were] selling fast”. “If you want tickets to catch the Youth Olympic Games, you will have to act fast,” the paper said. “Tickets sales to the first Youth Olympic Games have been brisk, with more than 100,000, or close to 50 per cent of tickets, having sold out.”
As it turned out, 80,000 of those 100,000 tickets sold were bought by the Ministry of Education.
In essence, only 20,000 – or some 6 per cent – of the tickets have been bought by the public. A very dismal figure indeed. And to add to the farce, the MOE refuses to disclose how much it paid for the tickets. In the end, as reported by the press, students may end up paying for these tickets.
And speaking of students. Besides being asked to volunteer their time and energy for the Games, they’re also asked to “test” the operational readiness of the Games Village. But here’s the catch. Although the students are used to “test” the Village for the organizers, these same students are made to pay for the one-night stay – to the tune of S$188 per student. 1,000 students are being used as guinea pigs, as it were, to make sure the Village runs smoothly when the athletes arrive.
Obviously, our state-controlled media was trying to put a brave-faced spin on things, but alas, more was to come.
And it came in the form of a budget over-run. Initially the budget for the YOG was S$104 million. In July, it was revealed that it had ballooned to S$387 million. The permanent secretary of the MCYS tried to explain that “the benefits will still continue to outweigh the increased cost.” “Besides $260 million (or 70 per cent of the budget) worth of contracts that has been awarded to local companies, the YOG is also expected to attract about 40,000 foreign visitors, generating a $57 million boom in tourism receipts,” the Straits Times reported.
The question which went unasked and unanswered was: Where did the increase of S$283 million going to come from? In the Budget for 2010, MCYS was allocated some S$1.97 billion. And out of this, S$104 million was for the YOG and the rest for all the other programmes under MCYS’s purview.
Now that the MCYS has to allocate an extra S$283 million to the YOG presumably from its allocated budget for 2010, how will this affect the funding for other areas, such as Comcare (which is for the needy and the poor) and the People’s Association and other areas?
The minister has not addressed these. Neither have the mainstream media asked him about this.
And then there is that cringe-worthy promotional video, featuring local celebrity JJ Lin. It’s been panned by just about everyone who’s seen the clip. Indeed, the artificiality of the video comes across loud and clear and instead of getting Singaporeans excited about the YOG, it has made many embarrassed that it’s being shown on national tv.
Finally, there’s that online poll by Channelnewsasia. As of the time of this writing, 90 per cent (some 3,500) of voters say they were “not interested at all’ in catching any of the games during the YOG.
The YOG has become a litany of screw-ups, one after another. From its Public Relations effort, to the promotional video, from its allocated budget to the pathetic sales of the tickets.
And so, no, I am no longer proud of the YOG.
It has become a total farce and a national embarrassment.
The minister in charge should be held accountable for the utterly horrendous organization of it.
Will he be held responsible and accountable? From recent experience with the floods, the Changi Depot security breach, Mas Selamat’s escape, this seems unlikely.
On the contrary, the local media will undoubtedly bury its head in the sand and continue to trumpet the “success” of the YOG – even as the total lack of enthusiasm among Singaporeans is palpable. In the end, we are made to live with this national embarrassment and a minister who has proved himself to be inept.
He couldn’t even get the planned Sports Hub deal done. The S$1.87 billion project at Kallang will only see the light of day in 2013 – a delay from the initial target of 2011.
And oh, it too has overshot its projected cost – from S$1.2 billion in 2008 (CNA) to S$1.87 billion in 2009 (Straits Times).
———-
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YOG is just proving to be a big fat dud, and it hasn’t even actually started yet. It’s horrendously embarrassing, and embarrassment is starting to turn into anger and frustration as Singaporeans realise just HOW MUCH MONEY has been poured into the biggest non-event in Singaporean history.
Even my Malaysian friends, WHO ARE JOURNALISTS, haven’t heard of the YOG.
Singapore is the only one making a big deal of it. Or rather, the Singaporean authorities are the only ones making a big deal of it.
The sooner we bury evidence of that Oh Yeah cheer, the better.
In Ancient times, since the Olympics was also a religious festival dedicated to Zeus, the event was a holiday.
Perhaps the gov should declare the YOG holidays so as the populous could get enthusiastic over the YOG?
I doubt they would sacrifice “growth at all cost” as a economic doctrine though.
Bala, doesnt know what is dignity, pride & truth sportmanship. Shame on how his parents had brought him up. May be he doesnt even have either.
“Dr Balakrishnan referred to those who view Singapore’s foreign-born athletes as ‘less of a Singaporean, or less of a champion’, as ’small-minded’, ‘unfair’ and ‘very, very selfish’.
‘To deny them the right to call themselves Singaporean is very, very selfish. It’s very unsportsmanlike… They have made great sacrifices to be here,’ he added.”
VB, save these comments to yourself. If I were you, I’ll tender my resignation letter. Don’t you have any shame in you?
How did you budget an event of such scale only to realise that you have over-budgeted by 250%?
Don’t you have any shame? When it comes to raising public assistance allowance of SGD30 to our poor who relied on it, what did you spout?
Here’s what you said if you forgot when Dr Lily Neo asked you on the “subsistence living’ standard in our country. And your reply ‘How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?
You argued until the cows come home with just a mere increased of SGD30 more for the poor in our society and when it comes to over-budgeting of 250% for this shitty and meaningless YOG, how come there’s no questions asked????
Did you sleep well these days Mr MCYS Minister? Perhaps you won’t understand how the poor in our society are so exploited and outcast so much so that there’s no hope for them to carry on living?
Do you know that with your over-budget of SGD287 million of taxpayers monies, how many poor people can you help in our country?
I seriously hope you still have the ‘conscience’ in you. Be very happy if it hurts, and be worried when it doesn’t.
like all sinking ships, in times of desperation, pirates will even resort to dumping gold & all worldly possessions to keep the ship afloat.
if the ship isn’t sinking, would they dump the gold (& the worldly possessions)?
“Dr Balakrishnan referred to those who view Singapore’s foreign-born athletes as ‘less of a Singaporean, or less of a champion’, as ’small-minded’, ‘unfair’ and ‘very, very selfish’.
‘To deny them the right to call themselves Singaporean is very, very selfish. It’s very unsportsmanlike… They have made great sacrifices to be here,’ he added.”
pardon me, great sacrifices? With all the FT policies, it’s more of us who are making the sacrifices LOL. Sigh. How screwed up. Aren’t we, the ones who serve NS, make the greater sacrifice?
“Dr Balakrishnan referred to those who view Singapore’s foreign-born athletes as ‘less of a Singaporean, or less of a champion’, as ’small-minded’, ‘unfair’ and ‘very, very selfish’.
On that score, all Singaporeans should be proud that they have “produced” a world-class Hollowood superstar Jack Li! Wow! Not to mention that this Singaporean was also all-China martial arts champion in the 1970s!
This is what we Cantonese say: “Use others buttock skin to be your face skin”, period.
“YOG is also expected to attract about 40,000 foreign visitors, generating a $57 million boom in tourism receipts,” the Straits Times reported.”
Maybe they misunderstood that holding the YOG will reap the same response as the summer or winter olympics.
Yes, Andrew , I share your sentiments about the handling of the YOG.
Only when we have an election and some inept BIG names get the bullet..will the PAP realise the punishment at the hands of the public.
We are clear, there is for now, no opposition in-waiting to govern. But there should be enough opposition in parliament to check and re-check the PAP. because all the other elected MP’s are so afraid to voice their opinion for fear of being shouted sown by MM and the like.
There is an election nearing.
Let the people decide. There is a list of BIG names that should be given the boot.
sadly all these people when they lose their Ministers role..will be given chairmanships in organisations..who will in turn be beholden to the govt.
But the day..will come..after Mm goes to the happy hunting ground. Then all will change.
The new citizens that MM brought in..will be the ones to call for the changes.
That is something not all will be still be alive to see. But its worth hoping and waiting for…now.
Don’t think the PAP government is capable of YOG. Wasting taxpayer money and only give financial assistance to needy case for 3 months!
did anyone notice… there are many other campaign recently? eg “let’s bin it” campaign? and our neighbourhood cc has yog events it’s has been ages since we last had these campaign and suddenly all these sprout out of no where and sometime near YOG… how ironic
Sigh.
We are becoming like Our neighbours — talk big, cannot perform.
Sack VB. three strikes against him: national stadium still not built,homeless fiasco and now YOG.
My bet is we won’t have a national stadium in 2013.
Nothing seem to be right since LHL took POWER with a “66.6″% on “6.6:06″ the MARK of the BEAST,are we having a BEAST in POWER???
Another great article from you, Andrew :-bd
And while sgcynic bets there won’t be a national stadium in 2013, I HOPE / WISH there won’t be a PAP dominance in Parliament before that. At least deny them the so-called mandate to anyhow change the constitution.
Of all the countries, Singapaore, self proclaimed as first world has no NATIONAL STADIUM as we write. This is most embarassing of all embarrassments todate.
Maybe they know their Boat is sinking -tats why “Old fark” says never retire -Boh Pien – all of his team will hve to die along with him – like the egyptians ,phyro n kings –so basically “Old fark” is asking us to continue “burning Hell Bank Notes to him n gang ” !
The use of $$$ to import sporting talents has perverse the meaning of sports.
With the meaning of sports lost, the support for sporting events becomes pointless. The govt needs to be re educated on the true meaning of sports.
does anybody care that nobody cares?
In the end, despite your charges of incompetence, there is the very real likelihood that the YOG will be run smoothly, just at the Asian Youth games was last year.
Was anybody interested in that? no. Yet it’s hard to argue it was a failure.
Of course it would be nice if everyone was excited about it, but I hardly think organisers would factor in Singaporean support as a critical ingredient of success.
If you are hoping for the other countries to consider singapore an embarassment for the YOG, you’ve got to hope the organisation is so bad that there are major screw ups like power failure or what not.
the point is, nobody that matters cares that we don’t care. Your ranting here is just preaching to the converted
assuming in life Screw Ups are possible,
IF there is a screw up, lets know in advance is any human Responsible if not Accountable for it .
regards
Son of a Lee
Look at STimes today..
The tickets for YOG opening ceremony are priced at a high price of $200, $120 and $80.
Wow…It is indeed very “encouraging” for Singaporeans to attend the ceremony.
As taxpayer, you alraedy paid a lot for the entire event and now you got to pay even more to attend it…
No wonder it is PAY and PAY…
Is it really about political parties or the individual who takes charge of these projects?
I totally agree with these statements made, ‘Besides being asked to volunteer their time and energy for the Games, they’re also asked to “test” the operational readiness of the Games Village.’ and ‘students are being used as guinea pigs, as it were, to make sure the Village runs smoothly when the athletes arrive.’.
During the rehearsals, WITHOUT informing the volunteers, our feelings were ‘cheated’ as they ‘lured’ us to the F1 Pit Building. After which, they ‘accidentally’ made us stand and wait for 0.5 hours (in my case, cause I sensed something wasn’t right and purposely went there late, lucky I did!) doing nothing. In some other cases, they waited for 3 hours and some of the foreigners among us even broke out in anger. This only reflected the worse side of Spore, not to mention even the bad side.
Good luck organisers.
This YOG only shows our ministers can talk, but cannot do … aka NATO (No Action Talk Only).
What they seriously lack is passion. Passion for the sports, anyway they don’t have the passion to serve the people to start with.
“Oh Yeah!”, doesn’t that bring back memories of Hulk Hogan tearing his yellow shirt ^^
When the project cost over run, prices have to increase.
Same like all the beautiful Government/ GLC buildings. I believe these account to a portion to our high cost of living in Singapore.TCs also spend like nobody business.
Past leaders should wake up from their graves to stop these people from the wasteful spending.BTW, next month the gate is open.
Add this to the list of reason why i hate YOG:
Initially, they tried to get people to volunteer for free. As usual, the gov wants free lunch. They should have created jobs for the unemployed.
When the gov couldn’t get enough free slaves, they tried to hire people for $5/hr. A whopping $5/hr.
this are something i would like to share and curious about, if I’m wrong do correct me on this.
My apology if any of the below content does offense Singaporeans,foreigners, government or any private sectors and so on.
SINGAPORE
firstly i’m curious that is it Singapore is no longer a country that have been run for serving the the citizens fellow singaporeans and making it a better place to live in and progress as one, building a brighter future for our generation to come? or is it more likely been run like a ( Singapore Pte Ltd) and their marketing service (Singapore Press Holding) to published only the right thing to let only the whole world who is in gold class to know of their business opportunities,contributing,investment and the low class in supporting them in their golden years to come?That in short we call it (SPL) AND (SPH) for the sole purpose of the interest of one man survival of his generation? :) wait i aint finish yet.
I’m curious again that time over time that our Singapore education standard and requirement have been very tough yet challenging promising brighter future and world wide recognize and our fellow Singaporeans some had gone to archive it with having hair loss problem at a very young age due to stress and depress. lol.
some had side effect like gone insane which i have seen with my very eyes,some had reach the state of suicide, yet to be seen but no chance.(sad thing) and some had left the country half way, some are holding their cert and looking into the straits times daily in the wee hour 30days a month without fail and were told to wait for call. while our government on the other side make a call instantly welcome more talented foreigners for instant employment using their Singapore Press Holding the same toilet paper Singaporeans have been buying daily.lol
i have seen one talented foreigner ”GIRL” not lady cleaning mrt toilet in 5min, she goes throw a bucket of water all over and rub rub the mop zik zak on the floor and sit in the store rolling toilet roll and having a long chat..,i recall again, cheaper,better,faster.lol which this can be offer to old folk Singaporeans rather then being abandon(too old to employ) and letting them to walk 10miles a day with no insurance coverage no medical benefit no cpf contribution no medisave and risk they face on the road/street to collect tin cans and boxes just to have $10 or even less a day to survive on 3 proper healthy meals a day. some without shelter.
i recall this:if you are poor person anywhere in the world….Singapore is a place you will get meals delivered to you,shelter and blah blah. but does it apply in reality or just a speak of word to tune some Singaporeans of the possibility of having such blah blah and what is the price to pay to get such great treatment? wait my last shot :)
since they already gst,taxes,increase,squeeze and so on from the tip of our head till the bottom of our feet anywhere and everywhere in Singapore which is some non refundable.lol then why do we still being advice to work even harder,faster,better with even cheaper pay to archive swiss standard of living or merely a life to live in as a human and to stay healthier and happier ever after? i’m still wondering if one is unable who are to push him or herself to work non stop with no retirement will stay healthier and happier ever after then why do we need so much hospitals/polyclinics in Singapore?check out the number of ill patience in hospitals and those who are in life support equipments and vegetables.?lol.
why not get them out of the bed, out of the hospital,remove the equipment on them and ask them to work??!! tell them there is no retirement in your life!
must as well those who fall sick advice them to work harder..for that is the way to cure them from their illness or to stay away from illness who our great father have found in his research lately after 50 years gone by,yeah it takes 50 year to do this human life span research and singaporeans have to be proud of our new found scientist that we Singaporeans life only are fully expandable.lol
don’t you think? :)
ok that’s about it. i thanks you for taking your time to read my article and appreciate it.
Below is another srew-up to the list:
Swim sensation Phelps and lightning Bolt will miss Youth Olympics
SINGAPORE – Two of sport’s biggest names will not be in Singapore for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told MediaCorp on Friday that swimming superstar Michael Phelps and track phenomenon Usain Bolt (picture) are unable to attend the Games.
Along with Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva, the pair were appointed Games’ ambassadors by the IOC for more than 3,600 young athletes from the 205 National Olympic Committees that will compete in Singapore from Aug 14 to 26.
“We just heard from Michael and Usain, and they will not be able to join us in Singapore because of their competition schedules,” IOC media relations co-ordinator Nimtaz-Tanya Noordin said.
================================================== ==
http://sportcaraibe.net/thefourthpil…ics&Itemid=106
Singapore to repair damaged Stadium East track
SUNDAY OCTOBER 04, 2009; KINGSTON, Jamaica – Singapore, the host nation for next year’s inaugural Youth Olympics, has given the Jamaican government its assurance to pay the US$550,000.00 needed to resurface the run-down Stadium East mondo track at the Independence Park Complex, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
According to sports minister Olivia Grange, the arrangement will see a few of Jamaica’s top athletes, including triple World and Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, helping Singapore to market the Youth Olympics set for August 14th to 26th in 2010.
__________________
Perhaps a case of inexperience, should hire foreign talent ( as replacement ) to budget, plan & implement instead….
To add, there is also public unhappiness about the distribution of condoms…..
@All are included 31 July 2010
You forgot another Hollywood superstar – Gong Li
the irony of singapoor pap government only cared for 1 thinggie..
to be world number 1 @ our the peasant$ expen$e$..
to them a few hundred million$ i$ $mall $mall water
for the poor pea$ant$? ugm..eer…arrh…
let my(the scholar$) people talk to YOU pupils..
the events will run more smoothly if there is less crowd to control, best if only the few MIW & friends go.
then, with only a tiny “crowd” the event will be hailed as a success, cos crowd management did a good job to ensure the smooth flow of traffic!
I had no idea that the YOG was so fluffed up by the govt. And on the subject of appreciation, I definitely want sg to be on national radio/television/major news wires and publications that the YOG can potentially bring.
But, there’s only so much censorship and civil suits can do for embarrassing fumbles like this advertisement that is on shockwave.com (just before the game starts). On the YOG topuc, it says something to the effect that ‘I can’t vote, but I can get a nation to stand on its feet’ to the background of people standing up clapping and cheering for athletes. Get the pun???
Cringe-worthy for sgreans who saw it.
OMG! even before a single pile is driven into the ground, the Sports Hub has over shot its original budget by S$.67 billion!! as at year2009!!
So when the Sports Hub is finally completed (hopefully in 2013) the expenditure will surely surpass the S$1.87 estimates!!
VB it never rained but it pours, so get ready your waterproof jacket!!
I have to say I completely disagree with the author here, provided I don’t get ‘M’ again.
With an ‘international’ event and costing close to $400m, I doubt a couple of months of poor mishandling could torpedoed it as it is now. Firstly, is the concept right AND feasible in the first place? I understand someone mentioned that there was a similar event held in Moscow 12-14(?) years ago. Did our organisers do a proper background check when they bid to the IOC? What was the market survey like with other countries participating? The viewing interest from overseas media?
The marketing and pushing for awareness should/may have started months ago; there just isn’t any vigor to it. I seriously don’t see how they can succeed with such a pathetic pre-launch campaign. Maybe they were hoping the brand, IOC or PAP, would sell the product. Too bad.
Anyway, just hope SINGAPORE can recover the costs (though this is becoming more like MYOG event – Mo Yun Ooi Gui (no body wanted devil)) . Let’s see the outcome and WE MUST hold VB accountable on it. We really need to get our ministers to be answerable to their actions or inactions. To play my part, I am off having dinner in a HAWKER CENTER.
If I’m not mistaken, when the YOG was mentioned to our PM, he rejected the hosting outright, citing not enough resources manpower,etc.
But there came along 2 smart alexes from MCYS and persuaded and gave assurance to PM, that they are able to handle YOG.
So the bidding was on, and we got the hot potato and the rest is screw-ups.
There was no feastability study, no assessment, no preplanning of any sort.
As one post mentioned that they hope the brand name YOG and PAP will click and creat sparks, they are in for a shock of their lives!!
Local Singaporeans don’t even take the bait, being on home ground, let alone foreigners!!
Many Singaporeans are hoping that the YOG flop, not because they like to see it as such. I think the main reason is to
see those arrogant so called elites fall flat on their faces and wake up to the realisation that they are, all after all ‘fallible’
All the craps 31 July 2010
VB it never rained but it pours.
it sounds like the movie gone in 60seconds
but how come when something happen VB gone less then 60seconds?
singaporeans, don’t worry.
Change will certainly come.
For 50 years, the same regime rule.
You kpkb no use.
You KNOW it.
Wait. Wait for New Citizens to Change singapore.
That is the only way for you.
You have used up 50 years.
No need try any more.
When Teo Ser Luck brings the games he is good…
When Bala over shoots the budget, he is bad….(he was silly to say those words)
Come on people, it seems that when shit hits the roof…an Indian Minister needs to take the blame…Teo is staying well clear of it.
Ask yourself why,…don’t shoot the messenger.If the content is bad.
In all aspects the people running sports have always been a joke, since those days.
How do I know, represented school & country, with many more from friends to family.
Today, trying to bring the YOG & the world here, is & will still be a joke.
Its just the people who are involved. In other countries, most of the
ex-sportsmen are the chiefs in the associations, unlike here, balls-carriers and what-not are.
Look at Ang Peng Siong, his father was a judoka, where are the Chans, who used to live in East Coast, where is Fandi, today.
I hope you people question objectively, then just blame 1 minister or one person.
It is the entire system.
In S.Korea, an ex-national player is the football president, that is the reason they are qualifying to all major games from all ages. What do we have, Ho Peng Kee & Mah Bow Tan. Who are they but just some cheque signers.
if they cannot hide the fact they fail to pull of a successful game, they will blame S’poreans because they cannot do it alone. just like they did regarding the MSK & MRT depot break-in on security, blaming people who litter for choking the culverts when Orchard Road flooded, etc…
vote for PAP only to have them slap your face with that vote… a taste for all the new citizens if vote for PAP, cos you give them mandate…
-.-
In the name of international event, YOG will not be successful without continual sponsorship from organizations that are for lifelong support of sports.
In the name of host country, YOG will not be successful even if targeted goals are fulfilled without true hearted participation in coming weeks.
In the name of individual, YOG will not be successful if everyone continues to scrutinize every mishandlings and purpose of events.
In the name of sportsmanship, YOG will be successful when every eager young international sportsman performs their very best at games.
To gm:
what crap are you spewing?
I hope you people question objectively, then just blame 1 minister or one person.
It is the entire system.
THEN JUST VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE NO MATTER WHICH GRC THEY REPRESENT, SIMPLE!
“And it came in the form of a budget over-run. Initially the budget for the YOG was S$104 million. In July, it was revealed that it had ballooned to S$387 million. The permanent secretary of the MCYS tried to explain that “the benefits will still continue to outweigh the increased cost.” “Besides $260 million (or 70 per cent of the budget) worth of contracts that has been awarded to local companies, the YOG is also expected to attract about 40,000 foreign visitors, generating a $57 million boom in tourism receipts,” the Straits Times reported.”
OK – Some simple maths for simple folks like me.
Budget -$387 million
Contracts +$270 million
Tourism Receipts +$57 million
I think we are still missing $60 million in this “official” formula.
OK, OK, I think the good folks in the MCYS may attribute any shortfall as “investment in goodwill” for Singapore but by the look of things, that is not going to fly as well.
Can somebody in the MCYS care to do shed some light or is it Tai Chi time?
China nurtures her young talents when they are still kids into the world class champions of today.
Our sports officials goes over in an all-expense paid holidays and start selecting from a group of carefully rejected players off-loaded for sale like 2nd hand discards. I’m sure even for the 2nd best players, we have to pay a heavy premium for all their training and grooming expenses.
All of it boils down to a pure commercial deal, plain and simple.
Where is the honour in nurturing such players ?
good one…. well written.
Precisely… Now schools are even encouraging their students to attend YOG. Reason: They have to clear up all the remaining seats.
>>Precisely… Now schools are even encouraging their students to attend YOG
Might as well get them used to it…afterall they’ll be “performing” in similar roles during NS slave times..
Aren’t we should look forward for the Sec. Sch’s Sport Day?
It’s the YOG, somehow it becomes more impt than anything. Sigh national education, anyone?