Speech by Ng Ser Miang Chairman, SYOGOC at the Announcement of the 5 Celebration Cities for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame (JYOF)

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests from the Diplomatic Corps

Principals, Teachers, Students

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning.

Today is the 26 January 2010. It is a significant day for us as we are exactly 200 days to the world’s first Youth Olympic Games that will be staged in Singapore. The event will start with a bang at the Float@Marina with the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

It has been an exciting journey so far. With 200 days to go, the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) is validating its plans and refining its processes and procedures so that we are operationally ready to welcome the world in August.

A month ago we hosted the Singapore 2010 Friendship Camp where more than 400 participants from 130 National Olympic Committees experienced the Culture and Education programme. We also organised the first Friendship Games earlier this month. These events allowed us to test and validate our plans for both the sports competitions as well as the Culture and Education programme¹.

Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame

Today is also important for another reason – we officially unveil the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. We will be announcing the five international Celebration Cities that will be representing their continents to host the Youth Olympic Flame.

The Olympic Flame is one of the most important and recognised symbols of the Olympic Movement. It is a compelling messenger of all that the Olympic Movement stands for and heralds the coming of an Olympic Games. Those of us lucky enough to have had the privilege of carrying it will understand what I mean when I say that it is an unforgettable experience.

For Singapore 2010, the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed to SYOGOC’s proposal for the Flame to journey through the five continents to connect the youth of the world and herald the arrival of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. The IOC Executive Board has also approved the name The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame to emphasise that the Flame represents the enduring Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect. As it journeys to every continent across our world, the Youth Olympic Flame invites every one of us, especially youth, to connect with the Olympic Movement by embracing, embodying and expressing the Olympic values in their lives.

The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame is also an excellent opportunity to promote Singapore as the host city of the first Youth Olympic Games to the thousands of people who will be present at each city’s City Celebration to welcome the Youth Olympic Flame. Through television coverage and new media, the reach is even greater as more will watch and join in the celebrations.

As with all other Olympic Games, the Youth Olympic Flame will come ablaze in Ancient Olympia in Greece. The Flame will then travel to one city in each of the continents of Europe, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and Asia before arriving in Singapore. At each city, the City Celebration will be attended by the people of the city as well as athletes and representatives from all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) on the continent.

Two youths from each NOC will be invited to represent their nation in a ceremonial passing of the Youth Olympic Flame to mark the visit of the Flame to their continent. The ceremony also symbolically unites the youth of the continent through their shared experiences of living the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.

To have the honour of representing their NOC, each youth who takes part in the ceremony would have had made their community a better place by doing deeds of Excellence, Friendship or Respect – the exact Olympic values symbolised by the Flame. Some time back, we launched the Million Deeds Challenge with an open invitation to everyone, athlete and non-athlete alike, to join the Olympic Movement and inspire others by sharing their deeds. Now, on behalf of SYOGOC and the IOC, I renew both the invitation and the challenge to every one of us, to improve our world by manifesting the Olympic values in our lives. No deed is too small when done with a great spirit.

The Five Celebration Cities

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe all of you must be eager to know the five cities that will represent their respective continent to host the first Youth Olympic Flame. In choosing the cities, SYOGOC considered their vibrancy in areas that appeal to youth, such as sports, arts, music, fashion, technology and education. All the 205 NOCs will be part of the celebration through their youth representatives taking part in the event.

I will now like to invite student representatives from the secondary and tertiary schools that are twinned with the cities to join me in the announcement by pinning the NOC flag onto the world map.

Beginning with the Ancient Olympia, Greece, where the Youth Olympic Flame lighting ceremony will be held, we have students from Hai Sing Catholic School and Northlight School.

Next, the city hosting the continent of Europe is Berlin, Germany. The schools twinned with Germany are St Andrew’s Secondary School and St Andrew’s Junior College.

For Africa, the city is Dakar, in Senegal. The school twinned with Senegal is Hua Yi Secondary School.

The city hosting the continent of Americas is Mexico City, Mexico. The school twinned with Mexico is Tanglin Secondary School.

Auckland, New Zealand hosting the continent of Oceania. The school twinned with New Zealand is Bukit Panjang Government High School.

For the continent of Asia, Seoul, Republic of Korea will host the Youth Olympic Flame. Schools twinned with South Korea are Anderson Secondary School and Anderson Junior College.

Thank you, students. I want to thank the cities of Berlin, Dakar, Mexico City, Auckland and Seoul for their enthusiasm and participation in this great Journey. My deep appreciation goes to the NOCs of Germany, Senegal, Mexico, New Zealand and Republic of Korea for their great support. I thank the Hellenic Olympic Committee for agreeing to have the first Youth Olympic Flame to be lit in Ancient Olympia, the birth place of the Olympic Games.

Dear friends, the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame has begun! In the coming months, you will hear more about the programmes and activities for each of the Celebration City. You will also be able to find out more about the Singapore 2010 Torch and Cauldron and the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame in Singapore itself. 

1. The Singapore 2010 Friendship Camp was held from 8 to 12 December 2009, where more than 400 participants from 130 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) had a sneak preview of the Culture and Education Programme (CEP) activities that they will get to enjoy at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (Singapore 2010) this August. These included interactive workshops and outdoor activities from the CEP formats of Chat with Champions, Discovery Activity, Exploration Journey, and Island Adventure.

The first Friendship Games was held in January 2010 and was part of a series of validation exercises for the Singapore 2010 sports competitions that started since June 2009. About 600 athletes from more than 20 NOCs participated in the Friendship Games, covering six sports competitions - Boxing, Fencing, Handball, Judo, Taekwondo, and Wrestling. The next Friendship Games will be held in May and will see competitions in Archery, Athletics, Basketball, Canoe-Kayak, Cycling - BMX, Cycling – Mountain Bike, Gymnastics, Rowing, Volleyball and Weightlifting.