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Four in 10 ‘indifferent’ to cyberbullying: survey

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

A local survey finds that the youth are unclear on what constitutes cyberbullying. (Photo:
AFP)

A survey of 800 youths in Singapore has found that almost seven in 10 of respondents have
either been bullied online or know victims of cyberbullying.

Yet, of these respondents, four in 10 said they were “indifferent” to the encounter.

They could have been bullied by a friend, but they chose not to view it as cyberbullying as
they were not clear what it meant, explained the team which conducted the survey.

Common forms of bullying found were: receiving excessive unwanted email and messages,
having videos or photos posted online without consent and being made fun of or ignored
online.

The survey, which tackled youths’ online use and their attitudes to privacy and security
online as well as cyberbullying, was conducted by 102 Singapore Polytechnic second-year
students taking a Diploma in Media and Communication.

The face-to-face survey was held in June 2010 and Singapore youths between the ages of 15
and 35 were interviewed for up to 30 minutes.

The team found that respondents were unclear on what constitutes cyberbullying.

They listed examples provided by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and asked
the respondents if they considered these instances of cyberbullying.

About seven in 10 did not think getting excessive email/messages and being ignored online
were forms of cyberbullying. More than four in 10 did not think having their passwords
stolen, being impersonated online and made fun of were examples of online bullying.

Former counsellor Gilbert Goh, who set up DontCyberbully.com as an educational support

site and online counselling service two years ago, is not surprised that most youth have been
cyberbullied, or know of a victim.

Most cyber attacks occur between people who know each other, arising from
misunderstandings in school or the work place, he said. “We dislike meeting up to clear the
air over a misunderstanding and prefer to email or attack one another through the net. When
it boiled over, it becomes a cyberbullying case.”
He agreed that Singaporeans are “pretty indifferent” to cyberbullying. A reason could be the
lack of a proper framework to persecute cyberbullies.

Since people have little legal recourse, many simply close down their Facebook accounts,
change their mobile phone numbers or get a new email account, he said.

The team also highlighted the security risks youths were taking.

The survey found that 67.5 percent of respondents have never changed their passwords on
their social networking accounts. The main reason: They are “too lazy” to do so.

Even for those who had their password stolen or used without consent (13 percent), nearly 65
percent said they continued using the same password.

The team also cited the dangers youths faced by putting personal information on social
networking sites, such as contact numbers, home addresses and photographs of themselves.

About 34 percent of respondents allowed strangers to view their profile on social networking
sites.

One of the surveyors Nur Shazana Saini, 19, said her 17-year-old sister was recently stalked
online and later offline.

Her sister, who would accept strangers as friends on Facebook, noticed one of her ‘Facebook
friends’ following her home from work one day. She had not spoken to him previously, either
online or offline.

Thankfully, she found friends to walk her home. She has since deleted all those she does not
know personally from her Facebook page, said Shazana.

Related Articles:

• Coordinated efforts against cyberbullying sought

• Gov’t to review Baby Bonus scheme
• Internet addiction among youths?

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continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be
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Tags: cyberbullying, Facebook, online privacy, youth

Posted in Newsroom | 11 Comments

How many SMSes the average teen sends per month

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Experts have different views on how texting affects teenagers. (Photo: InjuryBoard)

The average American teenager, who is fairly comparable to a typical youth here, sends and
receives 3,339 text messages every month or 8 percent more than in 2009, according to a
study by Nielsen.

In other words, the teenagers send out 1,670 SMS on average a month or 56 text messages a
day. Some may find these statistics hard to believe, while many think otherwise.

Teen females exchange an astounding 4,050 text messages per month, while teen males
exchange an average of 2,539 text messages.

The American research firm analysed the mobile data habits of more than 60,000 mobile
subscribers and surveyed more than 3,000 teens from April to June last year.

The average teenager exchanges more than 3,000 texts per month.

Meanwhile, the average working adult under the 25-34 age group exchanges about 700 text
messages per month, a far cry from the figure teenagers are sending and receiving each
month.

And teens are spending a significant portion of their time each day texting.

A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that children ages 8 to 18 spend an average of 95
minutes a day sending or receiving texts, which educators and parents think the time could be
put to better use.

A recent report published by the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in
November last year revealed that “teens who text 120 times a day or more are three-and-a-
half times more likely to have had sex or used alcohol and drugs than kids who don’t send as
many messages”.

While there are no numbers out there to establish a cause and effect relationship between
texting usage and grades, sending text messages on a frequent basis appears to have an
impact on school grades, some educators say.

Texting has brought a decline in the quality of spelling, word choice, and writing because of
the new “texting lingo”. For example, the phrases “by the way” and “got to go” are often
shortened to “btw” and “gtg” respectively by texters to evade hitting the 160-character limit
in an SMS.

Another worrying issue is that mobile phones tend to divert the attention from school work to
the social aspect of life, and students sending text messages during lessons is getting more
common even though the “No mobile phones allowed” rule still applies in most institutions
here.

However some experts argue that there is no apparent link between texting and grades as long
students know when to leave it on their mobile phones. They even present an interesting
counter-argument, adding that the use of abbreviations is a novel way of communication that
demonstrates dexterity and creativity.

A 10-year research by psychologist Dr Clare Wood of Coventry University found that

children as young as five who send text messages are better at recognising rhymes and
syllables in speech patterns.

Dr Wood said: “Texting appears to be a valuable contact with written English for many
children, which enables them to practise reading and spelling on a daily basis.

“If we are seeing a decline in literacy standards among young children, it is in spite of text
messaging, not because of it,” she added.

The major culprit that spearheads the excessive text messaging habit among teenagers is due
to the fast-rising adoption of smartphones and spurred by the unlimited SMS student plans
offered by all three mobile phone service providers here.

Smartphones such as the iPhone and Android devices are equipped with more advanced
texting software with threaded conversation view and sport a QWERTY keyboard. These
make texting more convenient, thus encouraging more texting to take place.

While many parents believe that signing up for a student mobile plan comes with campus
benefits such as unlimited texting, it is in fact a double-edge sword.

I am a teenager myself, and my friends ranting about their parents’ unhappiness over their
phone bills or the number of text messages they send out each month could be seen on
Facebook once in a while.

The Kaiser Family Foundation study also found that only 14 percent of kids said their parents
set rules limiting texting.
I do not fall under the “hyper-texter” category. I send out 300 text messages on average per
month because I do not see a point to start with a “What are you doing now?” text
conversation, which quickly evolves to gossipping about teachers and then to idolising KPop
singers.

But still, I am active on popular communication media such as Facebook, Twitter, MSN and
Skype.

What are your opinions after reading this article? We would love to hear them in the
comments.

The writer is a 16-year-old technology blogger who loves social media and gadgets. He is
also Singapore’s No. 1 Twitter user, with 180,000 followers, and writes a column for
HappyMarketer.

Related articles:

• Singapore buildings equipped with super-fast broadband

• Top 3 countries that heavily censor the Internet
• Are Singaporeans obsessed with Apple products?

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Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We
continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be
nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any
kind of offensive language. And in the spirit of great conversations, please don’t stray from
the topic at hand.

Tags: mobile phones, Nielsen, sms, teens, text messages, youth

Posted in TechnologyBlog | 38 Comments

Is Internet addiction a problem among youths?

Monday, February 7th, 2011

New data raise concern that more youths in Singapore are becoming addicted to the Internet.
(AP photo)

Are more youths in Singapore getting addicted to the Internet?

TOUCH Cyber Wellness Centre has reported an increase in gaming addiction cases.
Compared to 2009, the number of counselling cases increased by 40 per cent last year to 71
cases, Channel NewsAsia reported.

“There are some who play because it is an act of achievement for them,” Anthony Yeong,
programme executive for TOUCH Cyber Wellness & Sports, told CNA. “Then of course
there are also people who are escaping from their real world. They don’t like who they are,
they prefer to go into the online world.”
Worryingly, youths seem to be picking up an addiction to the Internet at a younger age.

Ray Chua, assistant manager of TOUCH Cyber Wellness & Sports, said: “Our clients are
typically about the age of 14-15, so early teenage years, but we are also seeing cases where
they are in the upper primary, so 11-12 years old, where parents come to us and say their kids
gaming habits are becoming out of control and ask us to help them.”

On a brighter note, 7 in 10 at the centre achieve their counselling goals.

In general, many young Singaporeans are turning to the Internet for their amusement.
According to the latest “State of the Youths in Singapore” report, 8 in 10 youths “strongly
agree” or “agree” that they use the Internet for entertainment purposes.

Dr Tan Hwee Sim, a consultant with the Addiction Medicine Department at the Institute of
Mental Health, noted that the amount of time spent on a computer may not actually be a sign
of addiction.

“The actual [number of] hours is not a tell-tale sign whether it is an addiction.They will skip
school so they can stay home, so they play the game or whether they will play computer
games over night. So it’s more of whether you are spending the time that you can afford or
not, rather than the actual hours,” Dr Tan told CNA.

Experts added that social networking sites such as Facebook are not making the situation any
better.

Mr Chua elaborated, “Besides just gaming, we also notice and are observing a lot more
people getting into social media. Of course instances like Facebook games such as Mafia
wars, Mouse Hunt are all on the rise. To date these are just observations that we have made,
there are awareness of this platform, we are still observing.

“But we expect it to go grow and we are expecting that it may get big. For the gaming cases,
we actually get kids dropping out of school or failing their exams, not so much for social
networks as yet, it’s an area that we are observing.”

Related articles:

• Two teens charged with robbing, bashing elderly woman

• Singaporean found guilty by Fijian court
• Government to review Baby Bonus scheme

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We
continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be
nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any
kind of offensive language. And in the spirit of great conversations, please don’t stray from
the topic at hand.

Tags: addiction, Facebook, Games, Internet, Singapore, youth

Posted in Newsroom | 40 Comments
Day 5: Archer Dayyan wins S’pore’s third YOG bronze
Friday, August 20th, 2010

By Republic Polytechnic’s Zianna Zainal

Archer Abdul Dayyan Mohamed Jaffar won Singapore’s third Youth Olympic Games (YOG)
bronze medal — and fourth in total — in the mixed team event held at the Kallang Field on
Thursday.

Dayyan, 16, teamed up with Turkey’s Elif Begunham Unsal and the pair defeated Spain’s
Miriam Alarcon and Md Emdad Haque Milon of Bangladesh with a perfect score of 20
points.

Gold went to Anton Karoukin of Belarus and Italy’s Gloria Filippi while Slovenia’s Gregor
Rajh and Greece’s Zoi Paraskevopoulou took the silver medal.

This unique mixed team event consists of two qualified individual archers of different
genders who may or may not be from the same country. They are paired according to their
rank in their gender-specified event where a higher ranked player is paired with a lowest
ranked player.

In the boys’ under-15 football, there was high drama at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Cheered on by a vociferous sold-out crowd and watched by PM Lee Hsien Loong and his
wife as well as MCYS minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Cubs beat 10-man Montenegro
3-2 in a thrilling game to qualify for the semi-finals.

Goals from Muhaimin Suhaimi (3rd min), Jeffrey Lightfoot (35th min) and Brandon Koh
(75th min) meant the Cubs top their group and they will avoid tournament favourites Bolivia
in the semis.

Singapore will instead play Haiti this Sunday for a spot in the already sold-out grand final.
Singapore's Brandon Koh (left) kicks the ball past Montenegro's Igor Markovic (second from
right) and Jovan Baosic (right) to teammate Jeffrey Lightfoot, who goes on to score
Singapore's second goal. (Photo: SPH-SYOGOC/Seyu Tzyy Wei)

Over in swimming, there appears to be no more medals in sight for Team Singapore.

In the Boys’ 50m breaststroke semi-final, Singapore’s Pang Sheng Jun was 10th out of 15
with a time of 30.11 secs and failed to make the final at the Singapore Sports School.

In the 100m freestyle, Clement Lim Yong En, came in 13th out of 16.

For the girls’ team, Amanda Lim will compete in the finals of the girls’ 50m freestyle today
but she’s unlikely to be on the winners’ podium given her sixth place time of 26.14 sec in the
semi-finals.

But the swimmer took time before her final race to pay tribute to the supporters who have
been cheering Team Singapore on.

“It’s a big difference when the crowd cheers for Singapore, I can hear a big roar. It gives me
the energy to swim, so thank you!” she said, before sharing how she felt after the girls’
4x100m freestyle relay team came in last with a time of 4:00.43.

“We’re proud to even make it to the finals, going against strong relay teams from China,
Germany and Australia. Even though it’s the eighth placing, all of us did our best,” Amanda
added.
Amanda Lim will be swimming her way into tomorrow’s Girls' 50m freestyle finals. (Photo:
SPH-SYOGOC/Selwyn Yeo)

China clinched the gold medal in the relay with a time of 3min 46.64 secs. Germany took
silver, while Canada bagged the bronze.

“I would like to thank my team-mates; the gold medal won in this relay is a result of a
combined team effort,” said China’s Tang Yi.

In the Girls’ 50m backstroke, Mathilde Cini notched the first gold for France with her time of
29.19 sec. Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina won the silver while Russia’s Alexandra Papusha took
home the bronze.
Undeterred by their previous disqualification, China bagged the gold for the Girls' 4x100m
freestyle relay finals. (Photo: Aimee Karman)

Over in the boys’ 50m butterfly, Ukraine’s Andrii Govorov took the gold medal in 23.64 sec.
Silver went to South Korea’s Gyucheol Chang and bronze went to Italian Tommaso Romani.

Despite finishing second, South Korea’s Chang was disappointed with his performance.

“I’m not satisfied. I wanted to get a gold medal badly. I’m not strong enough and have many
weak points and I want to improve,” he told Yahoo! SEA.

At the Bishan Sports Hall, Viktoria Komova continued Russia’s tradition of producing world-
class gymnasts when she put up a near flawless performance to land herself the gold medal in
the Girls’ Individual All-Around Final.

Viktoria had a small wobble on the balance beam but wowed the full-house crowd with other
apparatus. Her commanding final score of 61.250 saw her take gold ahead of China’s Tan Si
Xin, who scored 58.500. Italy’s Carlotta Ferlito took third place with 55.350.

While Si Xin looked disappointed to take home the silver medal, her mother who was
watching from the stands told Yahoo! SEA that she was “satisfied and contented” with her
daughter’s performance.
15-year-old Viktoria Komova stands proud with gold medal (Photo: XINHUA/SYOGOC-
Pool/Zhang Chuanqi)

In badminton, Thailand’s Pisit Poodchalat and Sapsiree Taerattanachai swept both the boys
and girls’ badminton titles at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Pisit Poodchalat scored 21-15, 21-16 past India’s Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy while
Sapsiree Taerattanachai defeated China’s Deng Xuan 21-14, 21-17.

The boys’ bronze medal went to South Korean Kang Ji Wook due to a walkover, after his
Malaysian opponent Low Wei Sheng failed to recover from an ankle injury.
Vietnam’s Vu Thi Trang won the girls’ bronze when she beat Briton Sarah Milne 21-15, 22-
20.

The silver medallist Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy of India, the gold medallist Poodchalat
Pisit of Thailand and the bronze medallist Kang Ji Wook of South Korea (L-R) present their
medals during the awarding ceremony of the boys' singles final match of badminton. (Photo:
SYOGOC)

After Day 5, China leads the medal tally with 13 golds, followed by Russia with 10 golds and
Italy, Korea and Azarbaijan sharing third spot with 5 golds each.

Additional Reporting by Fann Sim, Siti Khairunnisa, Aimee Karman, Kristine Ho,
Michelle Weers, Nasri Jamal.

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games is brought to you by students from
Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! South-east Asia.

Tags: Abdul Dayyan Mohamed Jaffar, Alexandra Papusha, Amanda Lim, Andrii Govoro,
Anton Karoukin, Archery, Badminton, Begunhan Elif Unsa, Brandon Koh, Clement Lim,
Daryl Tan, Daryna Zevina, Deng Xuan, Football, Games, Gloria Filippi, Gymnastics,
Gyucheol Chang, Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy, Jeffrey Lightfoot, Kallang Field, Kang Ji-
Wook, Liu Lan, Loh Wei Sheng, Md Emdad Haque Milon, Miriam Alarcon, Muhaimin
Suhaimi, Nurul Shafinas Abdul Rahman, Olympic, Pang Sheng Jun, Pisit Poodchalat, Rainer
Ng, Sapsiree Taerattanachai, Sarah Milne, Singapore2010, swimming, Tan Si Xin, Tang Yi,
Tih Trang Vu, Tommaso Romani, Viktoria Komova, YOG, youth, Zoi Paraskevopoulou
Posted in SG Youth Olympic Games | 17 Comments

From badminton to barbells: YOG athlete Jamie Wee

Monday, August 16th, 2010
By Republic Polytechnic’s Zianna Zainal & Fann Sim

For most athletes, switching from one sport to another would be unthinkable. They would
have to completely change their diets, training regimes and mindsets, not to mention learning
a whole new set of movement and psychomotor skills.

But Singapore’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) athlete Jamie Emma Wee,17, not only made
such a switch from badminton to weightlifting effortlessly; she embraced the changes that
came along with it whole-heartedly.

While one requires agility, the other entails massive feats of strength, and this young athlete
has been able to master both.

The change started about a year ago when Jamie was spotted at the Bedok gymnasium by
Singapore’s first Olympic medalist Tan Howe Liang, who competed in the men’s lightweight
(60-67.5 kg) category at the Palazetto Dello Sport Hall in Rome.

“I was in the gym training for my personal fitness at that time and because I happened to
frequent that gym, I’d seen him a couple of times before he approached me,” she told Yahoo!
SEA.

She added, “I knew who he was and what he had accomplished as a weightlifter and felt
honoured that he thought I was a good fit for weightlifting.”
17-year-old Jamie Emma Wee uses all her strength to lift the barbell

When asked how her family and friends responded to her decision to take up weightlifting,
still predominantly seen as a masculine sport, she said: “My parents had their concerns with
me lifting weights at first.”

“I was younger then, so they were concerned that weightlifting would affect my growth.
However, when I went to China and met weightlifters who had been training since they were
10 years old, they could see their fears were unfounded.”

“Since then, my parents have been very supportive and have been encouraging me to do my
best in competitions,” said the 1.50-metre, 58-kg weightlifer.

While most people are still questioning her decision to become a weightlifter, she is keeping
her focus instead on performing well at the YOG.
“I don’t bother what people say about girls having to be feminine,” she said.

Looking ahead, the sports-management student from ITE College East says her priorities now
is to focus on her studies and training, and added that dating or finding a boyfriend is “not
high on my list of priorities right’’.

“For now, I would be happy to concentrate on weightlifting as much as possible. In future,

who knows, my plans might change,” she added.

Stepping into the world of weightlifting just over a year ago, Jamie still has a lot to prove.

But she is determined to do her best when she competes in the over 58kg-class “snatch”
and ”clean and jerk” categories where she will be going up against nine other nations such as
Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Peru, China, Nigeria, Malaysia, Egypt and Fiji.

Despite facing an uphill task, you can be sure Jamie will do her best and make her Olympic
hero Tan Howe Liang proud.

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games is brought to you by students from
Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

Tags: Games, Jamie Emma Wee, Olympic, Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Tan
Howe Liang, Weightlifting, YOG, youth
Posted in SG Youth Olympic Games | 15 Comments

YOG Day 1 round-up: China dominates swimming

Monday, August 16th, 2010

By Republic Polytechnic’s Siti Khairunnisa and Nasri Jamal

China clinched its first gold medal in the finals of the Mixed 4X100m Freestyle Relay – a
first-of-its-kind category in the history of the Olympics.

The team of Sun Bowei, Tang Yi, Liu Lan and He Jianbin ended the race with a spectacular
timing of 3 min 31.34 sec. Favourites Australia had to settle for a silver medal with their time
of 3 min 31.69 sec while in third place, the French team came in with timing of 3 min 35 sec.
The gold medalist from China for the first ever Mixed 4X100 metres Freestyle Relay

Team China was certainly the dark horse of the pool, as many competitors did not expect
them to win. Australia’s Kenneth To echoed the sentiment. “We thought we came in as the
‘favourites’, but they (team China) have a very strong freestyle team.”

Despite the second placing, the Australian team were proud of its participation in this unique
mixed relay, a first in Olympic history.

“It’s great because we were able to swim with the boys,” said swimmer Madison Wilson. Her
fellow teammate Justin James agreed heartily, and added, “We got to swim together and have
fun.”

China also struck gold in the Youth Men’s 400 metres freestyle with Dai Jun coming in first
with a timing of 3 min 50.91 sec. He was followed closely by South African swimmer Chad
le Clos in second place while Cristian Quintero from Venezuela took third spot with a time of
3 min 53.44 sec.
Dai Jun of China, wins the first gold medal in swimming.

Dai Jun remained humble despite his win and said he was “satisfied with the results”.

Despite his coach’s absence, Dai Jun managed to maintain his focus and kept reminding
himself to “keep the first place and keep up with the pace.”

In the Youth Women’s 200 metres Individual Medley, American swimmer Kaitlyn Jones
won the gold medal with a timing of 2 min 14.53 sec.

“Finish it! That was all I was thinking about at the last lap,” said a triumphant Jones.

It was a poor start though, for Singapore swimmers, Rainer Ng and Cheryl Lim. The pair
made it to the semi-finals of the Youth Men’s 100 metres Backstroke and Youth Women’s 50
metres Breaststroke but both failed to qualify for the finals.

Swimming continues tomorrow at the Singapore Sports School with eight more medal races.
Gold medalist Kaitlyn Jones of United States (centre), flanked by bronze medalist Barbora
Zavadova of Czech Republic (left) and silver medalist Kristina Kochetkova of Russia (right)
Photo: SPH-SYOGOC/Neville Hew

Dream start for Singapore’s badminton

By Republic Polytechnic’s Atiqah Aminudin and Kristine Ho

The lone Singaporean representative in the badminton singles competition, Huang Chao, 17,
did his nation proud yesterday by defeating India’s Bhamidipati Sairaneeth 2-1 in the Boy’s
singles match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Huang Chao took the lead in the first round, beating Bhamidipati with an impressive score of
21 – 12. This got the crowd to its feet as they were heard cheering “Singapore all the way!”
and waving their Singapore flags.
Singapore’s Huang Chao serving while India’s Bhamidipati all ready to defend.

Bhamidipati however, clawed his way back to win the second set with a score of 21-18.

But a determined Huang Chao, cheered on by the home supporters, came back strongly in an
exciting final set to beat his Indian opponent 21-17.

Watch him in action.

Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was
delighted with Huang Chao’s performance.

“He played really well and it is good to see the crowd’s support. Let’s just keep this going,”
he said.

Alex Lim, 23, a spectator who was constantly cheering in Mandarin for Huang Chao, said he
could feel the intensity of the game.

“I have confidence in Huang Chao and I knew he could do it!” he exclaimed.

Huang Chao who studies at Singapore Sports School said he hopes to improve with each
game he plays.

“I really want to do better and give my best in the following games,” he said.

Huang Chao will play Peru’s Cuba Mario on later today.

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games is brought to you by students from
Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! South-east Asia.
Tags: Chad le Clos, Cheryl Lim, Cristian Quintero, Games, He Jianbin, Justin James, Kaitlyn
Jones, Kristina Kochetkova, Liu Lan, Madison Wilson, Olympic, Rainer Ng, Singapore 2010,
Singapore Sports School, Sun Bowei, swimming, Tang Yi, YOG, youth
Posted in SG Youth Olympic Games | 5 Comments

I’ll come back stronger than ever: Isinbayeva

Monday, August 16th, 2010

By Republic Polytechnic’s Fann Sim & Michelle Weers

Two-time Olympic pole vault gold medallist Yelena Isinbayeva says she will be making a
return to the sport to prepare for the London 2012 Olympics and the 2011 and 2013 World
Championships.

Isinbayeva announced she was giving herself a break from the punishing training and
competition schedule she has been undergoing for the last eight years after finishing fourth at
the Doha world indoor athletics competition held in April this year.

“It is important to rest my body and head. I have to rest mentally because I was under so
much pressure. It is very hard to be at the top all the time,” she said.

But the 28-year-old was quick to add this did not mean she was retiring and she will be back
to her normal routine soon.

The gorgeous Russian athlete, who is currently the women’s world record holder in both the
indoor and outdoor pole vault, is in town as one of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG)
ambassadors.

And Isinbayeva said it was an honour to be able to encourage not just the YOG athletes but
also young people everywhere to be more involved in sports.

“I am so happy that I have a chance to inspire youth athletes and people from all over the
world,” said the chirpy nine-time major champion.
Isinbayeva reveals her highs and lows to Yahoo! SEA.

Isinbayeva, who was attending her sponsors Li-Ning‘s presentation of a S$200,000

sponsorship in kind to the Singapore Disability Sports Council’s badminton programme, also
shared her journey as an Olympian.

“Happy and sad moments are connected to my performance. My happiest moment was at the
Beijing Olympics. It was the first time I cleared the 5-metre mark and it was an unforgettable
moment,” she told Yahoo! SEA.

Standing at 1.74 metres, it’s no surprise Isinbayeva currently holds the 5 metres indoor record
set at the Donetsk meet on February 15, 2009 and the outdoor world record at 5.06 metres set
in Zurich on August 28, 2009.

Watch how she did it.

Isinbayeva originally trained as an artistic gymnast in her hometown of Volgograd but had to
leave the sport when she was 15 because she was considered too tall to be a gymnast.

She then turned to the pole vault and made an immediate impact, winning her first major
victory at the age of 16 at the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow by clearing a height of
4.00 metres.

So far, she has set an amazing 27 world records and even remained unbeaten during an
incredible five-year run from 2004-2009, during which she amassed a clutch of world indoor
and outdoor championship medals.

Looking back at her sporting career, Isinbayeva revealed ”rough moments can be the toughest
to overcome.”
“The bad moment is only when I lose. That was in 2003 in Paris and in this year’s
competition in Doha. I try to forget these moments and think about happy things.”

Turning her attention back to the YOG, her message to young sportsmen is that true success
takes time and patience is necessary.

“They must understand that to get to the top, it takes time and it may be longer than they
expect. They must work hard and be patient,” said the three-time IAAF Female Athlete of the
Year.

As one of the eight Olympic Flag bearers at the opening ceremony on Saturday, Isinbayeva
said she was wowed by the performances and was especially happy to meet Tan Howe Liang,
the only Singaporean to win an individual Olympic Games medal.

They spent some time in rehearsals working on the flag march for the opening ceremony and
she found him to be a very friendly man.

When asked how she felt meeting him, she said, in her own words: “He reminded me of my
grandfather”.

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games is brought to you by students from
Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

Tags: Games, Olympics, Pole Vault, Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Singapore
Disability Sports Council, Yelena Isinbayeva, YOG, youth
Posted in SG Youth Olympic Games | 2 Comments

Controversy over meal packs for YOG volunteers

Friday, August 13th, 2010
By Republic Polytechnic’s Fann Sim

Local internet forums are buzzing over the sub-standard food being served to the volunteers
at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The issue surfaced after a volunteer snapped a photo of the meal and uploaded it onto his
Facebook page.

According to the volunteer, a typical lunchbox consists of a piece of meat (fried chicken in
this case), long beans, corn and white rice. Debate has raged on since the photo was posted on
Tuesday.

Netizen Chris Liew, 33, an investment banker said, “Even if the meal was an isolated
incident, such a logistics oversight of providing sub-standard meals to our volunteers should
have been avoided at all costs.”

Another full-time NS man Leslie Wong, 20, who was stationed at the Marina Bay floating
platform, was quoted on The Straits Times as saying, “One of the meals was a dry, tasteless
piece of chicken with a few slices of carrot and soggy rice. I ended up throwing most of
it away.”

Online socio-political website The Temasek Review even had an anonymous volunteer
comparing the bland meals to “dog food”.

Food for the volunteers is provided by Singapore Food Industries (SFI), a subsidiary of the
Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Sats). Sats has confirmed that the meal in the picture
above was indeed part of a meal that was provided to the YOG volunteers.

“We have received feedback from the workforce regarding the meals served. We take their
feedback very seriously and have promptly taken action to improve and ensure that the
portions and variety served will provide the workforce with a balanced meal,” said the Sats
spokesperson.

YOG’s organising committee have also been quick to respond: “We are aware of the
feedback (on the meal) and have taken immediate action. We will work with the caterers to
continually improve the meal standards.”

YOG volunteers Yahoo! Singapore spoke to had a mixed experience.

20-year-old Audrey Ng, a volunteer at the National Sailing Centre had a better dining
experience.

Ms Ng said volunteers there are given meal coupons they can redeem at various food
vendors.

When asked if she’s been given lunch like the one pictured above, she said ‘no’.

“The food at the other venues seems lousy. Ours is not that bad and we have free flow of
drinks here. I’ve heard from my friend that the food provided was quite bad on the first day
of rehearsal but it’s getting better,’’ said Ms Ng.

But 21-year-old Md Raziman Sani, a full-time NS man activated to volunteer at the YOG
floating platform, agreed that the food he’s being served is similar to the lunchbox pictured
above.

“Our meal consists of rice that’s cold, vegetables and a meat usually chicken or fish. It’s nice
and generally enough to fill us,” he said.

For dinner, volunteers are given free drinks such as a can of Coca-Cola, green tea or ice
lemon tea. On top of that, they get a packet of wet wipes and dry tissue and once a week, they
get ice cream.

“We also got vouchers from McDonald’s and some Old Chang Kee vouchers,” said Raziman.
$3 Old Chang Kee voucher given to the volunteers at the Floating Platform.

Clearly, there are different caterers for different venues so standards vary.

And surely the YOG athletes at the Games Village are being treated to a different kind of
feast.

So it would seem that the very least YOG organisers can do is ensure that Singapore’s own
army of volunteers — many of whom are sacrificing their precious time — are well-fed and
taken care of.

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games is brought to you by students from
Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! South-east Asia.

Tags: Games, Olympic, Opening Ceremony, Singapore, YOG, youth

Posted in SG Youth Olympic Games | 381 Comments

11 things you missed from the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame
Friday, August 13th, 2010

By Republic Polytechnic’s Fann Sim and Atiqah Aminudin

For the past few days, the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame (JYOF) has been the hottest
topic among residents in the heartlands of Singapore.

Since arriving in Singapore from Seoul, South Korea last Thursday after a 13-day journey
across five continents since it was lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, on July 23, the Youth
Olympic Flame has had a rather packed schedule.

It has travelled through 5 community districts – Central, South East, North East, North West
and South West Districts. With the help of 2,400 torch bearers aged between 11 to 82 and
covering an amazing distance of 305 km, six times the length of Singapore, it will make its
way to the Marina Bay Floating platform this Saturday where the flame will light the
cauldron at the opening ceremony to signify the start of the games.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Lim Swee Say, who joined the community
celebration at Republic Polytechnic on Wednesday evening, complimented the spirit of the
torchbearers.

“Regardless of what the weather brings, they (the torchbearers) made sure they put forward
their best foot and their best hands to ensure that the flame will continue to shine high and
bright,” he said.

As the flame embarks on its final journey across Singapore, we give you 11 things you’ve
missed from the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame.

1. Do you think the flame will last forever on the torch? Think again. Hidden from view in
each YOF torch sits a canister that burns for up to 13 minutes. A clever “refueling” technique
at each 13-minute interval gives the impression that only one flame is being passed from one
torch to another. This is why some torches are passed from hand to hand, while other stops
will have another athlete awaiting with a fresh torch in hand!

Grassroot leader Kwan Jin Peng (middle) bearing the torch along Woodlands Ring Road
(Photo: Adrian Pereira)

2. So if some torches need to be prepared in advance to “carry” the flame while another dies
out, just how many of such torches are needed? Do you think its 10 or 20 torches? Not quite.
270 torches are actually prepared for the flame to be transferred to the other when the canister
burns out.

3. You don’t have to be one of the chosen torchbearers to try your hand in carrying the torch.
Apart from the flame-bearing torch, you can actually hold the torch (minus the flame) with
the replicas which are readily available at each community celebration event. You’re also
allowed to take pictures and capture this historical moment for own keep!
6-year-old Jasper Kam dreams of bearing the torch one day!

4. Remember the ‘noise’ heard from the stadiums at the recent 2010 World Cup? Yes, those
bee-hive sounding Vuvuzelas. It has arrived for the YOG and you can hear it at the JYOF
events before the torchbearers come into sight! To make sure the crowd is all pumped up and
ready for the arrival of the torch, two bus-loads crammed with hyper-active youths will lead
the relay. You’ll hear their screams before you see the torch! Armed with vuvuzelas and
clappers, these crowd motivators will attracting the attention of any passer-by!

Watch them in action.

5. What does each torchbearer do? Representing the YOG values of Excellence, Friendship
and Respect, each of them will run for 100 metres before the torch is passed on to another
torchbearer, who will continue the next stretch of 100 metres till it has reached the
destination.
6. Rain might not put a stop to the torch relay but lightning certainly will. Organisers are well
aware that Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world. For safety
reasons, if lightning status is CAT 1 which means a high risk of lightning strikes, the torch
relay will be delayed until the lightning status is given the all clear.

Singapore Minister of Education Ng Eng Hean (in white) accompanies a young torch bearer
in pouring rain on the first day of the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame carried out in
Singapore on 7 August, 2010. Singapore is the host of the inaugural YOG which will take
place from Aug 14 to 26. (Photo: SYOGOC)

7. Every route is carefully marked and every torchbearers’ timing is calculated right down to
the precise second. The JYOF officials are issued a phone that will send an SMS with
location information to inform the party receiving the torch at the next venue. This helps to
ensure the smooth flow of the JYOF. However, if something happens, ‘Plan B’ kicks in and
some adjustments will be made to the programme, such as a shorter lunch break time.

8. You’ve seen the pictures of athletes running with the torch, but how about the torch on
wheels? Flying fox, wheelchair, mountain bike, dragon boat and skateboard are also used in
transporting the torch as part of the relay. For instance, when transporting the torch using a
mountain bike, a customized holder contains the torch, freeing up both hands for the cyclist
to ride safely.
Ian Francis Krempl, a Champion Mountain Bike and BMX rider bears the Youth Olympic
torch on his bike during the second day of the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame in
Singapore, 8 Aug, 2010. (Photo: SYOGOC)

9. Like an addict, once you’ve experienced the infectious spirit of the JYOF, you’ll want to
come back for more. Spotted at the community celebration, 20-year-old Clyde Pan, a
volunteer at the Youth Olympic Village (YOV) was seen with a visibly worn bicycle. After
his duties at the YOV on Wednesday, Clyde trailed the torch relay on his bicycle from start to
finish to Republic Polytechnic.

When ask why he did so, he said: “It’s very different at both venues. Stationed at the village,
I could see the flame at a distance. Following the flame, I felt very happy and got to
experience the enthusiasm of the public when they saw the flame for the first time.” He went
on to explain that it was also a once-in-a-lifetime experience that no one should miss.
20-year-old Clyde Pan is a volunteer at the Youth Olympic Village. Off-duty, he trails the
flame in his free time to be part of the event.

10. I’m sure you’ve heard of Low Wei Jie, the 12-year-old sensation who relentlessly ran 15
km to take pictures of the torchbearers in the flame relay in bermudas and flip-flops. Do you
know that he’s been made a torchbearer for his spirited effort? Other than being made a
torchbearer, Wei Jie will be catching the opening ceremony live with his parents after they
were presented complimentary tickets.

11. Nurhidayah Rahmat, 11, is the youngest torchbearer to carry the first ever Youth Olympic
Flame. “I feel proud and honored. I’m excited as this is a very rare opportunity and one
seldom gets to be involved in such a great event,” he said.

There you have it. The 11 things you missed about the JYOF. You now have bragging rights
to the things your friends didn’t know. Run along!

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games is brought to you by students from
Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! South-east Asia.

Tags: 2010, Flame, Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame, JYOF, Olympic, Relay, Republic
Polytechnic, Torch, Vuvuzela, World Cup, YOG, youth
Posted in SG Youth Olympic Games | 20 Comments

Youth Olympic Games Village opens

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

By Republic Polytechnic’s Fann Sim and Michelle Weers

The first Youth Olympic Games Village (YOV) at the Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) officially opened its doors to athletes on Tuesday.

The Games Village, which will play host to over 5,000 athletes and team officials during the
inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) over the next two weeks, welcomed the first
contingent of athletes from Zimbabwe after they touched down at Changi Airport early
Tuesday morning.

They were followed by Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Russia, Netherlands and Canada.

Mr Ng Ser Miang, chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games organising committee,
said at the opening of the village, “Like all Olympic Games, the Games Village is the very
heart of the Games… It will offer a unique experience as it will be the first one designed to
integrate sport, culture and education, which mirrors the YOG vision.”

On site, athletes and team officials were greeted by YOG volunteers upon arrival before they
made their way to the reception area to check-in.

Zimbawean boys' soccer team captain Ackim Mpofu (top left) registers himself at the
reception desk of the Youth Olympic Village. (Photo: SPH-SYOGOC)

With the Games kicking off this Saturday, athletes Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were excited
to have finally arrived.

One of them is 16-year-old Daphne van der Vaart from the Netherlands.
Growing up in a small town of Rijpwetering with many surrounding lakes, she says
Singapore could not be more different from home.

“You have a lot of buildings in Singapore and it is very warm and also very clean,” said the
young sailor who will going for gold in the Byte CII Girls category.

Besides competing in sailing, Van der Vaart is looking forward to Saturday’s opening
ceremony as well as watching other events such as gymnastics .

16-year-old Daphne van der Vaart (left) is the only female sailor from Netherlands. Her
coach Gea Jutjens (right), 27, will be by her side throughout the Games.

Also checking into the village was 18-year-old swimmer Christian Homer from Trinidad and
Tobago, who’s already been in Singapore for a week.

His early arrival in Singapore gave him time to indulge in some local cuisine.

“I love that noodle dish, bee-something. I ate it when I was out in town at a mall called City
Square with my team,” quipped Homer, referring to the local noodle, bee hoon.

What does he think about the food dished out at the Games Village?

“I will give the Japanese food a thumbs-up because it has been the best so far,” he said.

On a more serious note, Homer is not only setting himself a gold medal target, but wants to
push himself further by qualifying for other competitions.

“I hope that by performing well at the YOG, I can also qualify for this year’s Delhi
Commonwealth Games,” he said.
Christian Homer feeling at home at the Youth Olympic Village.

While the competition is on the minds of most athletes, two 16-year-olds from Canada told
Yahoo! Singapore they can’t wait to have fun.

“We just saw the disco and there is a nice gym here. We’re planning to go to the gym
tonight,” said Hayden Daniels and Jazmyne Denhollander, who are canoe and kayak athletes.

Hayden Daniels and Jazmyne Denhollander were checking out the artworks displayed along
the World Culture Village exhibition.
Besides the foreign contingents, Team Singapore athletes from three sports — handball,
football and diving — also moved into their new home for the next two weeks on Tuesday.

The rest of the National Olympic Committees are expected to arrive within the next few days.

Coverage of Singapore’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games will be brought to you by students
from Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Communication and Information Design (DCID), in
conjunction with Yahoo! South-east Asia.