Winning Voucher From McDonald's

McDonald's is having a Monopoly promotion, where for every value meal you get, you are entitled to a stamp. The trick is to collect all the stamps (for every different colour and road names) and then submit to McDonalds to claim your prizes.

Of course, there are also other prizes by the sponsors, like a car voucher, McDonald's meal vouchers, watch vouchers and so on. My colleagues and I were at McDonald's for lunch earlier. They collected a total of ten stamps and I collected two. Unfortunately, we could not get the stamps of all the colours as there were quite a few repeated ones.

However, I managed to get a stamp for a one-for-one ride up the Flyer! Which means I can bring someone else up the Flyer for just the price of one! And the voucher expires in March next year, so I have a few months to utilise it. That is great!

Perhaps I will bring my dear there during his birthday next year, since he has never been up the Flyer before. Hope it will be a great experience for him!

Are Local Sports Personnel Not As Good As Foreigners?

My short stint volunteering for the recent inaugural Youth Olympics made me think : why is it that our local sportsmen can never compete internationally? Is it due to our limited pool of talent, or is it due to the fact that we just do not care about sports?

Times are changing. During my time, parents wanted their children to excel in their studies and not other things. Hence, even though the child could do a certain sport very well, or play a certain instrument very well, parents would stop them and made them concentrate on their studies instead, go to university and get a good job. Sports and music were frowned upon.

But it is changing. Kids are getting more and more all-rounded, excelling in studies, sports and music. A few years back, the sports school was set up, to groom all the young athletes around. Kids who are good in sports can now have a career in them since young.

Yet as compared to the international arena, somehow our own sportsmen are still not on par. What is the best here? He or she may be nothing internationally, which is a very sad thing.

Are we really not as good? I do not think so. Judging from the capability and power of so many people here, I daresay we are just as good, if not better, than many other people. I guess because sports is still a relatively new area, our locals still need more time and experience so they can be confident and not crumble under pressure.

That is why the Youth Olympics is such a good experience and exposure. Maybe give them another few years, perhaps by then, a born and bred local can clinch a gold medal at another major sports event, instead of relying on foreign talent.

Back To The Olympics

After a break of two days, I went back to my shift again for the Youth Olympics. The fencing match is over, today was the start of the handball matches. Since I was on the afternoon to evening shift, I got to see two male teams as two female teams had their matches in the morning and early afternoon.

The earlier match for handball was South Korea vs Cook Islands. Pardon the photos, as they were taken from quite a far range. The South Korean Handball team consist of all the tall men! The goalkeeper himself is a colossal 1.92 metres tall! On the contrast, the Cook Island Handball team look like midgets.

Cook Island Handball Team

The two teams

The South Korean Handball team

Before the match started, the Cook Island team performed their Maori war dance. Cook Island is actually under the New Zealand administration, so there are quite a number of Maoris, hence the Maori war dance. The match started precisely at six, and just fifteen minutes into the match, we could see that the South Korean team was gaining as the players were rather aggressive.

I went for dinner after that and by the time I came back, the match was almost over. Finally, the South Korean team won 70-4 against the Cook Islands. Each handball match is supposed to last for one and a half hours, so the match ended promptly at 7:30pm, with the Cook Island team being thrashed.

The next match started at 8:00pm, between Brazil and Singapore.

The Singapore and Brazilian Handball Team

The Singapore Handball Team

The Brazilian Handball Team

On the playing field

Brazilians on the playing field

I must say, our local boys did a pretty good job! They really tried their best, especially the main goalkeeper, who tried ways and means to block the ball. He used his hands, his legs, his body, even his tummy. Around the end of the game, the ball collided with his tummy, and he was reeling in pain on the field. The other goalkeeper took over, but by then, the Brazilians were leading a lot.

In the end, the Brazilians won 53 to 7. Not too bad! At the end of the match, we had to go to the media mixed zone to coordinate the reporters and broadcasters from interviewing the players. The whole thing wrapped up around 9:30pm and we could go off after that.

What a day! First the Social Mission Conference, then being able to watch two games! It is good to be a volunteer!

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Fourth Day Of The Youth Olympics

Today my shift started early, so I had to rush down after work. It was the last of the fencing matches. Yesterday the individual matches concluded, today was the team matches. Vying for third place was the Asia team vs America team. The Asia team consisted of fencers from Singapore, China and Korea, whereas the America team consisted of fencers from United States of America and Canada.

It was an intense match. The first two fencers were Koreans, and they managed to lead the Americans. Then the third fencer was a local fencer. She was thrashed by a Canadian, poor thing! After that the other fencers tried their best, but in the end, the Asia team lost by a few points to the America team, with the latter clinching third place.

Next up was the Europe Team 1 (consisting of Italians and Russians) vs Europe Team 2 (consisting of Germans, Polish and Russians), with the former team emerging as champions. When the matches ended, the press came to interview them. At this time, I had to go press the elevator as the teams would be led down after the victory ceremony to the Press Conference.

The Press Conference went without a glitch. Because of the number of nationalities involved, each question was translated into the respective language - German, Russian, Italian, Polish. It was pretty interesting hearing the different language variations of the same thing!

The Press Conference lasted about half an hour. After that, we had to clean up the room, and had some fun taking photos at the press booth, pretending we were being "interviewed"! In the photo I probably look more haggard than usual because I was still sick!

Me at the Press Booth

The whole thing wrapped up earlier than expected today. After that I went to visit a friend who just gave birth. Then it will be two days' break for me before my shift starts again on Saturday!

By the way, regarding the job opportunity that was recommended to me the other day, I was called for an interview tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that all will go well!

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Third Day Of The Youth Olympics

I went back to "work" today. I missed the second day yesterday, where there was the Men's Epee Fencing and the Women's Sabre Fencing. Today was the last of the individual fencing category - the Men's Foil and the Women's Epee Fencing.

The structure today was a bit different. Instead of seeing the matches close-up, I had to stand guard near the entrance at the barricade to prevent unauthorised people from entering the stands. Only the media and press were allowed in.

I did not manage to catch the matches, but the Italian won for the men's category, and the China girl won for the women's category. This time round, the Italian guy seemed rather cocky. He just pushed his way into the stand, despite me telling him he was not allowed to go in. Too bad I was still having an infection, otherwise I could have my firm voice. Instead, today I was barely a squeak.

There was the Volunteers' March today, where the volunteers would stand in a line and go up on stage to bow, while the commentator introduced us. I think I must have appeared quite nervous on stage, since I was still coughing and was trying to stifle my coughs!

Today's shift was pretty smooth nevertheless. We ended around 9:00pm again, and after cleaning up, we could go off. So I went off shortly after that. Tomorrow will be the last of my shift for the first week, then it will be two days break on Thursday and Friday!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First Day Of The Youth Olympics

I reported for "work" today. My place of duty is at the Mixed Zone - the place where the athletes met the press after the games. The good thing is that I got to see the games close-up for free!

I was assigned to the Fencing event, and today's event was on Men's Sabre and Women's Foil. Because my shift started in the late afternoon, the preliminary rounds were already over, so we got to see the semi-finals and the finals.

The men's semi-finals were South Korea vs Germany and Italy vs Belarus. The South Korea vs Germany match was very exciting, because the tall German guy was leading in the beginning, then after the breather, the short Korean guy suddenly poked and kept poking until he won! When that was over, I had to lead him to the area where the press was waiting to interview him. The poor German rolled miserably on the ground and he was on the verge of tears when interviewed. Because I was standing so close, I could actually snap a picture of the winner, although I should have used a my digicam instead of my phone camera!

The South Korean Fencer

Each fencing match lasted six minutes the most. The next match was Italy vs Belarus, where the cute Italian guy won! Hence the finals would be South Korea vs Italy and Germany vs Belarus would be competing for third place.

The Italian Fencer

Next up were the women's Foil matches. The first match was Italy vs Canada, where the very pretty Italian girl won. Then it was Russia vs Hungary, and the Russian won. So the Italian girl would be competing with the Russian girl in the finals where the Canadian and the Hungarian competing for third place.

The Italian Fencer

I went for my dinner break after that, so missed the matches for the bronze medal, where I heard the German guy and the Hungarian girl won. Luckily, I came back on time to witness the finals.

It was an exciting moment when the South Korean defended with all his might and won the Italian for the first place. When the Italian and Russian girls were sparring, it was also an exciting moment when the Italian won the gold for Women's Foil Fencing. All the reporters then crowded around, but only the broadcast journalists were allowed into the stand, so I had to stop all the "unauthorised" personnel from going in.

The victory ceremony was held ten minutes later. I must really hand it to the athletes that they could shower, change and dry themselves in just a short time, and appear at the stand to take their medals. Each guy was given the Lyo mascot and each girl was given Merly.

When the respective winners took their stand, the national anthem of the champion was played and the flags raised. A silent moment was then observed as everyone looked at the raising flags while the respective national anthem was being played.

Champion for the Men's Sabre Fencing - South Korea (middle),
followed by Italy (left) and Germany (right)

Champion for the Women's Foil Fencing - Italy (middle),
followed by Russia (left) and Hungary (right)

After the victory ceremony, we had to clean up the area. Then we went down for a break / supper, and after that, everything wrapped up and we could go. My shift was supposed to end at 10:30pm, but we could go around 9:00pm. I went back immediately as I was feeling unwell and needed to go back to rest.

All in all, it was an exciting first day. I am so looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully it will be just as exciting!

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Budget 2009 Essay Competition

I have gotten myself busy with a new project. I received a mailer from my school about this “Budget 2009” essay competition, and I have just signed up for it. After going through the objectives, I realize I know very little about financing issues, whether personal or the country or the economy.

So if I am to submit an essay, it will be very risky because it will only reflect how inadequate I really am. In that case, why must I sign up for it if it is something that is not in my area of expertise.

Firstly, I have always wanted to be more financially savvy, especially after getting my fingers burnt. In order to do that, I must know how to budget for myself. But personal budget and income is dependent on how the economy functions. And how the country’s economy functions is dependent on how the world’s economy outlook is like.

With the rapid downturn in economy which does not seem likely to recover, our government is breaking all precedence and tapping into the country’s reserves. Not just the government, companies are now also adapting measures to try to cut cost.

I see it in my own workplace, as well as those my friends are working in.So in order to cope with the projected deficit, one has to know how to manage monetary resources and come up with strategies on how to stretch every dollar. If I can achieve that, then I believe it will be greatly beneficial to myself, and things will flow smoother henceforth.

In order to come up with a good essay, I must learn everything that is to learn about whatever that has been going on. Even if I do not win (very unlikely anyway), the research, readings and brainstorming I go through will benefit me greatly. I will sure learn a lot more through this experience.

Which is why I signed up for it. Not because I aim to win, but because of the entire learning process and the intense knowledge gained from there. The submission date is sixteenth February, so I only have a few days to do all my research and come up with a good essay!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Plain English Speaking Award

Finally, it is all over! And I have been asked to sign up for this from my school, under the inter-varsity category. When was the last time I actually took part in any public-speaking? I think that was way back in upper secondary, when I took part in the inter-class public speaking competition. My topic was on the emerging trend of divorce in society.

Think that was the one and only time I actually took part in the finals of a public-speaking competition. Although it was just school-based and I did not win, but it was quite an achievement, considering ever since lower secondary, I wanted to take part every year my school organised it, but the first year, I was totally struck off by the British teacher, who told me to pronounce my "th" and "t" correctly and ensured all my consonants are correct.

So it is an honour indeed that my tutor asked me to represent the school. Wonder if I am over-age though? Anyway it is not that easy to get in. Even after I submitted the application form, I still have to get through an audition round with the panel of lecturers, and must be short-listed before I will be allowed to represent the school.

So what are the chances anyway? There are many others more articulate than me, many others more able to think on their feet, because the auditions include a prepared speech as well as an impromptu speech. And it is the impromptu speech that always make me lose marks. Oh well, I just have to see how things go!

Adopting A Duck

My company is tying up with one of our vendors for a Duck Adoption Programme, so the guy and I have adopted a duck. We received a certificate with our duck's serial number, which will be involved in the Great Singapore Duck Race this Saturday, as well as a mini souvenir duck for keeps.

If our duck is the first to cross the finish line, we will get to win S$10,000.00 in cash as first prize. On one hand, this duck adoption thing is supposed to be for charity, yet on the other hand, so much money can be given away. People may make noise if I say this, but I rather the sum, or at least a fraction of it, be given to charity instead.

All I need to do now is to think of a name for our duck. Shall I be corny and call it Ducky? Or Donald? Or even Scrooge? ;-p

Commonwealth Short Story Writing Competition

The Commonwealth Short Story Writing Competition 2006 is up! The deadline is mid-May. I do have some skeletons of a short story coming up, ideas which I thought of recently, but have never been materialised. If I am able to formulate a good enough story, perhaps I will take part, but then the few short stories I have written were not that good in the first place.

I first knew about this competition way back in secondary school. I had a British contract teacher as my English Language and Literature teacher. He happened to be the Head of Department for English. In order to let us unlease our creativity and improve our essay writing, he introduced a few writing competitions in his native country, the school-wide project being the Commonwealth Short Story Writing Competition.

Ten stories would be chosen from each class, but only fifteen per level would be entered into the competition. My story was one of those chosen from the class, but when pitted against the whole school, mine was not selected. :-(

A couple of years later, I tried entering again through my school, but again, it was not selected for entry. However, my teacher took the short story I submitted and entered it into the Singapore Press Holdings Short Story Writing Competition for Students. I felt flattered and proud, but I did not win anything.

So now I am trying means and ways to improve my writing. Hopefully I can see one of my articles in print for once! Afterall, that is the dream of almost every amateur writer!

"Something Old, Something New" Photo Competition

Calling all photographers (or budding photographers)!

Want to get a free five-night’s stay at one of the coolest resorts in the world, right at the heart of the beautifully landscaped Shangri-La?

Want to get a new Sony SLR camera?

Want to see your works being exhibited?

Then come join this competition!

The theme reflects the promotion of Asia’s rich cultural heritage through creative re-invention of museum artifacts into contemporary functional merchandise.

Any entry that is creative or thoughtful, and demonstrates a juxtaposition of “old” and “new” can be submitted.

There are no fixed rules that determine what qualifies as “old” or “new”; it can be traditional culinary traditions, technological gadgets, or even a newborn puppy.

Check this out for more information and terms and conditions for participation. Hurry! Competition ends on 31 October 2006, 12:00pm.

Just a pity I am not allowed to take part. :-(

Have fun and enjoy! Best of luck!