YOG gets two mascots, one-year countdown begins Friday
By Patwant Singh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 12 August 2009 1909 hrs

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SINGAPORE : The one-year countdown to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore starts on August 14, and organisers said preparations are on track but there are some areas that need more work.

And there will be not one, but two mascots – a lion and a merlion - for the games.

Singapore has a short time of only two years to prepare for the YOG, but the country is already on track to welcome the 3,600 athletes and some 1,000 officials next August.

From the facilities, to the Games Village, work is moving ahead nicely. Even the Culture and Education Programme has been well received - with more than half of some 200 National Olympic Councils twinned with Singapore schools.

As for volunteers, 15,000 have signed up, and 5,000 more are needed. Still, more can be done in areas like spectator support, which was clearly lacking at the recent Asian Youth Games.

"We had problems with spectator support and that also illustrates the necessity to make sure we have sufficient publicity, that people have sufficient sense of what is going on and they feel caught up with the excitement of the moment," said Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

"We also need to make sure our own athletes from Team Singapore are well known to the public," he added.

Organisers would like to engage ordinary Singaporeans and make them feel it is their event. And to help the media crank up publicity, organisers will also be open and transparent with information flow.

More money will also be set aside to groom the athletes. Sponsorship, especially from Singapore companies, is also needed. The latest came from Crocodile International - which will provide 30,000 uniforms for volunteers and officials.

And like the Asian Youth Games, a lion will be the mascot - but he will have some company for the YOG.

"Hope (to)... invite people in Singapore and... (around) the world to help us name the mascots. There will be two mascots - a male lion and a female Merlion," said Goh Kee Nguan, CEO of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.

Details on the yet-to-be-named mascots will be revealed soon, but for now, the YOG will see another milestone in a couple of days. Come Friday, Senior Minister Prof S Jayakumar will launch the one-year countdown clock for the YOG at the City Hall steps.

The choice of location is historic, as it was the exact same spot 18 months ago when the world found out that Singapore won the bid to host the inaugural YOG in 2010. - CNA /ls