Here I am in Singapore - the Garden City of Asia, ostensibly to get into the spirit of the first ever Youth Olympics being launched this year - right here in Singapore. This certainly proves that Singapore is serious about providing opportunities to enrich and broaden the younger generations by being one of the only two Asian nations to bid for this honor. The other being Thailand.

So from 14th August till 26th August this City State is hosting 3,531 athletes aged 14 to 18 to compete in 26 sports. All around, television screens in homes, lift lobbies, hospitals, government offices and shopping malls are showing the athletes competing in all types of sport.

As with any 'new' endeavor, there are naysayers tossing cold water onto what seems to me - sitting here in the thick of things - a seamless implementation of a logistically complex endeavor, the bringing together of thousands of athletes, spectators and their assorted entourages. All this has been accomplish with near military precision, yet in a "most tasteful" manner, with pastel-colored posters appearing almost too discrete to satisfy those used to more flamboyant displays of support. But I am in the camp that has been thoroughly impressed knowing how very difficult it is to organize even a simple dinner for friends living in the same city!

I support the idea of a YOUTH OLYMPICS, although I hope that the difference between it and the ADULT OLYMPICS would be along the lines of a celebration of "athleticism-over-commerce" for the youth event, so we could return the Olympics to a more natural state where athletes compete for the love of sport, and not merely a hope to land lucrative sponsorship deals. The concerns about sports sponsorship deals can come in the Adult Olympics from those who decide to make sport their life and livelihood.

There's a time and place for everything, and one thing that has been of concern to me in my 'youth advocacy role' has been a sense of discomfort seeing how the youth of today are becoming too jaded and cynical even before they have exited puberty... precisely because they are too early exposed to complex subject matter, that they are often neither fully equipped nor 'officially' prepared to handle (ie: from an intellectual and, or emotional standpoint).

So, besides the many conversations and articles that focus on the Economics of this inaugural Youth Olympics, my wish is that those in charge would take both a leadership role and a responsible stance, by clearly delineating the line between the youth and adult Olympics in a manner that would help fine tune the 'making of mature and well-rounded adults' out of youth, who otherwise are likely to be over-focused on mastering their sport at the expense of learning the more important lessons that the Olympics was first conceived of to address, namely those of "developing true sportsmanship" and living by the values of "excellence, respect and friendship".

Margaret Chen
Editor in Chief, iCUBED.us
21 August 2010
Singapore

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