When I stepped into the stage area, I was greeted by whistles, screaming and even the sounds of the infamous vuvuzelas. Everyone was cheering like mad for the arrival of the Youth Olympic Flame (YOF). I headed up to the third floor where the rest of the SMEs were and settled in to enjoy the performances while waiting for the YOF.

The event was a well attended one, with an audience from all ages and different walks of lives. The performance area was filled to the brim despite the tight security checks which did not seem to deter the audience from attending. Literally any available space was packed with people. We should have been more "Singaporean" and came a little earlier to reserve places. Seeing as we didn't, we were relegated to the side of the third floor where we were constantly tip toeing and peeping through people's shoulders for the entire celebration.

The performances put up by the various groups ranged from spectacular to disappointing. A guest cheerleading squad MONSTER from Taiwan excited the crowd with their jaw dropping stunts and dance moves. They had the crowd on their feet cheering and appluading for more. The audience cheering on cheerleaders, ironic! Haha. A few acts later, Nanyang poly's own cheerleading squad and hiphop dance crew came onto the stage. Their performance was enjoyable but kind of lame especially since it came after such an incredible act like MONSTER. It was disappointing as I had expected more from Nanyang poly's cheerleading squad.

Soon after all the acts, an animation of the JYOF was played on screen for the audience. The animation showed Lyo and Merly taking turns to bear the torch around the world. It was entertaining and cute which I enjoyed! I found myself eagerly awaiting the end of the animation to see the torch arrive in Singapore. Not long after the animation was played, the YOF finally did arrive at NYP. Everyone turned their eyes to the path in anticipation and we were not disappointed as the torchbearer came jogging down proudly carrying the torch high up in the air. The noise was deafening at this point with the crowd cheering at their loudest. The torch was then brought to the stage and passed around to the VIPs before Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong lit the cauldron.

I thought that the event was wildly successful but the one thing which bothered me was the crowd control. I recognise that it was definitely difficult to control the large numbers of people but my question is: "Was it really wise to let the crowd stand on the staircase which was being used often by people to access the higher levels?" This led to major human congestion and it was really unpleasant for the audience to navigate their way out of the stage area.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself today witnessing first hand the lighting of the cauldron and the infectious atmosphere of excitement at the community celebrations. There is more and better things to come, no doubt seeing as this is only day one! Watch this space as tomorrow I will be bearing the YOF and blogging about it. Do come down to support me! I will be running along Simei Road lamp post 30, the nearest landmark would be the Simei Green Condo. Come down, say hi and cheer me on. Grab this chance to be part of a historic moment and to also be on television as Mediacorp will be there to film the event!

PS: I meant to post this up last night but posterous is giving me problems with uploading my pics. So this is all for now! (: