Study the sources and Background Information carefully, and then answer all the questions.

You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those sources
which you are told to use. In answering the questions you should use your knowledge of the topic
to help you interpret and evaluate the sources.
a) Study Source A.
oes the cartoonist support Singapore!s decision to host the Y"#$ %&plain your answer. '()
*) Study Source B.
+hy do you think the ,inister made such a speech$ %&plain your answer. '-)
c) Study Source ..
/ow useful is Source . as evidence a*out Singaporeans! response towards the Y"#
e&penditure$ %&plain your answer. '0)
d) Study Sources and %.
/ow far does Source % prove that Source is wrong$ %&plain your answer. '0)
Should Singapore host the Youth Olympic Games (YOG)?
BACKGROU! "#OR$A%"O
1ead this carefully. It may help you answer some of the questions.
Singapore hosted the inaugural Youth "lympic #ames 2Y"#) from 34 to 5- August 5636. uring
the event, an estimated 7,-66 athletes, *etween 34 to 38 years old, competed in 5- sports. 9he
event involved :ational "lympic .ommittees from 56( countries and 56,666 local and
international volunteers, and attracted a*out 706,666 spectators.
9here has *een much de*ate over whether hosting the Y"# is a right decision for Singapore.
;ocal critics of the Y"# slams the ,inistry of .ommunity evelopment, Youth and Sports
2,.YS)!s miscalculation of the *udget of the Y"# and questions how the initial *udget of S<364
million would *alloon to S<780 million at the completion of this international sporting event. ,uch
dou*t is also casted over the actual *enefits that Singapore reaps from hosting the Y"#.
9he Singapore government defends Y"# *udget *lowout and maintained that it was money well
spent *ecause it would reap economic *enefits and international e&posure for Singapore.
=urthermore, hosting such an international event would generate interest in sports among
Singaporeans and promote Singapore as a sporting hu* in the region. ;astly, organising the
inaugural Y"# could forge a greater sense of *elonging and Singaporeans would feel proud of
their nation!s achievement.
Should Singapore host the Y"#$ Study the following sources to find out.
Source A& A cartoon on the Y"# that appeared in a Singaporean!s *log after the success of
the 5668 "lympic #ames hosted *y .hina.
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Source B Adapted from a parliamentary speech *y ,inister for .ommunity evelopment,
Youth and Sports 2,.YS), r. >ivian Balakrishnan, on the Y"# e&penditure.
9he International "lympic .ommittee estimated a media reach e&ceeding 5-- million people
worldwide and a marketing value of S<(-.0 million for the Youth "lympic #ames. 9he event also
generated S<-6 million in additional tourism receipts for Singapore.
9hrough the Y"#, our top youth athletes proved they could compete with the world!s *est. 9heir
determination and self?*elief captured the imagination of Singaporeans and rekindled interest in
sports, as evidenced *y the overwhelming demand for seats at the Y"# competition venues.
9he initial *udget was insufficient to meet the specifications of an "lympic event of this
magnitude. 9he revised *udget was approved *y the #overnment and announced *efore the
#ames.
9o put things in perspective, the Y"# was one third the si@e of the Summer "lympics, *ut our
e&penditure was less than 36 per cent of the most recent #ames. 9he *udget for the Y"# did not
in any way affect ,.YS! e&penditure in other areas, including assistance for the needy.
Source C A Singaporean *logger!s comments on the Y"#.
780 ,illionsA IS A ;"9 "= ,":%YA 9hat is A ;"9 "= ,":%Y for a 5 weeks event. o we really
need to spend so much money at all on an event that most of us feel nothing for$
9he needy in Singapore are not even getting that much moneyA
I donBt have real statistics here *ut letBs assume 366666 people are involved in this event 2which is
an e&aggerated figure alreadyA). 780 ,illion divide *y 366666 people amounts to a spending of
7806 dollars per head. Assume we pay their air ticket of say 5666, it is still 3806 dollars per head
for 5 weeks, or 377 dollars per head per day....
.an you accept this figure$ A9 A;;$$$$ 366C dollars per day$$$$ " :"9% 9/A9 ,A:Y
SI:#AD"1%A:S A1% :"9 %>%: %A1:I:# 9/A9 ,E./ A AYAAAAA And my head count figure
IS e&aggerated. +hat if the num*er involved is only 36666 people$$$ 9hat would *e 36& per
head or <3666 per dayA /ow can our dear smart Singapore government *e so E,B over this$
+hat is more, we forgot that there are sponsors who also contri*ute some money to the event.
Yet the amount spent can escalate till that amount$$$ 1idiculousA /orri*leA
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Source ! A Singaporean student!s view of the Y"#.
Dersonally, even though I think Y"# is a great thing and I am proud that Singapore is the first to
host it, I can see why others don!t feel that way. /owever, in Y"# itself, there are merits. If we
stop picking on the *ad points, you would have seen some good things. Also currently for my
school, we don!t need to *uy the tickets, and there are even some sports games that have *een
really popular, that many people were left disappointed *ecause they couldn!t get the tickets.
+hat I!m saying is that yes the Y"# may not *e perfect, *ut please give it some time *efore we
Fudge the whole thing. 1emem*er, Singapore is ultimately still a very very very small country, we
should *e proud that we can actually host it.
Source ' 1esults of a poll on the Y"# *ased on 4556 respondents. 9his poll was conducted
*y one of the opposition parties in Singapore G the results were made readily
availa*le online.
Source # An online response provided *y a Singaporean who volunteered his service for the
Y"#.
9o condemn the government simply on the Y"# is *eing very narrow?minded and shallow.
Spending millions and *udget overruns are typical of any *ig international sporting events. ;ook at
the ;ondon 5635 "lympics and the 5636 >ancouver winter "lympics. .ommon sense should tell
you that with the economy always fluctuating, prices are never constant. 9his is the inherent
difficulty of organi@ing an event on this scale, particularly when it seems to *e our first time.
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