Singapore - The Singapore bid document for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games will be delivered to its final destination – the International Olympic Committee‘s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland – two days before the 26 October deadline.
Amidst much celebration, the bid document - which consists of 50 bid books, 25 CDs, a file containing photographs, maps and letters of guarantee from various ministries - was sealed and placed into a delivery box.
To show the country‘s seriousness about the Youth Olympic Games, Singapore is going the extra mile with its bid.
Parliamentary Secretary of Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry (MCYS), Mr Teo Ser Luck, said: "This document contains 15 different themes and the themes include major components like the Olympic Games Village, and how we would actually structure and organise it.
"It also includes off-course sports in terms of where the venues are, and also a very important component on the education and culture segment."
There are two additional sets of bid document to act as backup.
TNT, the courier company tasked with the job to deliver the document, has also put in place extra measures.
Damien Tan, Managing Director of TNT Singapore, said: "This is a hand-carry item, so we are going to take a commercial flight. The airline has been informed of this delivery, so they will be helping us in terms of security to make sure that the packages are properly handled."
A manager from the courier company will transport the document in business class while an MCYS official will follow in economy class.
The flight leaves on Tuesday night and the document is expected to be delivered by Wednesday evening, Singapore time.
Melvin Yeo, Assistant Director of Sports Division at MCYS, said: "The moment we touch down, there will be a vehicle that will fetch us directly to the IOC headquarters where we will personally hand in the bid document."
Once delivered, Singapore‘s bid, along with its competitors‘ bids, will be evaluated by a panel of experts.
A short-list of candidate cities will be announced on 19 November and the IOC will visit these cities in December.
The MCYS will reveal the full details later this week.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com (24 Oktober 2007)
