37th SSEAYP 2010 - Hot and Wet

Day 37 - 30 November 2010

This was one of the most highly anticipated day of the 37th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Programme (SSEAYP). It might not have been perceived to be before SSEAYP, since what was new about Singapore worth anticipating, but being away for nearly a month really altered that perception.

The final rehearsal for the Flag Observance Ceremony hosted by the Singapore Contingent was held at the Pacific Hall, under the command given by Fairuz.

As the Master of Ceremony for the ceremony, I warmly welcomed our friends from ASEAN and Japan to the sunny island of Singapore. I took great pains to pronounce every word clearly and suppressed any urge to clear the throat.

At the command "Singapore Contingent, Sedi-ah!", we saluted our national flag and then sang our National Anthem proudly. "Majulah Singapura!"

National Leader Desmond then gave his address.

Singapore Contingent

I learnt that Fuji Maru was ahead of schedule and thus circled around the sea near Singapore so that it could berth on time. 

Pulau Semakau

The iconic Reflections @ Keppel Bay

With Min (Myanmar) & Bas (Philippines)

Fuji Maru berthing into Singapore Cruise Centre

Fuji Maru berthed at the Singapore Cruise Centre at noon, 1 hour earlier than that scheduled.

Reception Committee members hurriedly putting up the Welcome Banner

With Yee Soan (Brunei)

National Leader Desmond

Welcome cheers by students of Temasek Polytechnic

As soon as the ship berthed, some of the Singapore Participating Youths (SPYs) brought some of our logistics item off Fuji Maru to Singapore Cruise Centre where our sponsor M/S 138 Professional Movers, my Uncle and Hafidz were there awaiting to transport the items for storage.

During lunch, we were gladly joined by SSEAYP International Singapore (SIS) President William as well as SSEAYP International General Assembly (SIGA) 2011 Organising Chairman John Vijayan.

After lunch, Reception Committee Chairperson Jenny Koh welcomed PYs and shared with us the local programme.

By contingents, we then left Fuji Maru and headed to Downtown East. Many of us brought along some luggage to pass to our loved ones later at the dinner venue.

With gangway partner

The Welcome Dinner Reception was held at the D'Marquee, Downtown East. It was quite an experience moving around in our ethnic attire. 

SPYs were the first contingent to arrive, so we lined ourselves up at the door and welcome our friends with our "We say 'Welcome', we say 'Welcome'" cheer.

Speech by The Administrator Ms Kaori Shiojima

The Guest-of-Honour was none other than Minister for Community Development, Youth & Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. He delivered a very awesome speech, one that we as Singaporeans felt proud hearing of, but he said something that would still linger in my mind until a long long time. In his speech, referring to the weather, he stated that Singapore is now "hot and wet". That threw up some laughter among some of us. However, it was true that the weather had been hot with frequent showers.

Speech by Guest-of-Honour

Gift presentation from The Administrator

Gift presentation from Minister Vivian Balakrishnan

Gift presentation to Vietnam Contingent

A photo with Minister Vivian Balakrishnan

Taiko drum performance by MINDS

Hip-hop performance

Combined performance by youths of ASEAN & Japan

The reception was a buffet-style dinner, with Singapore food. 

Wow! Parveen brought a comb!

I was sharp to notice that there was a booth providing custom-made keychains service. Draw on the piece of plastic, put it in the oven, and voila! the plastic shrinks, leaving behind a cute keychain. I grabbed the opportunity to make one (the first one from the booth) and got it delivered straight to the hands of Mortal.

♥

Singapore Flyer's Christmas decoration 

Back on board, we celebrated Priscilla's birthday!