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http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/08/15/pm-lee-caught-napping-at-yog-opening-ceremony/
The opening ceremony of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was billed by the Singapore media as Singapore’s “BIGGEST” show ever.
“Showtime! Dazzling display kicks off inaugural Youth Olympic Games,” screamed the headlines of the Sunday Times today. “YOG: Inaugural Youth Olympic Games opens in spectacular ceremony,” proclaimed Channel News Asia.
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If the YOG opening ceremony is as “dazzling” and “spectacular” as described by the state media, surely it would have captured the attention of the audience and left them glued to their seats.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. Despite the large crowd present, the clapping from the audience sounded more like a cat’s meow than a thunderous applause.
Some spectators were found leaving the ceremony halfway while others are caught napping on the cameras, one of them being none other than Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself:
[Source: Sin Rak Sin]
As seen from the above photo, PM Lee was caught napping (or in quiet meditation?) while his wife Ho Ching was “waving” the Singapore flag besides him. A foreign delegate sat behind him also dozed off, completely oblivious to the surrounding cacophony.
Despite the extensive positive publicity generated by the state media on the YOG opening ceremony, there were few reports on it in the foreign papers while the majority of Singaporeans who watched the performance denounced it as an utter disgrace and disappointment.
For the volunteers who had spend hours rehearsing for the opening ceremony, PM Lee’s untimely nap must be a terrible insult to all their hard work and efforts.
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