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A strong human spirit and Team Singapore – the 9th FESPIC Games flame

20 November 2006

Although Singaporeans rarely has the chance to see a real Olympic flame, you might have seen a similar flame passing through our garden city if you were at the heart of Singapore on 4 November. And the other unusual thing about this flame was the entourage that carried it.

These people may be described as the extraordinary, as they have overcome all odds and rigorous training to qualify as representatives of Singapore at the KL ’06 9th FESPIC Games come 25 November.

4 November 2006 was the first day where the FESPIC Games Singapore contingent made its first public appearance as Team Singapore athletes. They completed the FESPIC Torch Relay Run, organized by the Singapore Disability Sports Council and sponsored by JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The FESPIC Torch Relay Run was part of an International Torch Mission, created by the KL ’06 Organizing Committee of the 9th FESPIC Games. Singapore, China and Malaysia were the three countries participating in this international torch mission.

The 9th FESPIC Games International Torch Mission first started from Sabah, Malaysia on 7 May 2006. Then, it passed by several towns in Malaysia, flew to China and was carried along the Great Wall of China, before finally making its way to the shores of Singapore on 4 November. Singapore was to pass the flame back to the host country – Malaysia, so that the flame may arrive back in Kuala Lumpur in time for the Games’ Opening Ceremony.

For the Singapore leg, a torch handover ceremony was held at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI). On behalf of China, His Excellency Zhang Yun, Ambassador of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, handed over the FESPIC torch to MP Teo Ser Luck, Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, who represented Singapore.






The torch was then handed over to athlete Mawjit Singh, flag-bearer of the 9th FESPIC Games Singapore contingent, after which a brand new BMW-7 car, generously sponsored by Performance Motors as the safety vehicle for the torch relay, sounded off the horn for the official start of the relay. Mawjit, together with fellow athletics team mate – wheelchair racer and Paralympic hopeful Muhammad Firdaus Bin Nordin - were the first athletes to start the relay before the flame was passed on to other athletes of the FESPIC contingent.

Athletes of the 9th FESPIC Games Singapore contingent were given a chance to hold the torch as it made its way through City Hall to Beach Road and finally to the Merlion Park. For these athletes who have sacrificed hours of intensive training, hard work and determination to qualify for the FESPIC Games, holding the flame was a unique honor, as only athletes who have proven their mettle were given the opportunities to hold this torch. And those who held the torch were also reminded that they were now national representatives of Singapore and have a title to uphold.

For boccia athlete Jeralyn Tan, not even her condition could deter her from basking in her moment of pride. Cerebral palsy has rendered Jeralyn wheelchair-bound, and her disposition is generally weaker than most other disabled. Although Jeralyn could not hold the torch independently, she persevered to the very end of the relay at Merlion Park, together with the help of a volunteer.

With the contingent’s finish at the Merlion Park, the torch relay was temporarily adjourned, and a sailing regatta was launched in the waters of Marina Bay. The bay soon became decorated with ten colourful sails steered by disabled sailors, who also doubled as mentors to representatives from co-sponsors of the event – Neptune Orient Lines and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

While the sailing regatta took place in the busy bay, there was no lack of activities on land, as the audience enjoyed interesting dance performances by D’Passion Wheelchair Dancing Group and MOSH, a local hip hop dance group.

After the festivities of the reception, sailing regatta and performance, the torch relay was resumed when Mr Tan Ju Seng, President of the Singapore Disability Sports Council, handed over the flame to Chef-de-Mission Ms Nancy Chia, who will be leading Team Singapore at the FESPIC Games.

CDM Chia proceeded to Changi Sailing Club to meet the sailing team who would be sailing out to Malaysia to pass the flame back to its shores. Meanwhile, it was a one-of-a-kind prize presentation in Marina Bay as Mr Tan Ju Seng sailed out to award the winners of the sailing regatta, out of consideration for the sailors who could not disembark from their sail boats easily.

At Changi Sailing Club, CDM Chia subsequently handed the torch to sailor Desiree Lim, a local sailor who is participating in the 9th FESPIC Games. Desiree, and two other disabled sailors - Jovin Tan and Tan Seow Min – then sailed out to sea on a SONAR sailboat, together with CDM Chia. They met up with Dato’ Suroya Bin Selamt, Director General of Ministry of Youth and Sports (Malaysia), and Desiree Lim handed the flame over to Dato’ Suroya.

While the handing-over of the flame from Desiree Lim to Dato’ Suroya Bin Selamt signified the end of the Singapore leg, it also signified the home-coming for Malaysia as it started from their grounds. The torch will reach its final destination at Cheras Football Stadium just in time for the opening ceremony of the KL’06 9th FESPIC Games.

See more photos of the event day here.

Read more about torch relays and the history of the flame
(Compiled from Olympic Museum ano Studies Centres Lausanne 2002)

The First Torch Relay
In 1936, Carl Diem, Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin, proposed the inclusion of a torch relay in the Olympics. The flame was lit in Olympia and transported to Berlin via a torch relay.

The Sacred Truce
In Athens, flame races were organized to honour certain gods and commemorate Prometheus’ act of stealing fire, which brought wisdom and knowledge to Man. At the end of the races, the first competitor to arrive at the altars had the honour of renewing its fire.

Flame races were never organized for Games held in Olympia, Nemea, Delphi and Isthmia. However, a set time before the start of the Games, messengers wearing olive crowns would arrive in other cities to announce the exact dates of the competitions. They invited citizens to come to Olympia and proclaimed the sacred truce - the obligation to halt combats during the period of the Games. This was so that athletes and spectators could travel without fear to Olympia.

In modern times, the Olympic flame is a manifestation of the positive values that Man has always associated with fire. Like the messengers who proclaimed the sacred truce, the runners who carry the Olympic flame encourage the whole world to put down their weapons and turn towards the Games.

Modes of transport for torch relays

Although traditionally relays have been carried out on foot, with increased celebration of the Olympic Games throughout the world, the flame had to travel by plane. And since, the modes of transport for the flame slowly become more and more diversified, not only for practical reasons, but also to showcase the particularities of the regions crossed.

Through the snow –Norwegian skiers carried out stages of the Oslo 1952 relay on snow-bikes and skidoos.

On horseback – A completely equestrian relay was organized for the Stockholm 1956 Games.

On camelback – This was how the flame crossed the Australian desert in Sydney 2000.

A rodeo flame – In the Atlanta 1996 Games, the flame traveled in an Indian canoe, by Pony Express, on a Mississippi steamboat and on a wagon of the Union Pacific (the first transcontinental railroad).

In the water, on water and underwater – Swimmers carried the flame from a boat to the shore in the Mexico 1968 Games. A diver swam across the port of Marseilles holding the flame out of water during the Grenoble 1968 Games. In Sydney 2000, a diver went further to carry the flame underwater.

In space – Canadians organized the transmission of the flame by satellite between Athens and Ottawa during the Montreal 1976 Games.

Faster than the speed of sound – During the Albertville 1992 Games, the flame traveled from Athens to Paris at supersonic speed – on a Concorde.

In the sky – For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the flame did a parachute jump in the Lillehammer 1994 Games.

The maternal flame – Twelve mothers with babies born in 1988 took part in the relay during the Seoul 1998 Games.

The Flame Unites Us All
“Whether male or female, young or old, able-bodied or disabled, high-level athlete or amateur, whether we live in a wealthy or a developing country, the flame unites us all.”
- International Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge, said of the power of the Olympic flame to bring people together during a speech at the start of the Torino 2006 Olympic Torch Relay.