For a 45-year-old, Singapore is looking pretty good. That was my thought when I looked out onto the bay area during the National Day Parade preview celebrations. I caught the colour and spectacle from One Altitude on the rooftop of OUB Centre and it was breathtaking. There was a young Japanese couple beside me whose photo taking was broken only by their exclamations of "Sugoi!" ("Wonderful!")

Stretching from the historic Singapore River area, dominated by the Fullerton, panning out into the arts district with the striking twin domes of the Esplanade, and then swooping over to the Singapore Flyer and the towering three towers of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore was dressed to its best. Like many others on the rooftop, it was very inspiring to think how far Singapore has come.

Just when I thought it was hard to top Singapore's 45th birthday celebrations, along came the Opening Ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games.

Starting with the scene-stealing Opening Ceremony, full of drama and youthful energy, Singapore pulled out all the stops to welcome the 40,000 overseas guests. There were many heart-stopping moments and exciting rivalries played out in the two weeks of competition. And of course, we at the STB were delighted to learn that an estimated 1.5 billion will catch the games, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies on TV. What a great way to showcase our city-state to the world!

Beyond the Games and the spirit of sportsmanship and global harmony, YOG is about the celebration of youth. As they all say, age is only a state of mind. As nations go, Singapore, at 45, is still youthful but recalling the brilliantly executed National Day Parade and the successfully completed YOG Opening Ceremony, we hope we can say we have matured, even come of age.

Sincerely,
Paul Tan
Director
Communications Division