SEA GAMES HELPING HAND

1993 South-East Asian (SEA) Games show veteran Colonel (COL) (Rtd) Tan Chong Boon is back to help the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) run the region's biggest sports event.

More than 20 years ago, when Singapore last hosted the SEA Games, COL (Rtd) Tan, then a young Captain, orchestrated the opening ceremony at the old National Stadium as a cue master. The result was a seamless spectacle of fireworks, mass displays and musical performances in front of a 55,000-strong crowd.

Today, as Singapore prepares to host the 28th SEA Games in June this year, the 54-year-old retired Artillery officer is back as a volunteer advisor. He will be sharing his experience with the Artillery Formation that has once again been tasked to organise the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.

"I am a gunner so when you know your Formation is doing this, and you have the experience, it's natural to just step forward and volunteer," said the former commander of Army Officers' Advanced School who spent 33 years in the SAF.

In the next few months, COL (Rtd) Tan will meet with the committee once every two to four weeks to help fine-tune their plans. His role is very much like a devil's advocate.

Fine-tuning

"My job is to understand their plans, walk the ground with them and provide my observations. It could be blind spots that the show committee may not have paid attention to," said the current general manager of The Chevrons, a clubhouse for SAF Warrant Officers and Specialist Corps.

"Sometimes when you are too engrossed in your own plan, you cannot see the gaps... We (will) need to do modelling and role-playing to see if there are any gaps."

This is especially so when the region's biggest sporting event is taking place in the new Sports Hub which is still a work-in-progress. COL (Rtd) Tan recalled that during the 1993 SEA Games, the senior officers had to exercise flexibility, and kept fine-tuning their plan even at a late juncture.

"Initially I was not involved, but as time passed, the senior officers realised the shows were much too complex, and a cue master at the performance stage was needed," he recalled.

"There was lots of coordination needed as we 'toggled' between the stage and field. I would be cueing the emcees to make the announcement to start the mass display, and when the focus was on the field, we would black-out the stage, get the chairs and equipment out for the next performance."

This year, in his advisory role, COL (Rtd) Tan will primarily be coaching the 21-man operations sub-committee in charge of security, crowd and traffic control.

He will draw from his experience in running the operations hub of the 2006 International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Annual Meeting. It was then the biggest international event ever hosted by Singapore, with over 20,000 delegates, including finance ministers and central bank governors from 184 countries.

In the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore, COL (Rtd) Tan also played a similar role as the deputy chairman of the executive committee. Then, he oversaw the operations of the opening and closing ceremonies attended by delegates from 205 countries.

Golden jubilee

COL (Rtd) Tan is looking forward to the SEA Games as it will coincide with the Republic's 50th birthday celebration. "The new Sports Hub presents a great opportunity for us to stage memorable opening and closing ceremonies. This will be a show that will be part of Singapore's 50th (birthday) celebrations and I believe the SAF will deliver as always."

On a personal note, the avid sports fan hopes that the Singapore soccer team will deliver too. He recalled the organiser of the 1993 SEA Games had counted on Singapore reaching the soccer finals, and scheduled for the closing ceremony to take place after it. But Singapore had unexpectedly crashed out in the semi-final.

"So far, our best is second placing. It will be nice to see the Lions win the soccer Gold in the new Sports Hub for Singapore," he said.

As for the 200-plus Regulars who are involved in the preparations for the SEA Games, COL (Rtd) Tan urges them to give it their best. "Singapore hosts the SEA Games only once every 20 years, so this is a very rare opportunity. One generation of officers would probably get to do it only once."

"This will be a show that will be part of Singapore's 50th (birthday) celebrations and I believe the SAF will deliver as always."

- COL (Rtd) Tan aims to help the SAF stage a memorable SEA games show to mark the nation's Golden Jubilee