14 SINGAPORE NEWS The Business Times, Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Govt ready to pump

more funds into YOG
No stone will be left
unturned to make
sure event runs
smoothly: Ser Luck
By LEE U-WEN
THE government will not
hesitate to commit extra re-
sources if needed – beyond
the US$75 million already
pledged – to the inaugural
2010 Youth Olympic Games
(YOG) in Singapore.
Notwithstanding the eco-
nomic downturn, Singa-
pore has promised the inter-
national community a suc-
cessful and memorable
event, said Teo Ser Luck,
Senior Parliamentary Secre-
tary for Community Devel-
opment, Youth and Sports,
and Transport.
“US$75 million is our
original estimate, but
things evolve,” he told BT.
“Should we need to commit
ourselves a little further to
lift YOG to make sure every-
one – visitors, spectators,
athletes, supporters – gets
a great experience, then we
will have to do that.”
Almost 3,600 athletes
aged 14-18 years will come
to Singapore in August
2010 to compete in 26 dif-
ferent sports. Thousands of
officials and scores of VIPs
will also be on hand.
Mr Teo, one of the key
men behind Singapore’s
winning bid to host the
Games, said no stone will
be left unturned to make
sure the 13-day event runs
smoothly.
“If anything is needed,
such as upgrading facilities
to help them reach interna-
tional standards, then we
will have to commit those
resources,” he said.
However, the govern-
ment will continue to act
prudently as Singapore is
suffering its worst reces-
sion since the country’s in-
dependence.
Mr Teo explained that in
August last year, the YOG
organising committee decid-
ed to move the Games Vil-
lage from the National Uni-
versity of Singapore (NUS)
to Nanyang Technological
University because costs
had soared to two-and-
a-half times the original
budget.
Besides spiralling con-
struction and fuel costs, the
government would have
had to fast-track the devel-
opment of the NUS campus
to make it ready in time for
the YOG. “That shows we
are watching the cost,” Mr
Teo said.
Before YOG comes to
town, there is the first-ever
Asian Youth Games to look
forward to in June this year
which Singapore is also
hosting and using as an op-
portunity to test and
fine-tune facilities for YOG.
Mr Teo said that despite
the organising committee
having exceeded its target
for YOG by raising more
than $3 million in sponsor-
ship so far, the door is open
to more sponsors.
“There are still many
companies who are interest-
ed,” he said. “It’s not too
late for them to join us. It’s
a matter of whether we can
come to an agreement on
the contribution, as well as
determine the types of bene-
fits they can get by being a
sponsor.”
Most of the sponsorship
so far has been value-
in-kind, Mr Teo said. Com-
panies treat it as a form of
“cost saving” during the
downturn, as well as a mar-
keting strategy to tap the Ol-
ympic brand to raise aware-
ness of their products or
services, or even to launch
something new.
“Of course, cash is what
any organiser would prefer
because there is that imme-
diate flexibility to use it
where needed,” he said.
“But we are open to ideas
and we want companies
who have a strong idea of
what they want to do, so we
can synergise or align them
with our own objectives.”
Mr Teo: ‘US$75 million
is our original estimate,
but things evolve’
FILE PHOTO

NUH introduces new

medication system
NATIONAL University Hospital (NUH) is implementing
end-to-end medication management in all its in-patient
wards.
The system – said to be a first in the Asia-Pacific
region – consists of an electronic in-patient medication
record system, in-patient pharmacy automated system
(iPAS) and an electronic medication administration
system.
The process started in February and the scheme has
so far been introduced in seven wards. NUH plans to
implement it in all 38 in-patient wards by August.
iPAS consists of 54 medication storage units and two
automated tablet dispensing packing systems that use
technology from the United States and South Korea. The
combined cost was about $4 million.
NUH said the medication management system seeks
to eliminate human error and raise patient safety. It will
also improve operational efficiency, so staff can better
focus on patient-centric activities.

HSBC gives
6 charities
$50,000
each
SIX voluntary welfare or-
ganisations that focus on
programmes to help disa-
bled or disadvantaged chil-
dren received $50,000
each from HSBC yesterday
evening.
The six charities were se-
lected by the bank’s staff
volunteers through a poll
conducted by the bank.
They are:
◆ Spastic Children’s Asso-
ciation of Singapore (SCAS)
Early Intervention Pro-
gramme for Infants and
Children;
◆ Movement for the Intel-
lectually Disabled of Singa-
pore (MINDS) Lee Kong Chi-
an Gardens School;
◆ Asian Women’s Welfare
Association School;
◆ Association for Persons
with Special Needs (APSN)
Katong School;
◆ Autism Association’s
Eden School; and
◆ Students Care Service
Hougang Centre.
Vivian Balakrishnan,
Minister for Community De-
velopment, Youth and
Sports, received the
$300,000 donation from
Guy Harvey-Samuel, chief
executive of HSBC Singa-
pore, at the bank’s Cele-
brate Corporate Responsi-
bility Night.
Mr Harvey-Samuel said:
“HSBC’s approach of select-
ing the charities through
voting by our volunteers is
our unique way of empow-
Mr Harvey-Samuel:
HSBC has raised its
donation by 50 per cent
to $300,000
ering our volunteers and
giving them greater owner-
ship of the bank’s corpo-
rate responsibility man-
date.
“This is also our way of
recognising and celebrat-
ing the efforts and contribu-
tion of our staff volunteers,
some of whom have been
actively volunteering since
the programme –
Volunteers@HSBC – was
started some 12 years ago.”
In view of the economic
environment, HSBC has
raised the donation amount
by 50 per cent to $300,000
to help cushion the benefici-
aries against the impact of
the economic slowdown.
P Y Hwang, vice-chair-
man of the Community
Chest who was present at
the cheque presentation
ceremony, said: “We are
privileged to have enjoyed
HSBC’s support over all
these years. This donation
reaffirms the bank’s contin-
ued commitment to extend
a helping hand to those
who are in need, especially
in these difficult times. We
are most grateful and much
encouraged by this.”