ITE students made history on a meaningful day: “20/10” (20 October). They entered two new entries in the Singapore Book of Records for “Most Number of People Doing Table Setting at Same Time” and “Largest Logo Made from Sports Equipment”. The date marked a milestone, for it is in the year 2010 that our nation will host the first-ever Singapore Youth Olympic Games (SYOG) 2010.

The Guest-of-Honour for the event was Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth & Sports, and Transport.

Two Record-Breaking Feats for Singapore Book of Records
Held at ITE College Central, the event saw 200 students from ITE, secondary schools, the
underprivileged and Singapore’s very own Olympians and Paralympians coming together to do dining setting for 20 tables, all at the same time. At another location within the campus, a total of 2,010 pieces of sports equipment were used to form the SYOG logo, to cement a slice of Singapore history on 20 October 2009.

The first record-breaking feat aimed to highlight the importance of Service Excellence to Singapore’s service providers who will be welcoming the many overseas athletes and guests of SYOG next year. As the Education Partner for SYOG and the recent inaugural Asian Youth Games 2009 that was held in Singapore, ITE was tasked to equip volunteers with the necessary skills to be tourism ambassadors. About 20,000 service volunteers will be required at the SYOG.

The second feat promoted the three Olympic values of “Respect”, “Friendship” and “Excellence” among ITE students, secondary school participants, the community and the sports fraternity.

Mr Bruce Poh, Director & CEO of ITE, said: “I am happy to see many participants having fun in today’s carnival setting, not to mention the achievement of two new Singapore records. ITE is proud to contribute to the continuing efforts of the SYOG Committee in their push towards this inaugural world event in 2010.”

Olympians and Paralympians in Attendance
Notable Singapore Olympians and Paralympians were present at the event. Mr Ang Peng Siong, former Asian Games Gold Medallist; Ms Teresa Goh, Paralympian swimmer and world record holder; and Mr Jovin Tan, Paralympian sailor and ITE alumnus, were among the attendees.

Other programmes of the day included a mini fund-raising bazaar, sharing sessions by local sports personalities, exhibitions and games. These activities targeted to drive home the Olympic values and provide an excellent experiential learning platform for ITE students.