Indonesia puts on spectacular opening ceremony
By Satish Cheney
The 26th SEA Games was officially kicked off by Indonesian PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono at an extravagant opening ceremony at the spanking new Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium in Palembang, which is co-hosting the games with Jakarta.
Hosting the games for the fourth time, Indonesia went all out to stage a spectacular show in an effort to showcase its rising prominence and economy in the region.
It was a good start in an otherwise nightmarish recent few weeks for organisers with complaints of venues not being ready and cases of alleged food poisoning among football players putting a damper on the Games.
A spectacular kaleidoscope of fireworks dazzled the crowd not once but five times, as organisers brought in one of the pyrotechnic specialists who had worked his magic at the recent Beijing Olympics.
The opening ceremony also fused high-tech lighting and glitter with lots of cultural elements such as traditional dance and music.
Indonesian badminton legend Susi Susanti, harnessed by wires, flew in mid-air across the stadium to light the cauldron in stunning fashion.
Not all the Singapore athletes in Palembang were able to attend the opening bonanza as some of them, like the swimming team, have early morning events on Saturday.
But those who managed to make it, led by veteran discus thrower and flag bearer James Wong, were raving about the new stadium.
“You will be amazed. You have to be here to believe it,” said Singapore’s wrestling team manager Emmanuel Tan.
Waiting in line with the rest of the athletes and officials to march in during the ceremonial aspect of the show, Tan told Yahoo! Singapore, the mood was a carnival-like-atmosphere with athletes exchanging pins and other souvenirs with each other.
“Trust me, it’s better than watching it on TV. It’s fantastic,” said Tan.
Vice-captain of the Singapore roller-sports team Daryl Chan, who is making his debut at the games, caught the ceremony on Indonesian TV.
“We are all proud to be here. Watching it on TV, it looks like a great show indeed. I managed to catch the fireworks earlier outside the stadium,” said Chan.
President of Fencing Singapore Nicholas Fang, who will be Indonesia on Sunday, was watching the opening ceremony in Singapore.
“The Stadium looks amazing and world-class indeed. Watching the lights and the background colours, etc, the Indonesians have really put in a lot of effort. It’s a world-class opening ceremony,” he said.
But not all went that well, with Bernama reporting that the international media was upset with the quota set on the number of non-TV journalists allowed inside the stadium. The agency reported that some 2,000 reporters and photographers had to cover the event from a media centre located one kilometre away from the venue.
Meanwhile in Jakarta, athletes, officials and the public were treated to song-and-dance performances at Monas Square to mark the official start of the games. They also caught the live action in Palembang via projectors.
The SEA Games will end on 22 November.
Additional reporting by Jeanette Tan in Jakarta
