SAF TO ORGANISE SEA GAMES OPENING CEREMONY

The 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is set to open with a bang on 5 Jun with its Opening Ceremony organised by the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) Artillery Formation. Highlights of the ceremony include: Singapore's first extensive stadium aerial system where performers and props will "fly", the largest high-definition floor projection using 160 projectors, and a first-in-Singapore audience interaction system where audiences wear medallions which collectively form a giant LED screen.

Taking up the challenge gamely, Colonel (COL) Lawrence Lim, Chief Artillery Officer and Chairman for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies (OCC), said: "The Singapore Artillery is honoured to be organising the OCC once again."

He elaborated: "Building on our experiences from organising the Ceremonies for the '93 SEA Games, we look forward to staging an inspiring and spectacular show to kick off the 28th SEA Games." COL Lim, who is also an executive committee member of the SEA Games Organising Committee, added: "After 22 years, some of our pioneers who were involved in the last Games are still contributing today as volunteers and advisors in our committee."

Embodying the spirit of the Games with the theme Celebrate the Extraordinary, the Ceremonies will comprise three segments - audience interaction; ceremonial proceedings of the SEA Games; and the Show. To achieve this, COL Lim and the Artillery Formation will be working with a creative team led by Ms Beatrice Chia-Richmond, together with about 5,000 performers and volunteers as well as 3,500 soldiers.

On the inspiration behind the show, Ms Chia-Richmond said: "The Ceremonies aim to truly demonstrate the 28th SEA Games theme to the region, and we hope that it will pave the way for everyone to celebrate the triumph of the human spirit - be it in sports or daily life."

However, the journey towards the OCC has not always been smooth-sailing. As COL Lim elaborated: "I faced a great challenge in finding a way to make use of all the opportunities made possible by the new National Stadium.

"We wanted to create a show that was very close to the audience, and one of our ideas was to transform the two-dimensional space into a three-dimensional one using the aerial system. This aerial system in itself also posed a great challenge as it was the first one implemented in Singapore."

The OCC will also involve diverse segments of the community, with volunteers hailing from companies such as Deloitte Singapore and Nanyang Technological University among others. Tickets are also kept affordable in a concerted effort to make the Games accessible to all.

Tickets are priced from $12 to $60 for the Opening Ceremony, and from $12 to $40 for the Closing Ceremony, with concessions for students, senior citizens and full-time National Servicemen. For more details check out the SEA Games website www.seagames2015.com or their Facebook page www.facebook.com/SEAGAMES2015