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- Nov 24, 2008
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This YOG catastrophe has turned into a $400 million self masturbation exercise by the PAP. I have gone on a few short trips to other countries and there is absolutely no coverage of it. Newspaper and TV media in other countries have no mention of it, and there are no marketing of this event in other countries. In the large countries with strong sports traditions like the US, there is not even a whimper. CNN does not mention it in their sports coverage, nor does ESPN. BBC does not cover it either on their channels. Only in S'pore is it covered ad nauseum in the Shit Times and on TV. Even our closest neighbour Malaysia borchap about this event totally.
Broadcasting rights to Olympic events are heavily sought after and a major network can pay $billions for the rights to broadcast the event. In fact, broadcast rights are more important in some cases than ticket sales to recoup the cost of hosting the event. The PAP appears to have no game plan in place to offset the cost of the Olympics with such revenues. You never hear about how much the broadcast rights were sold for. In fact, its quite likely that this event is so insignificant that no foreign networks bidded on it for the broadcast rights. This is truly pathetic as it means the taxpayer eats the whole cost of the event. Also, other companies will be sold the "Exclusive Supplier to the YOG" label. This is another money making source. But a lot of these "Exclusive Supplier" labels are GLCs. eg. SIA is the airline of the YOG. So, this is just a shuffling of taxayers money around.
Lets face it for what it is. The International Olympic committee has simply conned the PAP into spending $400 million to host this loser of an Olympic event. I think the only other serious contender to host this event was a Russian city no one has heard off. The international community knows that if you kiss the right arse in S'pore, you can sell them anything. eg. Temasek and GIC. This event is a win win for the IOC. If it succeeds, they have another money maker after the Summer and Winter Olympics. If it fails, than oh well, S'pore is stucked with the bill. The spectre of losing $400 million on this event is unplatable to taxpayers in many world class cities. But in a dictatorship like S'pore, it is simply shafted down our throats. The IOC knows this. Since the LA Olympics in 1980, all following Olympics (both Summer or Winter) have strived to break even, and indeed some have succeeded in making money. There is no such accounting in S'pore. The final cost in lost productivity (people being "volunteered") is not factored in. But you can bet its much more than $400 million.
Broadcasting rights to Olympic events are heavily sought after and a major network can pay $billions for the rights to broadcast the event. In fact, broadcast rights are more important in some cases than ticket sales to recoup the cost of hosting the event. The PAP appears to have no game plan in place to offset the cost of the Olympics with such revenues. You never hear about how much the broadcast rights were sold for. In fact, its quite likely that this event is so insignificant that no foreign networks bidded on it for the broadcast rights. This is truly pathetic as it means the taxpayer eats the whole cost of the event. Also, other companies will be sold the "Exclusive Supplier to the YOG" label. This is another money making source. But a lot of these "Exclusive Supplier" labels are GLCs. eg. SIA is the airline of the YOG. So, this is just a shuffling of taxayers money around.
Lets face it for what it is. The International Olympic committee has simply conned the PAP into spending $400 million to host this loser of an Olympic event. I think the only other serious contender to host this event was a Russian city no one has heard off. The international community knows that if you kiss the right arse in S'pore, you can sell them anything. eg. Temasek and GIC. This event is a win win for the IOC. If it succeeds, they have another money maker after the Summer and Winter Olympics. If it fails, than oh well, S'pore is stucked with the bill. The spectre of losing $400 million on this event is unplatable to taxpayers in many world class cities. But in a dictatorship like S'pore, it is simply shafted down our throats. The IOC knows this. Since the LA Olympics in 1980, all following Olympics (both Summer or Winter) have strived to break even, and indeed some have succeeded in making money. There is no such accounting in S'pore. The final cost in lost productivity (people being "volunteered") is not factored in. But you can bet its much more than $400 million.
