Clean & Green Singapore

Finally, the day is here. I mentioned my role for this event was a point-man. If you are wondering what this means, I am one of those people in front of the VVIP entourage who clears the path for the entourage. And there are many people doing this role as I found out subsequently. Besides the four points-men (including me), there were the security command officers (the professionals) and also other crowd control personnel. See the pics below and you will see how many of us were there. The entourage was incredible, the size that is.

Some pictures of the calm before the storm.

The bomb squad performing the bomb sweep. This is quite standard procedure. In fact, in the latter stages of the event, even when PM was touring the exhibits, the bomb squad officers were a few steps ahead of him, looking under chairs and other furniture for any suspicious objects. What was interesting here was the use of a Golden Retriever as a sniffer. This used to be done by spaniels.

The registration counter -- trying to get organised.

Waiting time again. So why not take a photo. Notice I was equipped with a ear-piece linked to a walkie talkie -- enhances the "security" look.

At this time, PM will be arriving soon. The welcome party converges at the car park. You can spot ministers and MPs in the midst.


And then he's arrived and the show begins. Being a point-man for the first time, I was a little lost in the beginning so I took my cue from the security command officer who was walking in front with us. He was very relaxed so I became relaxed as well. Soon, I understood my role. Actually, I did not have to do much clearing of the way, the photographers did that role! You see, they will always be in front of the entourage, and whenever they backed away as the entourage advances, the wave of humans (entourage + photographers) was very effective in clearing the path -- you don't want to be in the way! To get a sense of how many people there were surrounding PM, see the photo below. Can you spot PM?

The photo below shows PM giving his keynote address. PM is a very good and effective public speaker. He has a good voice, good tone and conveys feelings and conviction into the words. Another reason of his effectiveness is that he does not follow his script word for word. He normally has his key points printed out and he fleshes out his speech off the cuff. I noticed that his closing remarks were made all off the cuff as he has folded away the printed script.

PM touring the exhibits -- a good 30 mins. See the huge crowd.

PM meeting the award winners at the reception.

PM meeting his men.

PM's leaving and this cues the end of my work. Off to the reception for my dinner!