AYG beach volleyball finals

(Some of my other protocol officers)

My week-long stint at AYG Beach Volleyball has ended with Thailand winning both the Girls and Boys finals; Kazakstan was runner-up in both finals. Apart from receiving and taking care of VIPs, I was made responsible for the national flags during the victory ceremony.

What have I learnt or gained in this week?

First, in organising big events, it is quite impossible to really learn past lessons from similar events simply from paperwork so it is good to include in the team persons with experience.

Second, sufficient effort must be made in 'hygiene' issues to ensure that volunteers have enough to eat, drink and are adequately dressed, e.g. the t-shirt size issue I mentioned in an earlier blog. On the same note, make sure that rehearsals are effective and efficient. Being otherwise will result in a negative perception of the event and may affect the morale of the entire workforce.

Third, I made many new friends. Prof Tommy's way of shaking hands with everyone at first contact helped as the physical contact helped to break the barrier. And always be the first to make contact and I realised that most people are very friendly even their demeanour may not suggest as such.

Me with the beach volleyball Venue Manager (aka Big Boss) Kim Hwee. An extremely friendly, effective and hard working chap.

Protocol friends

These are my new made friends, all carrying out 'protocol officer' duties. I know the Indian fellow SJ next to me the most, having spent quite some time chatting with him. SJ has a career that most of us dream about. He was a fighter pilot during his national service days and now he is a pilot with our national carrier. I spent many happy minutes grilling him on the details of flying the iconic A4 Skyhawk and now the equally iconic Boeing 747. I learnt a great deal.

For example, the difference in American and European thought is manifested in the air craft they manufacture, i.e. Boeing and Airbus. Airbus is a complete fly-by-wire plane whereas Boeing retains some mechanical flight control features. Therefore a Boeing pilot retains some amount of feedback via the 'joystick'.

I also learnt that as the aircraft accelerates down the runway, once it reaches a certain speed call 'V1' (depending on many factors such as dead weight, payload), aviation rules requires the aircraft to take off, regardless of whatever situations may occur.

New young friend

On my 1st day of duty today, I met a young chap SM who was assigned to the same station as me -- welcoming and arranging shuttle transport for VIPs to the competition venue.

We have (at least) three things in common:

First, our ancestry hails from Hainan Island, China. In fact, our villages may be very near each other's, each around 20-30 mins drive from Wenchang city.

Second, we were both specialists or sergeants in our national service vocations. Being the meat in the sandwich (between the officers and the men), we shared a common resonance in our 'war' stories, from training suffering to ghostly encounters.

Third, he is about to embark on his engineering studies whilst I have completed my engineering studies, so engineering is a common profession for us.