Daily Newsletter Issue 3 | Tuesday, 10 July 2012 Today’s Weather Forecast

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. 24 to 31 degrees Celsius. Humidity: 60%- 95%

Program for Tuesday , 10 July 2012 And It Begins

Jury Members and Observers

Student Competitors

07:00 - 09:30

Extended Breakfast (Rainforest Café)

06:00 - 06:45

Breakfast (PGPR)

00:00 - 10:00 Bus departs (NIE Blk 1) 00:00 - 07:15 Bus departs (PGPR) 11:00 - 12:00 Visit to NEWater Plant 08:30 - 10:00 Practical Test (Shift 1) (NIE) 13:00 - 16:30 Visit to Jurong Bird Park and Lunch 10:45 - 12:15 Practical Test (Shift 2) (NIE) 17:30 - 18:00 Meet with Competitors (NIE) 12:15 - 13:15 Lunch (NIE) 18:30 - 20:00 Dinner (Rainforest Café) 13:15 - 14:45 Practical Test (Shift 3) (NIE)

15:30 - 17:00 Practical Test (Shift 4) (NIE) 17:30 - 18:00 Meet with Jury Members (NIE) 00:00 - 18:30 Bus departs (NIE) 19:30 - 22:00 Dinner & Social Night (PGPR)

President Tony Tan dotting the eyes of the lions, “awakening” them and blessing their performances ahead. Lions have a special significance for Singapore, the name of which is derived from Singapura. In Malay, singa means ‘lion’ and pura means ‘city’, hence Singapore is the “Lion City”.

Team Czech Republic

Team Netherlands Team Singapore

Team Thailand

Team Switzerland

Aitkul Sagynova from Kyrgyzstan shows off her elaborate Shokulo (headwear) and Ak-koinko (dress). Says Aitkul: “(In this day and age) we wear this for celebrations, but 100 years ago my people wore this everyday”.

The day’s festivities commenced with student participants taking the stage country by country, led by their team guides holding their country placards high. Some teams, such as Switzerland and USA, even brought candies and threw them into the audience, much to the latter’s surprise and glee. Shortly after, His Excellency Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of the Republic of Singapore, Guest-of-Honour and Patron of the 23rd IBO, dotted the eyes of two “lion heads”, headpieces used in the lion dance - a traditional kungfu-inspired dance performance in Chinese culture.

After a jovial speech by the “right Lim[b] and left Lim[b]” of the 23rd IBO Co-Chairpersons Dr

Shirley Lim and Dr Tit Meng Lim and a formal oath-taking by both students and jury

participants, the audience enjoyed a visual extravaganza on stage. Aptly representing our multicultural identity, primary school students

from Singapore showed off their talents in traditional, award-winning dances and a rousing

band performance.

“Our goal is to put peace, love and the Olympic spirit in your heart...and fire in your eyes...(we want) to help you make a better future for your generation, and for future

generations” - Dr. Poonpipope Kasemsap, Chairman of IBO Coordinators

Places you are going to visit

NEWater is the brand name given to reclaimed water produced by Singapore's Public Utilities Board. More specifically, it is treated wastewater (sewage) that has been purified using dual-membrane (microfiltration and reverse osmosis) and ultraviolet technologies, in addition to conventional water treatment processes. The water is not only potable and consumed by humans, but also used for industries requiring high-purity water.

Jurong Bird Park is the largest bird park in the region, offering a 20.2-hectare hillside haven for 5,000 birds, representing 380 species. Committed to its efforts in conservation and exhibiting birds in naturalistic settings, the Bird Park creates simulated natural habitats from the grasslands of Africa to the rainforests of South America for different bird species

A delightful and dynamic band performance by Compassvale Primary School Brass Band, who broke into dance while playing their instruments at the same time. The emcee joked that one of the kids was so small, it looked like the tuba was carrying him instead!

Solemn faces on the students as they swore the official oath of the IBO to abide by the principles of fair play

Team Switzerland brought what they are famous for - chocolate bars, and shared them with lucky audience members

Even before the ceremony started, participants were treated to a visual feast - of one another - as many were decked out in colorful national costumes and traditional garments. Brimming with pride, teams went around taking photos with other countries’ representatives and admired each other’s outfits.

Amazed by his tender age of 14 years, Dr. Poonpipope Kasemsap, Chairman of the IBO Coordinators, highlighted Elmar Mammadli (in green, second from right) from Azerbaijan during the opening ceremony. His shyness evident during the interview, Elmar said he felt “very bad” when he saw his face on the big screen, but is completely unfazed at being one of the youngest in the competition. “What must I feel?” remarked Elmar, clearly confident despite this being his first trip out of his home country.

Our youngest competitors

Emmanuel posing with his favorite part of the IBO experience so far - his team guide

Yong Kuan. Emmanuel Oludowole from Nigeria exudes a quiet confidence and maturity which belies his age of 13 years. The youngest participant in the IBO, Emmanuel told us that he doesn’t “look or feel the youngest”, and doesn’t feel disadvantaged by his age. The best part of his experience so far? “My guide!” replied Emmanuel after some thoughtful reflection.

From your buffet table…

The melt in your mouth Mutton Rendang you had yesterday is a rich spicy concoction of coconut, mixture of ground spices paste, which include ginger, galangal, turmeric leaves, lemon grass, garlic, shallot, chillies and other spices. It takes hours to cook (usually four hours), which is why a good Rendang demands time and patience.

? Did you know… The world’s highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 metres, is located at the Jurong Bird Park.

Meeting the President

Now It Gets Serious – Lab Equipment Review

What did students think of the performances? What did they like best so far?

Jury hard at work !

“Joy”, a Chinese Dance by Singapore Chinese Girls’ School Sylapberdi Bayjanov from Turkmenistan likes the “Red Chinese Dance” the most. According to Ashley, Kaylene and Rachel from Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (Primary), they have been practising for this dance for an entire year!

“Kampung Children”, a Malay Dance by students from Lianhua Primary School

Viggo Barmen from Sweden thought that “the lion dance was very impressive and the most exciting”, while fellow team member Samuel Nilsson remarked: “I didn’t expect so much from so young - all the performances were incredible!” The rest of the Swedish team, Erik Flinth and Carl Swedenborg responded with a resounding “Delicious!” when we asked how the food was.

Student participants trooping off in an orderly fashion to the Tan Chin Tuan Lecture Theatre, where they were briefed on lab equipment in preparation for their upcoming tests

Competitors listening intently to a presentation in one of the biology labs in the School of Biological Sciences, NTU

All Work, No Play? No Way! The IBO isn’t just about the competition - it is also about connections and collaborations across nations. As a grand finale to the first full day of the IBO, the organizing team prepared ice-breakers for the student participants. Many of the games were the brainchild of Kee Wui, Deputy Chief Guide who adapted them from his previous experiences. “It is important for the participants to have fun as well. Winning the competition is not everything!” asserts Kee Wui. Wen Xuan, team guide for Korea added: “We don’t just want to help the students relax before the competition, but also want them to know each other better”.

Kezia and Assifa from Team Indonesia familiarising themselves with the lab equipment on their benches - after all, practice makes perfect!

Forging new friendship

Team Sri Lanka bonding with Team South Korea. It appears that the ice has already been broken! According to the Sri Lankan team, their garments are worn during official occasions as a symbol of their country, though they are also worn during formal events such as weddings.

Yuan Wei from Singapore breaks out into spontaneous laughter as he “parries” with his partner.

One of the groups played a rather animated, biology-related game complete with hilarious hand gestures and movements. Starting as eggs, participants tried to win at “Scissors, Paper, Stone” in order to ‘evolve’ to become chickens, then dinosaurs and finally humans, degenerating when they lost. It was amusing to see how hard participants “fought” to remain the most “evolved”!

Clearly the efforts of the organizers bore fruit, as students from different countries took a well-deserved break from studying and enthusiastically mingled with one another.

Chief Guide Tse Yang ends the ice-breakers with a briefing on the next day’s practical tests.

A balancing act - Helping to moderate the seriousness of the event, Nicolas Willekens from Belgium juggled his country placard expertly to the delight of fellow participants

Team Netherlands brought a special prop - “Whoopie”. Apparently “Whoopie” was sold at supermarkets throughout Netherlands after a soccer championship a few years ago, and has since become a kind of national mascot!

Team Sweden