A comment or two will be greeted with warm hands.

09 August 2008

Being last in Olympics 2008

I watched the olympics 2008 opening hours ago. Here are some pretty photos on the opening ceremony


Being a malaysian, I was proud when the Malaysia Team entered the stadium just after Madagascar's team. (I loved the msian team dress) Towards somewhere in the middle, I saw the Singapore Team too. (The sporean flag girl looks quite attractive. I'm guessing that is a Singaporean marketing tactic.) GoGo Msia and Spore!

Knowing my blog is sarcastic/thought-provoking one, 3POINT8 shall cover a bit on the symbolism on the 'Parade of Athletes'. If you watched the live telecast, or read the news, you probably knew that the last country to make an appearance in the stadium is CHINA. (If you don't, now you know China is the last one to make an appearance. Ain't you glad you read this post?)
Olympics is mostly about winning, being first and getting the gold medal. Sadly not all countries think that way. China is a perfect example. China was the last to make an appearance in the 'Parade of Athletes'. So, in a way it does symbolize that China is the last as compared to all participating countries. And I believe they call those who end last as LOSERS. Not to mention that the China Parade has the most participant. In a way, China is the BIGGEST.

Lets do a simple mathematical equation here:
Loser + Biggest = Biggest Loser
In conclusion, China = Biggest Loser.
That is the power of symbolism. Everyone has a different interpretation on the subject of symbolism.

Didn't I mention that 3POINT8 is a sarcastic/thought-provoking blog?
Well, the argument above is sarcastic part. Here comes the thought provoking part:

Gold medalist must slowly eliminate competitors in order to be number one. Meaning, gold medalist has to endure all the way to the finals, and beat the crap out of the other finalist. To be worthy of being the ultimate winner, they have to be last surviving competitor.
In a way, one has to be the last, in order to be no.1!

Therefore, only those who can persevere to the end are those who are worthy of being the ultimate winner!
So, how do you feel about those being last?
Are they losers? Or they winners?



[Top Comment by ButaChan]
olympics opening was supposedly very impressive to foreigners of the west, whereas within china the locals supposedly hardly batted an eyelid cuz chinese are supposed to be more used to all these large synchronised performances than the westerners are.
china came last in the flag bearing march past because it's olympic tradition that the host country always comes out last.
the singapore flag bearer is far from attractive!!!!! alot of singaporeans were not too glad about the choice because she's actually china born. part of the whole 'foreign talent' scheme thing. true, she's one of the best players but still, not pure singaporean blood. how embarrassing is that...!!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The host is always last to come out. Some hosts have come out with the most golds in the past..

Anonymous said...

It is a standard protocol for all major sporting event to have the host team come out last in opening ceremony.
If only you observe past Olympics.

Anonymous said...

Oh.. I missed the Olympic opening... Thanks for the pictures.. I should surf to search the opening video..

I like the first and last picture. Yao Ming looks like a giant..

Unknown said...

the opening was breathtaking man.. like watching an arthouse film. i think the government is the loser for evicting so many ppl for this night. but i think they managed to put on a fantastic show. the boy next to yao ming is no loser. he rescued his schoolmates during the earthquake

Anonymous said...

China came out last simply to make a lasting impression.

Sometimes, things cannot be given such a simple interpretation. It's not about winning or lossing.

Victoria Yin Yin said...

hello^^ hahaha..i love China Olympic so much!!!!awesome!!!!!!!!

eneres said...

If I'm not wrong, it's a SOP across all years of olympics that host will appear last.. I believed it's like giving honor to the host country..

Wanderer said...

many said this is the best ever opening ceremony ever.. i so agree.. the performance was unorthodox..

Anonymous said...

But don't you find it sad? After the opening ceremony that wowed so many audiences in the world, there were many things which were fake! Like the girl who sang the song, I find it very unfair. And that footprints fireworks which I thought it was really amazing..Bleh!

miss critical said...

wow... never thought it could be the other way round... I guess that's why you called it a thought- provoking blog.. ^_^.. anyway keep writing ... I do enjoy the sarcasm a lot! ^_^

JunJun-Riko said...

"one has to be the last, in order to be no.1!"
nice phrase ler... means in exam i must get last... then im no.1, counting from the behind. XD

Anonymous said...

well , this is one of the best Olympics ceremony i ever saw.

Anonymous said...

yeah this is one of the best Olympics in i've ever seen

Simon Seow said...

I was sleeping T_T

Unknown said...

wonder how it feels standing next to yao ming. standing next to a tallman makes us feel taller eh? lol

buta chan said...

yo kif wazzup..

olympics opening was supposedly very impressive to foreigners of the west, whereas within china the locals supposedly hardly batted an eyelid cuz chinese are supposed to be more used to all these large synchronised performances than the westerners are.

china came last in the flag bearing march past because it's olympic tradition that the host country always comes out last.

the singapore flag bearer is far from attractive!!!!! alot of singaporeans were not too glad about the choice because she's actually china born. part of the whole 'foreign talent' scheme thing. true, she's one of the best players but still, not pure singaporean blood. how embarrassing is that...!!

how r things down under? the job?