Nearly three thousand athletes The lighting of the flame for a was set, by Indonesian weigh-

took part in the biggest-ever South two-day torch relay by Prime
East Asia Games in Singapore,
competing in twenty-nine sports,
from athletics and swimming to
martial arts disciplines wushu and
silat olahraga, dragon boat racing
and sepak takraw. All member
countries, Brunei, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philip-
pines, Thailand and Vietnam as
well as Singapore were represen-
ted - only the Cambodians were
absent - to take part in what has
become the regions most impor-
tant sports festival.
tlifter Hery Setiawan, with 147.5
Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong
and the opening ceremony, presi-
ded by President Mr Wee Kim
Wee, were followed by nine days
of competition in June which saw
fifty-two games records broken,
twenty-four in swimming, fifteen
in athletics, ten in weightlifting,
two in shooting, and one in
cycling. The host countrys ath-
letes won an unprecedented fifty
gold medals, with their star swim-
mer Joscelin Yeo (shown above)
t aki ng n i n e . On e As i a n re c o rd
in the 54kg clean and jerk.
IN CHIANGMAI
The next SEA Games will be held
- according to alphabetical rota-
tion - in Thailand, and, for the
first time, not in a capital but in
Chiangmai, which will pave the
way for other cities keen to host
the event. Singa, the lion mascot
for 1993, has made way for Sawa-
dee the Cat, who will hold sway
from 9th to 17th December
1995.

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