NIE, Singapore’s National Institute of Education, will host the Youth Olympic Games arts and cultural events in the evenings during the games.  So for the two weeks of the Games proper, plus a week on either end – in fact, the whole of August – NIE will be non-functional.  But that doesn’t mean its employees get a furlough, other facilities, or time off!

No, what it means is that all public transit to the area will cease, and NIE employees will have to take dedicated buses, which will run only at specified hours. Once the employees have taken the buses (and gone through 3 police check points), they will be restricted to their offices from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the days they work.  Unable to move about the campus, they will essentially be in lock-down.  Lunches will be delivered to their offices.  Vendors and suppliers will be forbidden to bring things to the building.  And staff who don’t show up during this time must apply for leave.  Ugh.

School, in case you didn’t know, will be in session from July 1 as usual.  Teacher training classes will not start until August 26 – usually it’s three weeks earlier. But those of us who work in schools will still have to juggle workplaces.

What if you have a project that requires you to move about, or leave campus?  Those of us on such projects are concluding that we’d better work from home for that whole month.  I expect a whole lot of computers, printers, data servers and office supplies to begin heading out of the building in July.

YOGI – Youth Olympic Games Insanity.  You’ll excuse me if I refrain from expressing joy and excitement.

March 9th, 2010 | Category: Education, Entertainment, public policy | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL