Vietnam Sea Games : Tough screening process for Games volunteers
EVERY student in Hanoi wants to be a volunteer for the Sea Games, so much so the organising committee had to conduct screening tests — written and oral — before selecting 1,500 volunteers who will be directly involved.
The volunteers are given jobs such as liaison officers, Press Centre and Operations staff while others who are not directly involved are given other duties such as directing traffic at competition venues and the likes.
English-speaking students are ranked highly and it is no surprise that most of the 1,500 volunteers are university students majoring in English or foreign affairs.
Trinh Phuong Linh, who is pursuing a degree in English at Hanoi University, was one of 300 students who were selected out of the about 1,000 who applied, and is the liaison officer for the Philippines water polo team.
Like a team manager, she arranges transport for the team and handles other matters.
Good interpreters are necessary in Hanoi as it is very difficult to get things done if you don't speak the local language.
"Everybody wants to be a volunteer because this is the first time Vietnam is hosting the Sea Games. I had to go for an interview and they asked a lot of difficult questions about the Sea Games and the Para Games," said Phuong Linh in Hanoi yesterday.
The Para Games, for disabled athletes, will start a week after the Sea Games on Dec 20. The Sea Games volunteers will also work for the Para Games.
"There was an interview and among the questions they asked was why I wanted to become a volunteer and what I knew about the Sea Games and Para Games." Phuong Linh said since nearly half the students from her faculty are involved in the Sea Games, the faculty will be closed for the next few weeks.
"There is a small allowance, but the main reason we all want to become volunteers is because we want to be part of the Sea Games. It is a very big event which we have never hosted before." Phuong Linh said there have been a few mistakes with the flags, signages and documentation which can be expected from first time hosts.
"There were a number of mistakes. The Philipppines team pointed out that their flag at the stadium had the colours placed wrongly, with the red and blue in the opposite places. The word solidarity was also wrongly spelt in the Sea Games motto and names of athletes have been printed out wrongly.
"But this is to be expected as we are hosting it (the Games) for the first time."
By Glen Peters - The New Strait Times (.my) - November 30, 2003.
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