Feature
SEA Games : A Celebration of Southeast Asian Greatness
by Coleen Kyle G. Florida
“Sports is the art of no limitations”
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The Southeast Asian Games, held every two years, is a manifestation of the physical supremacy of the Southeast Asian athletes. With a competition comprised of 40 sports across 526 events, it is just fitting to consider it one of the most prestigious multi-sports event in the world.
The SEA Games started as the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games or SEAP Games. In 1958, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asia attending the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan decided to meet and agreed to establish a sports organization. The then Vice-President of the Thailand Olympic Committee, Luang Sukhum Nayapradit, conceptualized the SEAP Games. The proposed concept was that a regional sports event will help promote co-operation and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region. Six countries, Burma (now Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and South Vietnam were the founding members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biennially in 1959 and the SEAP Games Federation Committee was formed thereafter. The first SEAP Games were held in Bangkok in 1959.
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One of the most-awaited moments every SEA Games is the opening ceremony that showcases how much the host country prepared for the entire entourage of the delegates and in the whole production of the ceremony in general. The Philippines proved its worth when it was chosen to be the host of the 2019 SEA Games. The opening ceremony was inspired by the previous opening ceremony in 2017 held in Malaysia and the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The opening ceremony began with the Philippine flag fixed on a pole carried into the stadium by Army personnel. The acapella version of the Philippine national anthem, Lupang Hinirang was sung by Lani Misalucha. You can always watch the full ceremony anytime you wish online, it is truly a remarkable production remembered through the years.
For years, the SEA Games has been a breeding ground for great and known athletes. Joscelin Yeo, a Singaporean swimmer, has won the most Southeast Asian Games medals with 55 in total. She reached this milestone during the 2005 Games, surpassing the previous record of 39 gold medals set by another Singaporean swimmer Patricia Chan. Another famous SEA Games athlete is John Baylon, a Filipino judoka, who has won a total of nine gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games, first competing in the regional tournament in the 1980s. In the field of gymnastics, Carlos Yulo dominates the SEA Games since 2019, he finished on the podium in every event winning gold in the all-around and floor exercise and silver in the pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar And of course, Hidilyn Diaz, who just recently defended her Southeast Asian Games weightlifting crown in the women's 55kg division.
We could go on and on, talking about the SEA Games, but one thing we could fathom as we learn more about the SEA Games, is the undeniable greatness of the Southeast Asian people. Every sports event proves how human have no limitations, in this case, physically. And as we binge watch the SEA Games every year, Southeast Asians absolutely don’t lack in that category.
​Virtual Contest: The New Norm
by Coleen Kyle G. Florida
​The disruption of regular school contests and programs has been one of the key outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to a virtual competition has underlined the importance of students interacting with others and receiving a quality education.
Moreover, technology has advanced significantly in recent years. In today’s society, face-to-face communication has become obsolete. The internet spread quickly and social media advanced rapidly. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic indicates the disappearance of face-to-face sociability. Thus, through technology, it can provide people an active and comfortable lifestyle despite a crisis.
Furthermore, to meet the learning objectives, we must embrace new approaches for students to engage in diverse contests. During a pandemic, a contest like the Regional School Press Conference allows us to focus our attention on more potent learning opportunities and social techniques rather than static learning modes.
The pandemic has exposed the growing disparities in our educational system, whether face-to-face, remotely, or virtually. As virtual has become the new normal, we can more easily observe where educational activities have made connected remotely viable.
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Click to Promote: The Art of Digital Marketing
by Coleen Kyle G. Florida
​“Going digital is no longer an option, it is the default” -Natarajan Chandrasekaran As we cross the Rubicon and decided to trek the path to the digital world, we have left no choice but to join the changing tide of the times. In the world of business, a lot has changed as time went by like loose leaves flying on the air.
We went from reserving slots on the advertisement page in the newspapers to businesses promoting their new products with a single click on Facebook. It is undeniable that the new norm in business is digital marketing. In the 1990s, when digital technology was just a toddler, businesses have started to try to use the newly invented technology to promote their respective products and services. In the United States, during that time, was where the internet was largely accessible to most, hence the opportunity for businessmen to start digital marketing as a new means for corporate publicity and to reach more people to promote their businesses. It started with ad pop-ups in generic websites, and sometimes would cost expensively, prompting the practice of digital marketing to only be available to big corporations and organizations. With such widespread usage and versatility, social media is one of the most effective free channels for marketing your business today. Social media enables you to turn your business into an active participant in your market.
Your profile, posts, and interactions with users form an approachable persona that your audience can familiarize and connect with, and come to trust. You can also generate leads and conversions directly on these platforms, through features like Instagram/Facebook shops, direct messaging, call to action buttons on profiles, and appointment booking capabilities. The visual nature of social media platforms allows you to build your visual identity across vast audiences and and improve brand awareness. And better brand awareness means better results with all your other campaigns. These platforms open up both direct and indirect lines of communication with your followers through which you can network, gather feedback, hold discussions, and connect directly with individuals.
The ground is extremely fertile for the utilization of digital resources to be of good use to be successful and promote whatever it is that you want people to be aware of. In this day and age, we could muster this digital strength to move the needle to progress and drumbeat the soundwaves for digital marketing to become the new universal means of marketing. It like a fruit hanging on a tree, all you need is to grab it and reap the juices of it.