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SINGAPORE 2005:

A REMARKABLE CITY; A CRUSHING DEFEAT

JULY 1—10, 2005

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SINGAPORE 2005: a remarkable city; a crushing defeat. This journey began five years ago, when I accepted the challenge of chairing the USOC’s 2012 Bid City Task Force. We started with eight cities and pared that group to four in 2001, returning to Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington for further due diligence the following year. The Board of Directors of the USOC selected New York over San Francisco by a clear majority on November 2, 2002.

The international bid city phase was equally arduous, with a total of nine cities submitted for IOC consideration. On May 18, 2004, the IOC selected New York, along with London, Madrid, Moscow and Paris, and eliminated Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig and Rio de Janeiro. The IOC Evaluation Commission (the equivalent of my U.S. domestic Task Force) visited New York on February 21-24. 2005. They released their report on June 6, with the IOC set to elect the Host City for the 2012 Olympic Games on July 6, 2005.

NYC 2012 “Let the dreams begin” NYC 2012 executed a superb plan, attracting hundreds of Olympians, corporate and other sponsors, hundreds of friends and advisors and an effective and loyal volunteer staff. The leadership team of founder Dan Doctoroff and executive director Jay Kriegel were superb in their roles. Doctoroff also serves as NYC Deputy Mayor of Economic Development and Rebuilding. At the eleventh hour, New York City politicians voted down the much heralded, but controversial, West Side Stadium (proposed as New York’s Olympic Stadium). Literally over a weekend, NYC 2012 recovered with an announcement and plan that the New York Mets would build a new stadium, which would be converted in 2012 to a state of the art, 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium. This expanded Olympic Park cluster would also include venues for tennis, archery, water polo, rowing and canoe/kayak, as well a Main Press Center and International Broadcast Center. The IOC Executive Board approved the changes, clearing the way for NYC 2012 to present in Singapore! With much excitement, nearly 200 NYC 2012 supporters, staff and celebrities made the trip to Singapore. Judith and I were honored to be included in this delegation. Many of us met at Newark airport the evening of July 1, where we got a taste of the extraordinary organizational capacity of the staff. We were greeted with electronic NYC 2012 signs, guides to process our check-in and a special area to rest, eat and “build the momentum.” Judith and I met a couple, Mary Jane and Bill Parks, which whom we had traveled in Scotland on a golf trip years ago! Mary Jane’s Olympic roommate, Carin Cone-Vanderbush (both were swimmers on the 1956 team) and her husband Al

Singapore from our window

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(former AD at West Point!) were also part of this group, plus dozens of other US Olympians (as well as from Mexico, Ukraine, Nigeria, Canada and Yugoslavia).

Many other supporters joined us in Singapore, including three senior labor leaders, Steve Ross, Jon Tisch, Dick Parsons (CECP Board member), Alex Garvin (Director of Planning, Design and Development for NYC 2012), Peter Ueberroth (USOC Chairman), Ken Podzobe (Commissioner, NYC Sport Commission), Keith Reinhard (Chair DDB Worldwide), Roland Betts (President Bush’s personal representative) and so many more. Our celebrities included Mohammed Ali, Henry Kissinger, Michael Bloomberg and Hillary Clinton. We even had our own Statue of Liberty impersonator!

Jackie Joyner Kersey, Oksana Baiul, Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner

Senator Clinton

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Singapore Most of us stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Millennia, reputably one of the ten best hotels in the world! Judith and I concluded that that was an understatement. Our Singapore Airline non-stop flight (18½ hours) was uneventful, arriving right on time at 5:35 am on July 3. NYC 2012 moved into gear with ready motor coaches to our hotel, expedited hotel registration, wonderful NYC 2012 supporter uniforms and pins, and a special hospitality suite. After a shower and brief rest, we were on our way for our first city tour. The population of Singapore is four million: 77% Chinese, 14% Malaysian, 7% Indian and 2% other minorities. It’s comprised of one major island and 63 small islands (mostly uninhabited) and is governed by the People’s Action Party (PAP). Singapore covers only 240 square meters, much of which is reclaimed land. Apart from Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world, with 6,430 people per square kilometer. Since its founding in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles (an official of British East India), Singapore has been known as the Lion City.

Our “Kaleidoscope” tour started with a Cantonese lunch (Chef Chan Chen Hei) after which we marveled at the cityscape from “bumboats” on the Singapore River. We were introduced to Feng Shui (“energy”) and its components: metal, wood, fire, wind and water. Singapore’s buildings stole the show: each one with a different architectural style. It’s a beautifully planned city and what a difference since my earlier visit in 1990! Dragon boats were racing in the river close enough for us to see the expressions on the rowers’ faces. We made quick visits to China Town, Little Italy and a Shop House Museum, with an interesting commentary and display about Chinese immigrants, before the Japanese occupation (1942-45) and right up to Singapore’s independence from the British in 1965.

Dragon Boat Races Singapore’s Merlion

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Back at the Ritz Carlton, we continued to marvel at the city. The near view from our hotel room was of a boat-studded lake, the intermediate view encompassed all those incredible buildings and the far view was a forest of cranes making up the ship yard and port. Singapore is one of the largest ports in the world and probably the most efficient: they handle 270 containers an hour and at any time, have 800 ships in the port (one leaves every three minutes!).

Esplanade

Port City

Back to his roots

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That evening we enjoyed a welcome reception hosted by Bloomberg and Doctoroff, which Frank Lavin, the American Ambassador to Singapore attended with jokes for Judith (see photo).

The next day, the Fourth of July, we toured the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Gallery and the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec City. We visited the world’s largest water fountain, in this case, built as a symbol of wealth. We walked around the fountain three times with our right arms in the spray while making a wish (guess what the wish was) but it didn’t seem to work out! The highlight of the URA Gallery was an amazing interactive model of the city. Following lunch and a “Sport and Diplomacy” panel at the Fullerton Hotel, Judith and I stole away to the Asian Civilization Museum, specifically to the see their “Treasures of the Vatican” exhibit. That night, after visiting the Ambassador’s Fourth of July party for his entire staff, we celebrated our Independence Day at the Indochine Waterfront. It was a touching salute to Olympian and Paralympians. We each received special commemorative medals.

Located just one degree above the equator, Singapore enjoys four seasons: summer, summer, summer and summer with an average day-time temperature of 90˚F. July 5th was right on target!

Moore and Ambassador Lavin

Fountain of Wealth

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Following a breakfast and IOC briefing by Harvey Schiller, we motor coached to Sentosa, one of Singapore’s most enchanting islands, where we saw a multi-media showcase of history, diversity and traditions of Singapore. We then briefly toured Fort Siloso and Asia’s largest tropical Oceanarium. In the Fort’s “Surrender Chamber”, we saw wax figures representing Singapore’s surrender to Japan in 1942 and Japan’s surrender to the British in 1945; very powerful. After lunch, Judith and I took a taxi to visit Novartis’ Research Institute for Tropical Disease, located in a new technology center. It was fascinating! That night, we had a choice of taking a night safari at the Zoo or attending the Opening Ceremony of the 117th IOC Session. We chose the latter, which mostly required a lot of waiting and security. We did get to see Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Hillary Clinton. We witnessed the naming of the IOC orchid (Vandu IOC) and enjoyed Glen Goei’s version of “One Voice, One Rhythm, One World,” along with a few speeches! Judith and I capped the evening with dinner by ourselves at the Chinese restaurant at the Ritz Carlton, before which we posed in front of a Frank Stella assemblage (see photo)– one of three Stellas in the lobby of the Ritz. Lest you think we’re not always on the look out for American art, there were two massive and stunning glass pieces by Dale Chihuly at either end of the gargantuan lobby.

IOC Candidate Presentations and Voting - July 6, 2005 Our big day had finally arrived! Paris would present first, followed by New York, Moscow, London and Madrid. We watched the proceedings on large screen TV in several private rooms in the Ritz Carlton set-up for that purpose. Paris’ presentation was OK; New York’s was superb! The issue

Frank Stella and the Moores Another Merlion on Sentosa

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was, were any IOC delegates still uncommitted and thus, open to considering the quality of the presentations? Most of us didn’t see all of Moscow’s bid, as our presenting team returned to the hotel at just that moment, amidst resounding cheers. London’s presentation was excellent; Madrid’s, not as good, in my opinion. So - the wait began – and the pressure mounted. At 5:45 pm the electronic voting commenced after extensive instructions to the IOC delegates. Still, one Greek delegate never did get his vote in on time! Candidate city delegates are not eligible to vote until their city is eliminated and individual voting is confidential. Aggregate voting per round is not announced, only the name of the city eliminated in the most recent round: The Tally Round 1 2 3 4

London 22 27 39 54 Paris 21 25 33 50 Madrid 20 32 31 New York 19 16 Moscow 15

97 100 103 104 When New York went out in the second round, I felt as if I had been kicked in the stomach! I was looking directly at Mayor Bloomberg, Dan Doctoroff and Senator Clinton when the announcement was made. I thought they handled it very well. Mike and Dan had put so much time, political capital and energy into it, Dan for eleven years. But it was over; we had lost. The room was very quiet. While everyone understood that New York was the underdog, there had still been lots of optimism that we could pull it off.

Dan Doctoroff Mayor Bloomberg

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So, why did we lose? All five cities are very capable of hosting the Games in 2012. The Evaluation Commission had indicated that Paris and London, by the smallest of margins, were the highest ranked. Was it our West Side Stadium switch? Probably not. My sense is that there are two reasons: we don’t have the IOC connections (this is a political vote) and it’s not yet our time. Paris hosted the Summer Games in 1900 and 1924; London in 1908 and 1948; Moscow in 1980 and United States in 1932 (LA), 1984 (LA) and 1996 (Atlanta). So the question is – should the U.S. try for 2016, or wait until, say “2024,” at which point I’ll be 95! So after a crushing defeat- Our NYC 2012 presentation team dusted itself off and gathered to view the Announcement Ceremony some several hours later. We waited by our hotel lobby TV screens to see whether London or Paris would be victorious. Most of us were pleased that London won (it’s an Anglo Saxon thing). After some serious, continuing discussion about why we didn’t win and when we could win, we headed by bus to our Closing Party at the Divine Society, with Bloomberg, Doctoroff and Clinton joining us. At the reception, among other entertainments, Judith learned to play “Congkak,” a wooden board game using marbles. It may replace “Oh Hell” as THE Moore party game! It was a lovely evening in a fascinating old building but we returned on one of the earlier buses. Others went straight to the airport to catch their return flights home: both commercial and private.

Our NYC 2012 logo

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Malaysia

Rather than train (too long) or rental car (too uncertain), Judith and I decided to fly to Kuala Lumpur. Singapore Airlines had a noon flight with a return to Singapore on the 9th that fit with our return flight to New York. We stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel and found it very comfortable.

Malaysia is made up of 13 states, ruled by 9 sultans (from royal families) and 4 governors. They operate as a monarchy (shades of their 150 year British rule) with one of the sultans rotating as King every 5 years. A new General Council is elected every 5 years with the Prime Minister being the most important political office. Their government is, by necessity, a successful coalition of Malaysians, Chinese and Indians.

Malaysia’s first capital, Malacca, was discovered, as a spice trading post, by an Indian prince in the 1400’s. The Portuguese then came into power and were replaced by the Dutch in 1671, who were replaced by the English in 1795. Malaysia won its independence in 1957, which got “reworked” in 1965 with a further separation from Borneo. They had a bloody civil war in 1969.

Two million of Malaysia’s total of 25 million people live in Kuala Lampur. Malaysia’s population is 66% Malay, 26% Chinese and 8% Indian. Nearly all Malaysian’s are Muslim. The bedside reading at the Shangri-La was an English translation of the Holy Qur’an “to give the reader a chance to discover the Truth for yourself”. The goal for our 48 hours in Malaysia was to blend some rest/relaxation with some serious sightseeing in Kuala Lampur (which loosely translated, means intersection of two muddy rivers). To prepare for this “transition” we retreated to the hotel’s elegant French restaurant. It was great, down to the last cheese and sip of red wine. We were deeply saddened by the earlier bombings in London. What a shock – from euphoria to tragedy!

On Friday the 8th, we chose the city tour. We started with the King’s Palace (built in 1928),

En-route

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followed by their largest Chinese temple (Thean Hu), the National Mosque with its green roof (15,000 capacity), St. Mary’s Anglican Church (adjacent to the old British Cricket Club) and, a wonderful (now inactive) railroad station built in 1911,which now houses the court system We traveled by the 1403΄ high Menara (KL) Tower (the world’s 4th largest telecommunication tower opened in 1996) and the Petronas Twin Towers (at 1500΄, the tallest in the world). We went to the top of the KL Tower for some great city-wide views. There’s a bridge connecting the Petronas Towers at the 42nd floor but we didn’t attempt the ascent. The architect for those candidates for one of the wonders of the modern world, was Cesar Pelli, an Argentine. One tower was built by a Japanese contractor, the other by a Korean firm. Total cost was $1.3 billion with funding coming from Petronas (the national petroleum entity). There are a lot of construction cranes in KL and many of the new buildings are of architectural interest. Still, there are slums and dilapidated structures amongst the new construction, quite unlike Singapore.

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Much of KL was destroyed by a fire in 1881 at which time the city officials directed that henceforth all buildings be constructed of brick (no wood). The “brick fields” that were built to cure those bricks are now where Little India stands. Oil and gas are Malaysia’s #1 “product” (net exporter of 500 thousand barrels per day), followed by manufacturing, agriculture (predominantly palm oil) and rubber (third in the world behind Thailand and Indonesia). KL got its start in 1857 when tin was discovered. It’s still an important producer of tin and pewter, which is 97% tin. On the social/welfare side, men live to average age of 79, women 83. Retirement age is 56, at which point government employees receive a life time pension. Unemployment is between 3 and 4 %. They have a national health care program. Corporate tax rate is 28%, the individual tax rate ranges from 1% to 28%. There are over 100 golf courses in Malaysia! Their favorite sports are soccer and badminton. Their national flower is the hibiscus; the national bird is the hornbill. To digest all that “heavy input,” we spent the afternoon at the pool and in the spa. We had a great dinner in the hotel’s Japanese restaurant including fabulous sushi and sashimi. Our final day in KL took us to the park: the world’s largest walk-in, free-flight aviary, incredible orchid and hibiscus gardens and an amazing butterfly house. The aviary featured birds from Australia, New Guinea, Thailand, Indonesia, Tanzania, China, Holland and of course, Malaysia. We saw Mandarin and Wood Ducks; Great Trumpeter and White-crowned Hornbills; the great Curassow; a variety of Enggangs; then more hornbills: Wreathed, Asian Black and Wrinkled; an albino crow; the Brahminy kite; two varieties of eagles: India (with yellow eyes) and the Changeable hawk-eagle; the Lory family including Chattering, Duyvenbode, Black and Red; lots of parrots, such as Plum-headed, Ring-necked, Moustached and Long-tailed; Blue and Gold macaw; Orange-winged amazon; a Silver Pheasant; Red-billed toucan; Great Bird of Paradise (with huge difference between male and female); flightless birds like the Southern Cassowary, Great rhea, emu and ostrich; Blue-masked Lovebirds; cockatiels; and on and on. From the first Myna Pigeon to the last flamingo, it was great (where are Susan and Brian when we need them?).

White-crowned Hornbill

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The orchids were the most beautiful I’ve ever seen; do we have photographs!

Same with the butterflies: over 850 species and sub-species, including nymphs, skippers, tigers, blues, swallowtails, duffer, putih and brown. There were also displays of beetles and cicadas. Oh yes, their national butterfly is Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing! From there, it was a little shopping, light lunch and serious packing. What a great way to conclude an exciting and enchanting trip to two exotic South East Asian cities!

Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing

Water-lilies at the Orchid Garden

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On the way home, some concluding thoughts

Our 28-hour trek home to JFK from KL via Singapore and Frankfurt was a bit of an endurance contest, exacerbated with 4 and 2 hour layovers in Singapore and Frankfurt respectively. That stretch of time did let me catch up on my correspondence and ponder the differences between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur – and wonder if we’ll ever get the Olympics back to the United States in my lifetime.

Singapore and KL both got their independence from the British less than 50 years ago and still retain much of the British culture and politics. Singapore is very dependant on its port and banking community and has little physical room to grow. Still, it is vibrant, clean and amazingly beautiful. The architecture is stunning. KL is land locked but has room to expand. In fact, Malaysia is really a rural nation, with less than 10% of its population in its capital city. The city of KL is not as well planned and may not be as resourceful as Singapore, due possibly to the nation’s monarchical system of government. However, KL is alive with construction, and the city and country benefit from a large and productive work force. Both cities are served by amazing new airports and are at the heart of South East Asia’s economy.

As to the Olympics returning to America, the IOC has set a precedent of rotating the host cities by continent. In considering America, that must include Canada, and Mexico (both have held Summer Games), South America (likely Rio De Janeiro) and the Caribbean, including Cuba. The Games have never been hosted in Africa and they should be. The IOC claims to favor developing countries but has to temper that with their concern for financial capacity to undertake the necessary infrastructure (as well as political stability).

The United States provides the majority of the sponsors and TV networks, which fund the Games and the IOC. This doesn’t appear to influence IOC delegates, who are mostly old and lost in the past. IOC leadership has been European since Avery Brundage, and that is not likely to change.

While I put a lot of effort into my chairing the last USOC Bid City Task Force, and learned a lot, I really got an education in Singapore. It’s 10% technical competence and 90% connections. A successful U.S. candidate city will have to have visible international leadership with a commitment to “draw in all chips.” At this time, this doesn’t necessarily favor Washington DC, but it probably does suggest one of our largest cities: New York, Chicago or San Francisco. If we are to bid for 2016, the process has to start almost at once. However, New York has said it won’t bid and the USOC is still in the throes of reorganizing. While I would like to see the “dreams begin” again, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Judith and I thrive on dreams, Olympic and otherwise. This was both a great journey and a fabulous trip. We’re ready for the next opportunity to learn and grow!