Just wanted to document the memories of F1 this year, and my crazy attempt to join in as a volunteer as a race official. I was lucky to be able to get in when I applied, as apparently, it’s very difficult to get in because the dropout rate of officials from previous years are very low, and the application from new officials are very high.
I had the chance to meet some great folks, and they were all friendly and took care of one another even though we’ve never met before. The job was tiring (imagine standing for almost 10 – 12 hrs every day for 3.5 days, from 12 noon to 10pm every day), but the warmth of the race and the duties kept all of us going.
This was one of the things I pushed myself to do this year and I did it. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I was also curious about how SGP manages to get so many volunteers who commit to the race duties every year, always so committed to do it even though it was so tiring. Many of these folks are F1 fans themselves, but many are not. SGP takes care of the vounteers, gives them special perks and provides food, drinks (loads and loads of it) and snacks throughout the day. Every day. There were fruits and ice-cream. There were also many other volunteers for other parts of the event – ushers for the audiences, security checks, VIP ushers, buggy drivers etc. And the logistics of bringing in the drivers, cars, equipment, teams – it must be stressful, crazy but exciting. The director of the race operations – Janette Tan – was a lady boss, has a team made up of ladies and took care of the female race officials to make sure everyone was comfortable. She led in an inspiring way, and when talking to her team members, you could see everyone held her in high respect. There’s a lot to learn from her; I wish I have a chance to learn from her more closely. Next time, hopefully, maybe.
To all the folks whose faces are shown in the photos here, my apologies I didn’t seek your permission to put up the photos (ops!). I think you are all very nice so you would’t really mind. If you don’t feel comfortable please write to me immediately to let me know and I’ll take it down from my blog instantly.
Hoping for another crazy year next year. Will I be able to return to duty again then?
