In late 2004, in a massive youth consultation exercise that was undertaken by MCYS and NYC , young extreme sport enthusiasts expressed a need for a better equipped skate park - thus giving birth to the newly-launched Somerset Skate Park.

I had the chance to attend the launch of the new skate park - as a budding journalist! With eyes threatening to close anytime and a sleepy mind, I trudged my way down to Somerset. I was expecting the skate park to be somewhat empty when I reached there, after all it was just like any other lazy Saturday morning.

Boy, was I wrong! It was early in the morning at 9.00am and the park was already filled with skaters and bikers alike perfecting their moves. With upbeat music booming in the background and seeing how even boys as young as the age of 10 took on the ramps and rails with such ease and enthusiasm, I couldn't help but start to perk up as well.

"I think it (the park) is very good. Finally there is a proper skate park in Singapore," said Danny Heng, 19, winner of Soul2Sole 2005.

And true enough, the park boasts better facilities. For example, ramps and skating structures that are not just user-friendly for both amateur and professional skaters, but can also be used for international level competitions. There is also a graffiti wall that serves as a creative outlet for the artistically-inclined. Moreover, the usable space of the skate park is twice as much as the former park. No doubt, the new skate park surpasses the first open public skate park built five years ago in terms of both size and sophistication. It was definitely not surprising to also hear words of appraisal coming from biker Huffy Khoo, 20 (bronze medalist of 1st Asian Indoor Games) when asked about his views.

To kick off the launch, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, accompanied by two other professional bikers, sportingly rode on a BMX around the park and even up some ramps! Next up was a demo performance which saw four Asian Indoor Games athletes strutting their stuff on a ramp. To see the bikers riding up the ramp, then doing flips in mid-air, before landing back on the ramp in style simply had me in awe. And if that was not enough, the skateboarders’ and in-line skaters’ performances were equally stunning; I couldn’t be more wowed than I already was.

So the next time you are in Orchard and have some free time, do swing by the Somerset Skate Park and take a look. Who knows, you might be equally amazed as I was by some of these young skaters and bikers. Or you could always drop a message for us at Youth.SG at the graffiti wall.

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