THE Asian Youth Games (AYG) could not have done without them. And last night, more than 5,000 Games volunteers were recognised for their contributions at a special appreciation event.

The volunteers and 1,200 workforce members revelled in a party atmosphere topped off by a performance from local singer Stefanie Sun at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

'To all the volunteers who offered their time and energy to be part of the AYG, you were the ones who made a real impact,' said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, the guest of honour.

Mr Teo, who is also the Minister for Defence and president of the Singapore National Olympic Council, also thanked the AYG organising committee, which included staff from the Singapore Sports Council and Ministry of Education.

Appreciation or not, though, volunteers whom The Straits Times spoke to said they would do it again.

Some, in fact, have offered their services for next year's inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) here.

Entrepreneur Louis Chin, 50, volunteered for the AYG because he wanted to be part of history in the making.

'This is the first such Games in the world. I thought it would be nice to be part of it,' said Chin, who will be among the 20,000 YOG volunteers.

Undergraduate Jonathan Tiong, 22, added: 'I'm not volunteering because of recognition. It's more about experiencing how an event is run and how people are managed. All these are positives.'

Sankari Siva, 15, was a sand-raker at the beach volleyball competition at Sentosa. Her school, CHIJ St Theresa's Convent, accommodated its student volunteers by having online lessons.

JEANETTE WANG