Nicolo, 14, had accidentally swiped red paint on his face after trying out rangoli - the traditional Indian art of painting with dyed rice - for the first time.

'I've not come across such a painting style before,' said the first-time visitor to Singapore. 'I wiped my face, forgetting that I had paint on my hand.'

Nicolo is among 20 boys aged 14 to 17 from Manila's La Salle Green Hills school on a week-long visit to Singapore under the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Twinning Programme.

His experience is just one of many cross-cultural activities and exchanges that will take place between Singapore and the world's other 204 National Olympic Councils (NOC) from now through to next year's inaugural 2010 YOG here.

Under the Friends@YOG Twinning Programme, a Singapore school will be matched with an NOC with the goal of building international friendships and embracing the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.

There are plans for the schools to also host athletes of their adopted countries during the Aug 14-26 YOG.

To date, 112 local schools have been paired with schools from 45 NOCs, including Namibia, Vanuatu and Tunisia, since the programme launched last December.

La Salle Green Hills is the first 'twinned' school to visit the Republic.

The boys paid for their own flights here and are boarding at St Joseph's Institution, an affiliated school.

Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.