SINGAPORE — The pre-opening ceremony performances are over and the singers have left the stage. The Wunna Theikdi stadium hushes in silent anticipation as hundreds of schoolchildren silently stream into the middle of the field.

Then, in a perfectly-timed swoop, the giant LED screen on the opposite side of the grandstand bursts into life even as the 1,500 schoolchildren light their electronic torches to perform a digital countdown to a spectacular show of pomp and colour that will officially herald the start of the 27th South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

In the several dress rehearsals of the opening ceremony last month, the countdown item has wowed those who had the opportunity to catch a sneak peek of the four hour-long programme.

And just as Myanmar as a nation has surprised many with how fast it has opened up after decades in political isolation, so too will the ceremony for the sports festival which is widely seen as the country’s “coming out party”.

One of the innovations of the ceremony is the choice of athlete to light the Games cauldron.

While the norm is bestow the honour on a past sporting hero who is a household name, Myanmar has instead plumped for a relatively unknown 20-year-old for the task.

From a raised platform, recurve archer Wai Lin Tun will launch a fire-arrow to light the cauldron — a la the opening of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics — the decision to select him reflecting a changing psyche in a country keen to look to the future amid rapid change.

Not that there will not be a place for old heroes, as past athletes such as Jennifer Tin Lay, the shot put and discus queen of the 1960s to the ’80s, middle-distance specialist Khin Khin Htwe and football kingpin Tin Aung will be among the final seven runners of the torch relay. That they should hand over the ultimate task to a 20-year-old is a bridge of sorts for the 44-year gap since the last Games was held in Myanmar.

Undoubtedly, Myanmar is keen to put on a show and has not held back in seeking help from ASEAN neighbours as well as other Asian countries to ensure things are in place.

After the fiasco of the last Games when Indonesia laid on a less than perfect welcome, Myanmar had pledged to do better and from the looks of things so far, it will.

The Wunna Theikdi sports complex and its replica 48km away at the Zeyar Thiri township will host the majority of the 33 sports to be competed during the Games. These two sprawling sports facilities have reportedly been built with Chinese aid.

China’s help, formalised by a Technical Co-operation Agreement last September — extends across four areas: Athletes training, game management system, training and competition equipment, and opening and closing ceremonies.

For the opening and closing ceremonies, China helped with the ceremony design and training, stage equipment, lighting and sound equipment and the ever-popular fireworks.

Nothing is more “in your face” that the 50-metre long LED screen that provides not only the backdrop to the secondary performance stage, but will also be a high-technology complement to the cultural performances on the field.

Students from around Naypyidaw form the backbone of the 10,000 performers and have been training for the past nine months for up to six hours a day, receiving free health care, snacks and pocket money in return. With 135 distinct ethnic groups forming the nation’s 61 million population, expect the performances to reflect Myanmar’s myriad cultures and growing unity as well as the Games’ motto of “Green, Clean and Friendship”.

The devastation of Cyclone Nargis, which swept through in 2008 at the cost of over 100,000 lives in Myanmar alone, will also be recalled and its depiction will form one of the emotional high points of the opening ceremony.

President Thein Sein attended the final dress rehearsal on Nov 28, and one hazards a guess that the Myanmar President cannot wait to declare the Games open so as to let the world see what his nation can deliver, beginning with an Opening ceremony that promises to be memorable.