Kota Kinabalu Division Founder's Day

It's been 8 years since I visited Kota Kinabalu, the biggest city in Sabah, after the Brigade Council Meeting in Sandakan and after climbing the mountain. Back then, I didn't get much chance to see the city, hence unable to remember very much of the place. I recently have a breather in work and with AirAsia so happened to be selling cheap tickets, I decided to take the opportunity to visit KK as well as visit Mr. Sim Guan Jian, formerly serving in 3rd KL, who is now back in his hometown. 

The Kota Kinabalu Division so happened to be celebrating its Founder's Day on the 27th October 2013. Having been busy the day before due to many events, I was initially unable to come. But curiosity (once again), had the better of me. I got on a 6.45am flight on Sunday the 27th itself, arriving in KK at 9.30am. Sim fetched from the airport and we had to kill time till 3pm. The KK divisions were having rehearsals at the Putera Ballroom, one of the local halls. 

Before the event - 2nd KK's BB Room

Before heading over to the hall, Sim brought me to the Kota Kinabalu Basel Church, home of the 2nd KK company for a tour of his BB room. It has tons of stuff in there and held a rather meticulous records system. I mean, even Dr. Danny Wong's squad roll book was intact. Wow. 

After a waiting for his Staff Sergeant to collect some drums, I got myself checked into DM Hotel, a nearby budget hotel, took a quick shower.. and it was off to Putera Ballroom. 

The Best Recruit Medal, worn by the recipient for the year. Not a bad idea!

What is the KK division? Well you see, in Sabah, several companies in a town form a "Division". So there are three Divisions - Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau Division (in contrast to Sarawak which has "Districts"). The KK Division, used to be called the Kota Kinabalu Battalion, is made out of 2nd KK, 3rd KK, 4th KK, 5th KK, 10th KK, 1st Penampang and 1st Keningau. 

KK Division Guard of Honour

The event officially started at 6.30pm, but couldn't really commence until an hour later as we were awaiting the arrival of the Guest of Honour, YB Encik Masiung Banah, Sabah's Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports.  We were also expecting Mr. Henley Liew, Sabah's State Commissioner to arrive, but he never came due to flight delays. Still, it was great to have someone from the government gracing this event.  

The arrival of the Guest of Honour, YB Encik Masiung Banah, flanked by Mr. Michael Lee, 5th KK captain and Mr. Donald Soh, 2nd KK's Hon. Captain. 

All the colours (with the exception of 10th KK and 1st Keningau) getting prepped for the drumhead service

Normally a Founder's Day or dinner banquet would be quite standard. But this event was special for me cause it was the first time I attended a Founder's Day Dinner. Normally, it's just a parade, service, games and go home. So this was indeed special. Another thing out of the ordinary was what they called a Drumhead Service, which, according to them, was a service conduced during wartime in the absence of a physical church building. The drums will be laid out to form an alter and the Colours will be laid on the makeshift alter, consecrating the battlefield. I found the whole process to be eye opening and meaningful. It was great seeing almost all the Colours present too.. something we wanted to do in KL this year (we did have all the Colours last year).. I'm gonna make sure KL companies bring their Colours in 2014. Maybe not a drumhead service though. 

Rev. James Wong conducting the drumhead service

Marching out of the Sabah State Colours

The organising chairman of their Founder's Day this year is Mr. Anthony Fong, who is the founder of the BB in Sabah. He started the 1st KK and 4th KK companies (1st KK formed 2nd KK, while 1st itself morphed into 3rd KK when their sponsors closed down). Despite his old age, Mr. Fong came out of retirement and chose to serve once again in the BB. 

Mr. Anthony Fong, Honorary Captain of 4th KK and the event's organising chairman, giving his speech

YB Encik Masiung Banah giving his speech

Praise and Worship 

Cake cutting. It is after all BB's 130th Anniversary

The rest of the evening was filled with presentations and performances, entertaining the audience made out of parents, members, ex-BB Boys and supporters. Did I mention the price? It was RM40 per ticket! That being said, it was free for me, thanks to Mr. Sim who generously paid for my ticket. Thanks Sim!

2nd KK Percussions

Mime by either 3rd or 4th KK

4th KK Juniors presentation. Cute performance! Questionable song though..

1st Keningau dancers

I'm glad I came to KK, making new friends and learning a great deal about how the BB operated in KK. I hope God's working will continue to expand in this land.

The retreat was sounded, flag lowered and the singing of the BB Vesper marked the end of the event

Congratulations to Mr. Wong Chee Khoon & Yee Leng!

I would like to offer up my congratulations to my friend and captain of 1st Ipoh Company, Mr. Wong Chee Khoon. We first met at the ANTS in Penang, 2010 and work together once in a (very long) while, especially EOTC and the first ANTS hosted by Perak State Council. Chee Khoon recently became 1st Ipoh's captain in 2013 (or was it 2012?). He is very soft spoken but very strict when it comes to BB matters. 

Presentation of what happened earlier that day

The happy couple got married on 26th October 2013. I wasn't able to witness the occasion as I had duties to perform. Apparently, he got married in ceremonial BB uniform. What passion. Though I personally will never get married in BB uniform.. 

Me posing with the newly weds, who look absolutely stunning that evening.. Yea, don't mind my shoelace. 

Well, congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Wong! Wish you a happy life and that the Lord will watch over your marriage.

Together We Are One - KL State Founder's Day 2013

Founder's Day! The day we commemorate the existence of the Founder and show appreciate for his life, enabled by the Lord, whose vision gave birth to The Boys' Brigade and eventually all other uniformed-youth movements around the world. As a Boy while still in my blues, this event used to be one of the National/Battalion events I looked forward too, mainly because we got to see other BB companies. For me, this date is also a cruel reminder how time flies.. it really felt like it was just yesterday we did the previous Founder's Day at MCKL.  

This yea'r Founder's Day was held at the St. Gabriel's Anglican Church, home of the 4th KL company. It was initially supposed to be held in KL Wesley, but we were able to secure the venue. To me, this was a blessing in disguise as it is good to try different venues for Founder's Day. 

Founder's Day 2013 Banner

It was the morning of the 5th October 2013, just one day after the 130th BB Day. I was in-charge of the Guard of Honour. Unfortunately, half the companies came late and we were only able to start rehearsals at 9am - the time the event was supposed to begin. I'm glad to say that all KL State companies were represented in the Guard of Honour (with the exception of the brand new 13th KL which was recently approved by Brigade EXCO, which doesn't yet have uniforms). So yes, all KL State companies were present! 1st KL, 2nd KL, 3rd KL, 4th KL, 6th KL, 10th KL, 12th KL, 13th KL and 1st Seremban. I believe this is the first time all companies in KL State have come together in a long, long time. Praise the Lord! 

Colour Party led by Mr. Darryn Chiew of 2nd KL 

I was leading the KL State Council Guard of Honour, with only 0 minutes, (yes, no typo there) to practice, it was a major rush. To make matters worse, more than half of them were in a GOH for the first time. I had to perform the first magic trick of the day, which was to train up in a GOH-ready team in 30 minutes. 

KL State Council Guard of Honour

It was unavoidably messy and barely acceptable. I haven't led a GOH since 3rd KL's 2010 E&A. I did the biggest mistake of the day by forgetting to "Tutup Barisan" and reforming the line to three ranks. Quite a major embarrassment, but I hardly had time to ponder as we needed to move on to the next programs for the day. 

Me reporting to Mr. Tony Chow, KL State Commissioner

An overflowing sanctuary

The event proceeded on with a group photo session, then praise and worship led by 10th KL. This event, we took the opportunity to give prizes to the recent winner of the Writing Competition, which main prize was an iPad, 2nd Prize a Windows Surface, with the winning company receiving a LCD projector. It a bold and risky experiment, not to mention costly, but the prized did attract 57 articles from all the KL State companies. Surely, it was worth it. The special presentations was followed by Special Awards, where Founder's, President's and Gold Awards were given.

Winners of the Writing Competition and T-Shirt Design

Sergeant Au Kar Fei receiving his President's Award

After the formalities, the invited speaker and 6th KL chaplain, Pastor Joe Loon, presented his sermon and testimony. I wasn't in the hall most of the time as I was coordinating several things, but Pastor Joe shared about his life, formerly being a 4th KL member. 

The State Colours resting at the alter. Nice shot. 

During the sermon, the Junior were split and went to a nearby hall to have their own session. We got an entertainer, a former-2nd Penang Boy who works in MCKL, Mr. Reuben Chan to conduct the session. Based on the picture, I guess he did very well as it was all smile from the Juniors.

Juniors were given a treat by Mr. Reuben Chan

The last round of events saw telematches organised by 4th KL. It was just something to get the KL State members interact with one another, otherwise, it would've been a real shame to just come and go not making new friends. Not sure if they did make new friends or not in the end, but try we did.

Telematches

This year we tried to bring back a few old traditions, like selling a event souvenir badge for Founder's Day and also t-shirts. The t-shirt design was via a competition meant to create awareness and excitement for Founder's Day. Initially there were many interested to submit designs, but this lazy generation doesn't have enough stamina. However, we did get a great design by Staff Sergeant Benjamin Yap of 10th KL, who also received his Founder's Award this day. An unintended side effect we discovered was that selling these limited edition stuff could actually cover cost for the event, even a profit. Therefore, I am recommending that we do this every year for similar events. 

Limited Edition KL State Founder's Day 2013 badge. Only 100 pieces were made. 

I set up shop to sell the t-shirts and badges. Felt pretty good actually. Brought out the stereotypical chinaman capitalist-lust within in which I haven't felt for sometime. 

 All in all, a great Founder's Day. And Happy 130th birthday Boys' Brigade. Well done to Mr. Tan Choon Lun, the organising chairman and Boys of the 4th KL company for successfully organising this event. 

 

At night most of us went for Stedfast Association's Grand BB Reunion Dinner, held at Menara PGRM. There were around 80 tables and it was not only to commemorate the Founder, but to reconnect past members of the BB. A special thanks to SAKL too for allowing KL State to conduct an offering which saw us bring in over RM5700.