10th Annual General Meeting

The Kuala Lumpur State Council of The Boys' Brigade in Malaysia held it's 10th Annual General Meeting at Sekolah Sri Sempurna, home of the 10th Kuala Lumpur Company, on the 8th January 2012. It was a routine meeting and the first one I organised for the Council. All companies were present along with over a dozen observers from various companies, as well as from KL Stedfast Association. 

The meeting in session

Made a few typo errors in the booklet, but overall I was happy with the meeting, though I hope companies can see beyond their own interest and support the Council's activities. At the same time, I understand that companies are struggling are need to focus on preventing their own ship from sinking first. Hopefully, somewhere, I can make a difference.. not sure how yet. 

Group photo of the 10th AGM of KLSC

First Parades of 2012

My first parades of the year took place in four companies. The first stop was 6th KL which is officially revived (though under probation under the church, but ok in the eyes of BBM) after a two year recess due to the lack of officers. 13 Boys were present, including three already in secondary school, manned by three officers (excluding myself). A joint program was conducted with several dozen members of the 4th KL Girls' Brigade which focused on having fun programs that day. Overall, it was a great job by all the adults from BB and GB. Well done!

Fun activities being conducted with the BB and GB members at Holy Light Church

Closing parade in 6th KL

4th KL having a band practice 

After 6th KL, I had a little time to spare (or so I thought) and decided to drop by St. Gabriel's for awhile, in doing so catching the 4th KL band in practice. It was only a 10 minute visit, but it's good to see them in action. They've mentioned that recruitment has not been favourable in St. Gabriel's school this year with only 7-8 members. Need to pray for more!

Boys and Girls in CMC Kepong having fun activities

At 2.30pm I proceeded to my next assignment at Chinese Methodist Church Kepong. Results there was less encouraging as the Boys are quite undisciplined and naughty. Much work to be done here. Big credit to Mr Low Zhen Yu who was able to control the Boys much better than I. We also did a fun orientation program for the Boys and Girls. But with them hard to control and not cooperating, it was pretty frustration. There were only 8 Boys that day as well. We need another 10 at least to meet BBM's requirements to form a company. I believe the struggles today can be overcome by prayer and proper planning of our roles and programs. Let's see how that goes. 

After Kepong, I headed back to the YMCA in time to catch 3rd KL having their early year promotions to deserving new and old NCOs for their hard work. 

Newly Promoted Sergeant Wong Kin Phan receiving his sash

Performance at 1 Utama for Selangor State Government

On the Christmas of 2011, 3rd Kuala Lumpur Company was given a rare opportunity to perform a band performance at 1 Utama for the Selangor State Government. VIPs included the State's Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dato Seri Khalid Ibrahim and members of the Selangor EXCO. The purpose of this occasion was celebrate the joy of Christmas, a Christian event, with other Malaysians regardless of race or religion. 

3rd KL band performing outside 1 Utama New Wing

Despite a relatively last minute arrangement (one week notice), the Boys played alright. The band wasn't the only performance from us, also lined up was a choir led by Mr Lawrence Tay. 

It also so happened the 4th Johor Bahru Company was in town, mid-way through their tour of several towns as part of their year end trip. They were also given a slot to perform their fancy drill/dance which they performed during their recent fundraising dinner. 

4th JB Fancy Drill/Dance Performane

All in all, it was an interesting outing for all of members, making it a productive holiday. 

3rd KL and 4th JB group photo

Write up on 3rd KL Website 

3rd KL Year End Camp

I participated in 3rd KL's Year End Camp cum Band Camp at Chefoo Centennial Methodist Center at Cameron Highlands, which was held from 3-7th December 2011, though I only joined them on the 2nd Day at night. We took to longer route to Cameron's via Kampung Tanjong (which I honestly thought would be faster) and ended up reaching Camerons later than expected. Upon arriving, I was greeted by a bunch of Boys, some which looked tired after a long day of activities, in the hall rehearsing songs which were to be presented just a week later during a public Christmas event hosted by the Selangor State Government. 

The night was young when I arrived. In fact, the plan was to catch them in time to go for the Camerons Night market. After that, I was meant to conduct devotion and vesper that night which we based on a movie, Facing the Giants. Despite some extensive preparation, I found my "preaching" skills quite rusted and require more practice. I also gave the Boys a good old fashion time-challenge as I found their standards of tidiness grossly under-par, in particular the way the arranged their shoes outside the hall (no shoes allowed in the hall). As a BB Company, it is good to give them these reminders once in a while.. not have a "fun" camp and forget everything else.   

Heading up and down to a trail - apparently they went the wrong way

And up they go into the abyss! 

The next morning the Boys had an interesting 4-5 hour walk along the great tracks of Brinchang Hill. Yen Mun and I only walked them to the entrance of the trail.. though we initially planned to follow them, laziness got the better of us. We joined Lawrence and Joe Wong at Berinchang Town instead for a nice breakfast, shopping for items the NCOs needed to conduct games and enjoyed a nice piece of durian! 

It wasn't all fun and games for me either. I was requested to head up to Camerons to support the officers in keeping more eyes on the Boys. That didn't mean that I could stop working with my job at the KL FTO. I brought my laptop and monitor to Camerons and spent significant hours working on various assignments during my stay there. It almost seemed "anti-social" but that was how it was.

The Boys getting briefed of a game

The camp committee - made out of Form 4s conducting a night program

An interesting highlight of the trip was the Boys helping out in community work by assisting the Local Town Council clearing up overgrowth and rubbish along one of the Cameronian Trails. It was good exposure for the Boys as these program helped instill a sense of selflessness. All of them were cramped unto a truck like cattle on the way there and back. 

The Boys clearing up one of trails

Band session 

Character and Team Building Games 

What I particularly liked about this camp was that it was organised by the Form 4s (aged 16 or 17 if they were in removed classes). Most are Privates and have not been given the opportunity to show what they are made off. This camp certainly has given them a chance to shine and most would stand a chance in getting promoted. But ranks alone is not what it is about, BB is here to train leaders and getting the younger ones involved will boost experience and sharpen skills necessary in becoming a model citizen. 

This camp was also laying the foundations for the highly (over-emphasised) Pesta which will be held Kulai, Johor in June 2012. So.. we're back to this Pesta madness. God help us all. 

Read 3rd KL article here.

The First KL EOTC For A While..

On the 12th November 2011, the Kuala Lumpur State Council organised an Elementary Officers Training Course which was held at Menara Wesley, Kuala Lumpur. It was a relatively last minute course, which was pushed through just a little more than a month ago.. partly due to my insistence. There were a few new Companies which were in dire need of training, which was the cause of my urgency. 

Participants at their first activity - ice breaking

We had 18 participants, including 3 instructors. Participants comprises from the existing companies - 1st Kuala Lumpur and 10th Kuala Lumpur. The highlight was curious participants wanting to know more about the BB from the soon-to-be reactivated 6th Kuala Lumpur Company and also from prospective BB Companies from the Kepong Chinese Methodist Church, Emmanuel Methodist Church, Taman Ujong Methodist Church as well as a school - SMK Bukit Mewah.  If all works out, three new Companies will pop out from this very training, excluding one reactivated company. 

During lunch time, the officers had a chance to see the 1st KL BB band in action

We carried out the usual BBM EOTC syllabus. By now I'm quite comfortable running one of which this is probably my third of the year. I made a few upgrades to my existing slides, more graphics, facts and a video which was pretty effective. I hope to continue improving things. The notes have also been modified, somewhat substantial in certain parts to suit the needs of this State Council. 

Mr Lim Cheng Hin going through roles and responsibilities of an officer

 I got more people to help out in this times training, with Mr Lim Cheng Hin teaching Roles and Responsibilities of Officers and Mr Yee Mun Theam doing Junior Program Planning. Both officers though well, but I was particularly inspired by Mr Yee's creative methods of teaching Juniors which made the class very interesting. Some ideas seemed simple, but were quite ingenious. Brilliant!

Mr Yee Mun Theam on his session of Junior Planning using creative methods

Towards the end we got the participants to share and I was very moved and encourage by some of the things shared. Some of the participants who were unsure of BB before the course are now excited and impatient to get their companies going. Some participants whom were the rank and file initially thought the teachings will be a replica of NCO Training and Target badge, but too gained much. I hope and pray that the Lord will inspire servanthood amongst the participants, for new Companies to arise and reach out to more young people. All in all praise and glory to Him for a smooth session!

Group photo of participants of the KL EOTC 2011

Mr Lawrence Tay in The Star

Mr Lawrence Tay was featured in The Star national newspaper on the 6th November 2011, Sunday. The article was written by my one and only who had this article in the waiting list for.. pretty long. Glad it was featured.

Well done Mr Lawrence. You made the BB proud!

KulGames 2011

This years Kulgames was one of my first assignments as the new KL Full Time Officer. But rather than just running around and handling administrative matters, I was glued down to manage the Table Tennis Competition. It was also one of my first times (that I can remember) handling a sporting event as chief umpire. 

It was pretty fun and easy despite much running around to do. It was simply a matter of figuring out your systems and procedures before hand, getting reliable umpires and of course, praying for the conditions to be right. 

We managed four categories, Junior Singles, Junior Doubles, Senior Single and Senior Doubles. It was just eleven (11) points for a set, with the best two sets (out of three) proceeding to the finals (there was a qualifying round - so the Boys all get to play a few times). During the finals (as in the top 4), we increased it to the best of three sets out of five, to make it just a little more fun. 

In the end, turns out that 4th KL did a clean sweet - winning a 3 of the 4 categories, with 2nd KL taking the Senior Doubles. 

All in all, a very good KulGames. Special thanks to Mr Terence Tay, the chief organiser and Mr Vincent Puah and Benny Tham for being the umpires for Table Tennis. And of course, glory to God for his faithful guiding hands! 

Read article on 3rd Kl Website