3rd KL Year End Camp at Tapah

Ah, what a relaxing trip this has been as we journey to the SUFES Campsite in Tapah, Perak for 3rd KL's annual year end camp. I had to miss the first day as I was helping out at my mom's kindergarten concert the night before. But I was glad to make it for the second day. I left KL with Sim around 9am, reaching the site slightly two hours later after grabbing a couple of free McDonald's and stopping at the Rawang rest stop for breakfast.

When we arrived, the Boys were preparing lunch - self-cooked (and apparently it was the only self-cooked meal of the entire camp.. how pampered.. that'll change if I were in charge!). From what I could tell, the campsite used to be a durian, cempedak/nanka estate with its numerous trees around all loaded with durians just waiting to fall for our pickings! We had so many while there, some pretty darn good (1 totally sucked though). After resting up after lunch, we prepared ourselves for river trotting.

SUFES Campsite.. is really a durian plantation..

I one and only time I came to Tapah was in 1998 (or 1999, can't remember) with 3rd KL also. We went river trotting as well, but had to bail halfway through due to the rain, which has a risk of causing strong torrents. This time it was clear skies and a heck load of fun. The stream was pristine clear and was quite clean. It was fun looking at Boys just roughing it out, getting their clothes and shoes get, some even damaged going through the stream. Some were even bitten by leeches, which is really part of the fun. At the end of it, we made it to a beautiful waterfall, where we all took nice dips in the rushing water. Classic fun! I feel sorry for some of them who rather stay dry(er) and missed out.

Ruth and I at one of the streams near SUFES Campsite, Tapah

The "Younger Officers Club" taking a picture at the Tapah, Waterfall. Breathtaking place. 

The rest of my stay was relatively straightforward, just catching up with the other younger officers and just having fellowship. There was a dinner BBQ and a botched campfire (which didn't light up no matter what we tried. Even Sim and I failed to get it going.. so frustrating).

On the last day I had to rush off more than an hour earlier than the rest to make an appointment. But I glad I came for camp and high praise to the committee members for a relatively smooth one. Outdoor camps like this are getting lesser due to simple inconveniences and the effects of a pampered lifestyle. BB needs to attempt to reignite the sense of adventure in its members, otherwise risk being an organisation known for producing soft wussies.

Stedfast Association KL Retreat at Marina Island

I joined the Stedfast Association of Kuala Lumpur for their annual retreat cum family camp this year which was held at Marina Island Best Western Hotel. Very nice modern looking place. Being my first retreat with them, I'd say it was very relaxing.. just 3 hours worth of an intensive meeting, the rest of it was free time.

It was good spending time with some of the SAKL members and getting to know them better. Despite being  a life member, there is still much have I have to learn an understand about this alumni. I believe in their role for our past BB members and hope that we can work together more to promote the BB Object.

KL State Drill Camp

The KL State Council organised its first Drill Camp (since it's formation as a State Council.. it is unknown if the former KL Battalion ever had one before) which was held at the Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur in Sentul. 31 participants from 1st KL, 3rd KL, 6th KL, 10th KL and 12th KL took part in a three day camp starting from November 2nd, 2012.

Mr Sim giving the first lectures of the day

Mr Sim on practical, second day of camp

I've never been to a drill camp before, let alone organise one.. so this was pretty unfamiliar territory for me. Good thing I had Sim and Steven who apparently do this in Kota Kinabalu quite often. This camp was spread-headed by Mr Nicholas Yeap, the captain of 12th KL, who was desperate for his Boys to receive drill training.

It was very straight forward, a couple of meetings, a few email correspondences and we had a drill camp. Sim, Steven and Ka Weng (10th KL) handled the drill matters of the camp while I focused solely on logistics.. my easiest and favourite responsibility (I just think its easy). Though there was one major hiccup that really pissed me off regarding the drill manuals, which I'm still not sure if its my fault or the idiot who called what was really a 2006-2007 version a "2005 version" when it was clearly not, where I mistakenly printed the outdated 2005 version.. 15 copies of it.. which basically wasted us some money.. and for me A LOT of time. You see, to reduce cost, I've only sent the the manuals for photocopy and did the binding myself. There were also coloured pages which I inserted, literally page by page. So getting this wrong really infuriated me. I did manage to rectify the problem before camp ended, but it require me spending more money, running to the office, printing, re-punching, re-binding and basically putting in another 4 hours of manual labour. Apart from logistics and administration, I was also prepared Saturdays morning devotion on and gave a message on "laying the correct foundations" based on the Parable of the Sower and the Seeds - in relation to the drill camp where the correct techniques must be learnt before one can thrive, which also can be applied to every aspect of their lives.. where if they want to do well, they need to be positioned correctly. A special thanks to Xin Wei for leading worship and Brendan Eu for playing guitar.

GOH pratical

Not quite punishment free, is it?

There's not much to say about the camp really as it went pretty smooth. Punishments were not emphasised during the camp, in contrast to what the participants feared, probably expecting endless amounts of push-ups which was almost non-existent (well, there still were.. but very little), as the committee decided that it was pointless to waste energy on physical workouts when it was really a knowledge intensive camp. Though the drill officers knew their stuff, knowledge impartation was rather slow as in certain areas, participants needed to wait their turn before being able to try out something new (eg. Colour Party - limited Colour Pole - just one piece OR measuring alignment - need to use pace stick to measure one by one). I thought of some ways we can make the teaching more efficient, but that's for another time.. that is if we do this again in the future.

For this camp, we allowed only the 14 year old's and above to join. This is due to the fact that we didn't want to waste time teaching even the basics which can be learnt (and should be already learnt) in their own companies. If there is another drill camp in the coming years, we would probably limit this to only NCOs and above who are aspiring to be drill officers one day. But we're still trying to work out how to do this...

On Sunday, we went over, just next door, to Grace Methodist Church for service and received a message presented by Reverend Victor (can't remember his surname) who spoke on the topic of "pain". The church also specially prepared refreshments for our participants, what a treat! Special thanks to 2nd KL's captain, Mr Jacob David for making the arrangements.. though at that point we were stuffed, being just 1.5 hours after breakfast and 2 hours before lunch.

Mr McIntosh and I

We also had a special guest visiting from the United Kingdom in the form of Mr Clive McIntosh from 20th Bristol who was deeply impressed with what he saw. Clive shares that there is lack of emphasis in drill in the UK, limited to just a 10-15 minute session as Boys there find drill extremely dull.. which could lead to resignations if overdone. At the moment, we are still doing alright in Malaysia, but there are signs that this is already happening in Malaysia as well.

Overall, a great camp. Special thanks to officers who helped - Sim Guan Jiann and Steven Voo from 3rd KL, Mr Chan Ka Weng and Miss Tai Xin Wei from 10th KL and Mr Nicholas Yeap who was the camp commandant.

Drill Camp 2012 participants

12th KL's Enrollment & Awards Day

On a early Sunday morning, Mr Tony Chow, Madam Yvonne and I headed to a remote factory area in Kepong to attend the 12th Kuala Lumpur Company Enrollment and Awards Day. It was quite a challenge looking for the place, as the road name indicated wasn't listed on Google Maps and the map provided by Wesley Methodist Church Kepong where the event was held, was pretty confusing. Fortunately, we managed to stumble upon some road signs pointing us to the church - and just in time. Mr Tony was the VIP for the event and we arrived with just 5 minutes to spare.

12th KL's Guard of Honour being inspected by the State Commissioner and Pastor Tan Chew Mae

The Guard of Honor was already assembled when we arrived. I helped teach them a simple one a week before as teaching them the whole thing would take a long time. I think they did alright in the end. 

Mr Nicholas Yeap was the liturgist of the day

12th KL had a change in captaincy at the beginning of this year, where Mr Nicholas Yeap, took up the mantle. Unfortunately, he was also the only officer in the company with a growing membership, exceeding 40 Boys this year. A former 2nd Kampar Boy under the captaincy of then National President, Mr Tham Leong, who also pretty much the only officer in the company, Mr Yeap knows it is not impossible to run a company with just NCOs acting as officers. Though the foundations for that are still being laid, the results and growth of 12th KL are quite promising.

With the new batch of NCOs being promoted during this event, the company has much to look forward to as it continues to develop its leaders. The school where 12th KL recruits from, the Wesley Methodist School  Kuala Lumpur is known for admitting Top-Class students, which for me meant they are easier to train and teach (as compared to somewhere not bright where you may need to repeat 10 times before they understand you).

The days proceeded very smoothly with Nicholas handling almost everything except the praise and worship. Mr Tony Chow as well as Madam Chia, the principal of WMSKL, was asked to give out awards and chevrons to the eager Boys. Prior to that, the LCEC leader of the church, who was a very successful businessman, presented his life testimony of his careers ad ambitions to serve as an inspiration to the Boys.



At one point tokens of appreciations were given out to helpers who have contributed to the company throughout the course of the year. I was a little surprised when my name was called out as well.. as I felt I didn't do very much. Thank you very much 12th KL! I appreciate the blessing =)



It is very exciting to see what this company will become in the coming years. Definitely one we should keep an eye on. Let our prayers be with them as they strive even further. Also pray that more adults will volunteer to assist in the weekly parades as to lessen the burden from Nicholas.

All smiles at the 12th KL Enrollment and Awards Day

Service and Sacrifice!

This year's Founders' Day celebrations was hosted by 3rd KL and is the first time I've been (sort of) involved in the planning, though I played a more distant role than I am originally accustomed to. The person in-charge was Mr. Wong Hoe Kit and a team of Staff Sergeants who formed the main committee. I'm glad to say that they did a fantastic job in organising the whole thing.

 The event was a relatively straight forward one with the day starting at 8.30am with the arrival of companies at the Methodist College Kuala Lumpur, the same venue used in the last Founders' Day two years ago. The Guard of Honour, which comprised of NCOs and representatives from all the KL companies present, was inspected by Mr. Francis Chiong, the Executive Secretary of BB Asia. Mr Cheong Sing Yuen, the Vice-President of th Stedfast Association of Kuala Lumpur gave the opening prayer followed by a speech from Mr. Tony Chow,the KL State Commissioner.

After a group photo session, the 350 of so participants proceeded into thee auditorium for the service proper. The event, afterall, is to celebrate the life of the Founder. This year's Founders' Day featured something new, where for the first time all companies brought their colours which were marched in and displayed for all to see. I thought it was really nice to see all the colours of the KL companies in one place.

Praise and worship was lead by Lance Corporal Au Kar Fei and the 1st KL team. Followed by a message by Reverend Chieng Yu Hoo, who was a former Boy and Officer from the 1st Sibu Company. It was also the first time (in a very long time anyway) where I was the MC, or kinda like the liturgist, though I didn't quite follow the full Methodist order of worship since it was a mixture of denominations anyway. Reverend Chieng preach on a timely message calling both present and former members of the BB to remember the contributions made by the Founder during his days, where Sir William Alexander Smith was responding to the needs during his time where the Boys under his care were a rowdy bunch in need of discipline. Today, there is still a need for the young people around, with so many Boys in need of the BB training but so few are stepping forward. In this ministry, in order to serve sacrifices need to be made. Reverend Chieng concludes by urging all those listening to step up and step forward in service to the BB ministry. I sure hope some people were moved by his message and KL State will get more officers.. God willing.

Rev. Cheing Yu Hoo (left) giving the days message, effectively translated by Mr Andrew Tan

The day progress on with refreshments as participants shed their ceremonial uniforms for a more casual sports attire for the telematch. With 15 or so station games and 10 groups with teammates mixed among the companies, the participants had much to work on to get as many points as they could to win the top prizes, which came in the form of hampers. The first placed team received USB thumbdrives courtesy of the Methodist College Kuala Lumpur.

We had a special guest all the way from the United Kingdom in the form of Mr Clive McIntosh, who is the captain of the 20th Bristol Company. I wanted to ask him out on stage half way during the service to say a few words, but realised that would totally be putting him on the spot, last minute. We did invite him to give away prizes, which he willingly fulfilled.

Mr Clive McIntosh from 20th Bristol
Company giving away prizes

After a long day, the event concluded with the closing prayer by Mr Yee Mun Theam, the Deputy State Commissioner and 1st Kuala Lumpur Company captain. I led in the vesper and it was officially goodbyes from there. Unofficially, I did ask them to stay back to clean up the mess before going and they did that pretty well.

I was zombiefied towards the end and caught a quick nap before going to Kepong to conduct my following duties.

I thank God for such a successful and smooth Founders' Day and all those involved in the organising as well as helping out here and there. Mr Wong Hoe Kit for as the main organiser, the 3rd KL Staff Sergeants which formed the working committee which played multiple roles (SSgt Kodie Low, SSgt, Arvind Gomez, SSgt Bryan Fernandez, SSgt Ng Charn Chuen & SSgt Vaenthan Chellandy), Mr Steven Voo and Mr Sim Guan Jiann for handling the Guard of Honour and the Marching in of Colours, NCOs and reps from all the KL companies for  Mr Terence Tay for allowing us into MCKL to do necessary preparations the night before as well as catering the food, Mr Andrew Tan for translating the message from Mandarin to English, Mr Jonathan Chan who borrowed offering bags from KL Wesley, Mr Derek Chan who helped with PA, the 1st KL Worship team led by LCpl Au Kar Fei for a wonderful time of worship,

Basically, this event showed the when all of us together we can truly excel as all companies helped in this event one way or another. If all of us put in a little more effort we can truly fly! I sincerely hope there will be increased collaboration among us as it will not only be fun, but also be a blessing to many young ones out there.

Group photo of (most of) the participants of the KL State Founders' Day 2012

I MCed during the service. I hope it
went alright.. 

For me, I was just glad I had such a great team.. couldn't ask for better. I didn't have to do much beyond the service and I'm glad I can just leave it to the team from 3rd KL to handle the necessary. Sure, there were a few spats here and there, but overall we understood each other and were still able to work together. One thing I learned to apply was TRUST (meaning to say some people didn't) which I think is necessary as we can't be everywhere. What choice do we have? The other element is faith - that God is in control.
After a few rounds basically doing things alone, I hope people are starting to realised that if it's just me concerned about State activities, we can only go "so far". I was greatly encouraged by the outcome of this event and will certainly push on for more! Praise the Lord for such a smooth day.

Cheap Skate Cost Saving Idea!

Was looking through the BNTS and ANTS registration forms and noticed that we always ask our campers to bring mess tins without ever using them. So, next time we have a camp or NCOs' Training I'm gonna make them use it.. cancel one meal which the campers need to prepare on their own, just buy the raw ingredients and save cost in the process Nice.. (evil laugh)

Stedfast Association KL - KL State BB Fellowship Games 2012

Every year while the Malaysia is celebrating it's formation (that is the merger between the Peninsula, Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore to form Malaysia) on 16th September 2012, the BB bunch in Kuala Lumpur will be out for a round of sports in fellowship with the Stedfast Association of Kuala Lumpur. This year, since September 16th fell on a Sunday, with the next day declared a public holiday, so the games was rescheduled to a day later. This time, 4th KL played host and the event was held at St. Gabriel's Church.

It was a big crowd this year, with all companies from KL State represented. Games played where badminton, basketball volleyball, futsal, table tennis and carrom.

My role this time was just to be the umpire for table tennis, though at one point I had to switch roles as there weren't enough people to play.. so I partnered Qi Yang in the doubles. We were initially doing pretty well, winning the first two sets and almost winning the third. But as fate has it we lost the last three sets, though it was mainly my fault. No excuses!

The Stedfast Association Team takes it home once more!

In the end of the day, only our carrom team won while all the rest.. we were beaten flat by Stedfast. So much for bringing back the overall trophy this time! Perhaps the Lord will smile upon next year.. but I think we better have a few rounds of training next time rather than just coming to the games unprepared. Nevertheless, the was a good time of fellowship with SA members and we hope to see more collaboration in times to come!

Our New Home!

After half a year of searching, visiting countless offices for rent and driving around KL, at time almost at random.. we have finally found a suitable location for the KL State Secretariat.

Located in Sungai Besi, it is a newly developed office area by YTL Group called "The Trillium". The site was less than 10 minutes walk from an LRT station and had many big-named food outlets around like KFC, Secret Recipe, Dome, Old Town, Papparich, Tutti Fruity and other nice restaurants (though I'd rather those typical kopitiams instead..).

After months of searching and close calls, we knew good places like this get snapped up very quickly. The rent was also right at budget, with the price of RM1000 a month. We spend no time at all and in less than a week, we decided that this was the place for us, though it did require us to put in a lot of work as it was completely empty as we are its first tenants.

The office site before renovation works when it was completely bare

On 6th April 2012, we made history by renting our own office space, giving ourselves "a first home". However, we only started using the place in mid-June due to renovation works. It was quite an experience for me handling all this myself for the first time. There were quite a number of things that needed doing - understanding the terms of the rent, engaging contractors to handle the partitioning, electricity, air-conditioning. I also had to figure out the utilities, which fortunately only the Internet+phone required registration, whereas the water and electricity is, sort of, already taken care off by the owner of the premise.


We opted to go for a two office space configuration, one conference room, one storeroom and the remaining space at the back served as a dining area. The office already came with two toilets and we created a lounge-ish area at the entrance. We were also blessed with 2nd-hand furniture donations from Mr Cheong Sing Yuen and a contact from one of the church-goers from St. Gabriel's Church in the form of much needed office, chairs, shelves and even sofas, hence a special thanks to them! Most of the furniture in the conference room was bought with our own State fund, though several State Council members made personal donations for chairs after one of the first few meetings.

After roughly 2 weeks of renovations (renovations completed 12th June 2012) and another few days waiting for furniture's to come in, enough to put the office in a reasonable working condition. I can't officially say when we started using the office, but I'd say between 16-18th June 2012. Does going in for three ours on 16th June 2012 inhaling dust count? If yes, then that is the official day. No Internet. That came just a few days later.. praise the Lord!

Renovation works as at 20th May 2012

The main office space as at 20th May 2012

15th June 2012 - finally looking more like an office. Notice that the ceiling, lights, carpeting, air-conditioning and furniture has been added

15th June 2012 - Conference room carpeted and air-conditioned, but was still waiting for furniture's which came on 21st June 2012

Spare office (to rent) as at 15th June 2012

The first meeting held in the office was by the Bowl For Fund 2012 Committee on 21st June 2012

On 9th September 2012, KL State officially commissioned the office with a dedication service conducted by Venerable Eddie Ong from St. Gabriel's Anglican Church. All companies of the KL State were represented and showed their support for this event as we celebrated the moving in to our own "home" for the new foreseeable future. I wanna thank all those present from all the KL companies, Stedfast Association, Girls' Brigade and friends for being there that day.

Mr Tony Chow, KL State Commissioner, giving a speech during the dedication service

 Ven. Eddie Ong giving the blessing for the office

Group picture of the attendees of the dedication service 

Towards the end of the event, Mr Lawrence suggested for everyone to pray for me as the FTO. I thought that was a nice gesture from everyone. I have committed myself to the Lord the day I decided to take up this ministry. Although I don't think I will be serving in BB full-time forever, I will FOREVER be serving in the BB until the day I die.. unless our Lord calls me to do something else. 

Oh, the spare office space is also up for rent! But we are very picky on who our co-tenant will be. We will only charge RM500 a month which includes utilities and the rules of the common areas - conference room, toilets, lounge and dining area (the only thing we won't share is the storeroom, unfortunately.. well, maybe we will). 

Those interested can visit us at: 
65-2 Jalan Tasik Utama 6
Medan Niaga Tasik Damai
Sungai Besi
57100 Kuala Lumpur

But please call 3-90544722 or 012-2654772 first to make an appointment.

KL State NCOs' Training School 2012

Once again the NCOs' Training School circus returns to Kuala Lumpur, this time being held in the August school holidays, which was just a week long. KL opted to have it from the 24-26th of August 2012, the last days before the start of the next school term. I usually prefer having this camp at the beginning of the school holidays.. poor kids would be so tired when they go back to school the next day since this time its held at the end of the holidays. With with a pretty tight calendar for the State and from the companies, we're just left with one choice. Still, the lack of time did not prevent 63 people from coming together for KL State's 2012 NCOs' Training School.

 This time, I was in-charge was focused on fixing up the BNTS, though I also coordinated the logistical needs of the ANTS team. There were 33 candidates, 4 coaches spread among 3 squads. I also "lectured" in 2 modules. That's something new that we tried this year, modeled after an experiment from Penang, where we introduce 1 hour of "lectures" before breaking off to 1.5-2 hours of "tutorials" and discussions. The idea, at least in theory, was so that one coach can focus on a specific module, rather than 1 coach teaching separately and being overburdened to prepare teaching materials for 6 modules for BNTS and 5 modules for ANTS. It was a good compromise, where quality is not affected and the interaction between trainees and coaches remains intact. I think it went pretty well and we might stick to this for awhile.

The course began, as it always does at 9am for all participants. For me, it began the night before when the 1st Johor Bahru Company with its supplied coach and 5 participants coming early to KL, presumably to avoid the unpredictable traffic and just to be early. I was planning to be there the night before anyway to set up and prepare myself mentally and logistically (thought I did forget a few stuff and ended up going back all the way to the office from Sentul). Ended up sleeping at around 3am anyway preparing stuff.. from notes, to nametags, to labels and arranging t-shirts. Special thanks to Steven Voo (3rd KL) for helping me out here and there. Flashing back to 9am, 24th August 2012, all participants were no time.. none late.. which was convenient, as late comers for ANTS will be sent more, while BNTS simply gets a heavy punishment, but normally allowed to stay. There were members from 1st KL, 3rd KL, 4th KL, 6th KL, 10th KL, 12th KL and 1st Seremban for the BNTS.

We had one major drama right at the start during the opening parade when one of the 4th KL Boys fainted flat on his face, breaking 5 tooth, biting a small part of his tongue and a tear under his chin which required 5 stitches. A few of us sent him to General Hospital before moving him to a private hospital in Ampang. He recovered okay in the end, but will be enduring some time of pain. Poor guy. I do feel pretty bad about it.

The rest of the camp was uneventful and smooth. Modules went okay, coaches didn't face much problems, learners seem to get doing alright themselves. It was a good mix of discipline and fellowship. On the first night, we conducted a "special activity" inspired from the BNTS I had in 1998 in 1st KL, which I unfortunately cannot share here in case any kids are reading as to not spoil their fun some day. As usual, towards the end of camp there would be a BNTS assessment to determine whether or not they deserve the BNTS certificate - perhaps something that we need to work on as it does seem rather odd that in the end it comes all down to one written exam - not exactly what people will imagine a "leadership camp" with all those expected aptitude test, etc.

To mark the end of the NCOs' Training School, a joint closing ceremony was conducted with the BNTS and ANTS participants, with the State Commissioner, Mr Tony Chow as it's Guest of Honor. We also had visiting captains from 3rd KL and 6th KL.

A special thanks to coaches Mr Isaac Chua, Mr Steven Voo, Mr Valter Woo and Mr Edwin Tham for their tireless efforts during this course.

Till the next one in March 2012!

6th KL Enrollment and Awards Day

My back-to-back weekend continued with a visit to 6th KL Company BB and 4th KL Company GB's Enrollment & Awards Day which was held at their church premises at the Holy Light Lutheran Church in Salak South Garden. I was seconded to this company as they reactivated this year for a 6 month period, just helping guide the officers and teaching drill.

The combined BB-GB Guard of Honour being inspected by Rev. Barnabas Boon

Marching in of the GB and BB Colours

6th KL was reactivated* in January this year after more than 2 years of silence due to a lack of officers to run the company. With three very eager officers in the form of Ms Goy Su Ling, Mr Edwin Tham and Mr Jonathan Kong, the company was able to see life once again. Though small in size, I believe a good foundation will eventually lead to growth. I feel that 6th KL is in much better shape than they were a few years ago.. more proper. 

*Reactivated - as in the company did not close down, but merely went on recess. BBM has a policy of allowing companies to go inactive for a maximum of 2 years, before officially declaring it "Closed". Since 6th KL was able to reactivate within that period, they avoid the hassle of re-registering and so on. 

Commissioning of the the three officers 

With 12-15 Boys and 3 officers, it is indeed a humble rebirth. But if there's one thing I know about starting or restarting God's ministries, it is that never look down on size. The company has Pre-Juniors, Juniors and Seniors available to complement the entire age group of Boys there is (except Primers which is for the much older Boys - perhaps some day when they are ready). 

It was a smooth Enrollment & Awards Service with everything done by the book. It may seem ordinary, but it is anything but. It's no easy feat to keep things ordinary when you've basically restarted from scratch. So kudos to them for having such a successful service!

Hope to see both Brigade ministries continue to grow and if possible, reacquire the school to develop its membership base. Let's see how it all goes. May the Lord continue to lead!

4th KL GB and 6th KL BB group photo after E&A 2012

Girls' Brigade Selangor-FT Drill Competition

This was certainly a new experience for me as I was invited to be one of the judges for The Girls' Brigade, Selangor & FT Group Council Drill Competition. I was asked by my church member, Ser Joo, who was the organiser and co-judged for this competition. 

Only 3 companies took part in this competition - 1st KL (Wesley Methodist Church KL), 6th KL (St. Mary's Cathedral) and 1st PJ (Trinity Methodist Church PJ). All the teams assembled at the Methodist Boys' School basketball court and first up was uniform inspection. Uniform inspection - was sure something I didn't know how to do when girls are involved. I remember once I judged at 10th KL's inter-squad drill competition and inspecting the girls was a major complication. The only difference with this one was I didn't have to be careful - just don't touch at all!

Yours Truly inspection 1st PJ Girls' Brigade

The competition format was an interesting one where they've adapted the format from the Ministry of Education which had formation drill, though GB added chants which was available to the KRS (NGOs were required to do silent drill under its category with no shouting or chants). Each team took 10 minutes to perform. 1st KL and 1st PJ did well, while 6th KL needed to improve on some basics.. but was still reasonably in their drill quality. 

After an hour or so of drill, the judges proceed into Menara Wesley to tabulate the scores. In the end of the day, 1st KL emerged champions with 1st PJ as the Runner Up. Personally, I felt 1st PJ was better overall with better formations. Though 1st KL displayed slightly better drill quality, I felt their formations were way too short to be awarded high marks. Unfortunately, the other two judges didn't feel the same way. Oh well, just a competition and personal opinion is part of it.. I had mine and they had theirs. 

Congratulations to the winners! Hope to see more GB companies taking part in the coming years.