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!