BBM Elections 2017

So.. I decided to run for Brigade Secretary.

I'm guessing many visiting this site are curious of what sort of person I am. Well, what better way to find out by assessing their track record and BB experience?

I decided to stand because I felt God nudging me to put my professional skills sets and my past BBMHQ experiences to good use for the extension of His Kingdom. My promise to you, the voters, is that you will see BBM (as in the national movement) in a more positive and relevant light, as I plan to restore communications between the top and the grassroots, which in my opinion has been neglected the past couple of years.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish ALL the candidates all the best! Most have excellent credentials and are good people! I really wish all of us can serve together in EXCO (actually through co-opting, we still might be able to).

Though some of us may be "competing" with one another, let us not forget to be friends after this is over! Ultimately. it is about serving our BB members which is most important. Win or lose, let's all continue serving and being to God.

Memories of My First BNTS

(Copied from The Sextant, 3rd KL's Internal Newsletter, 9th March 2017)

My First BNTS 

I was just fourteen years old in Form 2. "If you want to get promoted, you have to go for BNTS! It's compulsory!", our offiicers said. Not that it mattered, I was going to sign up for it anyway. It was 1998 and the course was co-organised by 1st KL and our company, 3rd KL. So it was held in 1st KL's grounds, Wesley Methodist Church Kuala Lumpur. We stayed at the old YC (Youth Centre, which has since been demolished and replaced by the humongous Wesley Legacy Centre) and classes in the Menara next door. Even with just two companies, there were 70-80 of us in both Basic and Advanced NCOs' Training School. 

So..
(This is where learning to blog at an early age would be a good idea because memory will fade - I don't remember big chunks of things!)
.. the BNTS had classes. I totally don't remember it's contents (at all), but I remember our then captain Mr Tan Chee Keong, Mr Robinson Pan, Mr Terence Yap (who I found out a week later was my neighbour just 5-6 doors away living on the same street), and Mr Francis Chiong (I accidentally slept in his class. I remember asking him for permission to go wash my face) all taking one class each. 

The things I do remember was the midnight games - waking up at 2am and playing police and thief. This was not the sissy "I tag you, you tag me" police and thief. Playing this game between two all-Boy companies meant aggressive American Football-styled pouncing and slamming people to the ground till they died (metaphorically speaking). Good fun. Right after the game we were asked to wash up. You'd think that we would be going back to sleep, but no. We falled-in again under the nice cooling fan with eyes half open, and were asked to sit down to write a page long essay (yep, this is were our recruits camp tradition came from). 

Other memories are sketchy. I remember our Corporal Yap GH telling other 3rd KL Boys who were still chatting away after lights out to look at me as I was seemed to already be sleeping (I wasn't). 

The other lasting treasured memory was that of drill. We were mixed into drill squads between 1st KL and 3rd KL. They told us to prepare for competition. I was a pessimistic 14 year old and I criticised the quality of our combined drill team. "We were like maggots!", I said to the 1st KL Corporal who was training us. I wasn't easy to convince nor motivate at the time. But one of the 1st KL Staff Sergeants, SSgt. Wong Giok Leigh was able to change my mindset and convince me that whatever it is, we should all try to do our best with whatever we had. In the end, we did okay. "Show them who's the man, and who's the maggot!".

Good memories of my first BNTS (or what's left of it). What's yours going to be like next week?  

(Wrote this to encourage my Boys to look forward to NCO Training. Also wanted to log this down for memories sake!)