BCM 2010

My second ever Brigade Council Meeting (an AGM for the BB) brought me to the remote town of Tawau in Sabah. This BCM, is my first one as a BBMHQ staff (which means I'm one of those running the show) and the first one I was actually paying attention to the proceedings of the meeting.We stayed at the MB Hotel, in the centre of Tawau Town (it's not that big anyway, pretty much the whole place is the center of town) 70 out of the 101 Companies were represented.

My first impression of BCM was that it was too short. Meeting from 8.00am - 5.30pm, a total of 9.5 hours surely wasn't enough to discuss matters regarding BBM's future. While I agree that AGMs are desgined to provide accountability and governance on national-level developmnets, which takes place in the review and passing of reports and elections, there is greater value in converging together from all corners of the country to discuss the national direction. 

In OCF, we had AGM for 3 days. We were able to talk about the past as well as the future. Sure it had its own issues (OCF wasn't growing - infact, more centres were closing as the years go by), and BB officers, being a voluntary organisation is limited by the annual leave of its officers and family obligations - may not had 3 days to spare. 

Either way, I wonder if there is a more effective way to run the meeting. AOBs could only be discussed if companies wrote in ahead of time and no "on the spot" matters can be discussed - regardless if the matter is important. I found that strange (though potentially politically motivated). 

Either way, my first BCM as a full-time staff was an interesting one. Seafood dinners were great, but I didn't enjoy the food poisoning experienced the days after.. 

The Busy Month of March

I gotta admit that I haven't been updating this blog as often as I'd like. It's quite a waste.. with so much BB events going on.. most of them worth mentioning, that I'm on the verge of letting these memories fade away forever. Perhaps I need to make another pledge similar to the one I did in my personal blog to always blog every major BB event that unfolds.
As for now and the events already lapse. I guess just a summary will do for the time being.


Penang Advance NCO Training School (ANTS) 2010 : 13-15th March 2010
My first assignment as the Training Executive for BBMHQ to learn up how ANTS is conducted in hopes that I will be able to run and teach others how to run a similar course in the future. However, I was called in last minute to coach as well. I've done this before.. like 4 years ago. Had to play catch up and honestly, never read up the notes in detail before the camp - I doubt I'd remember point by point anyway. The camp commandant was Mr. Loh Jau Poo who is the current Captain of 16th Penang, the BBM Vice-President and also - my direct boss. I've learned quite alot from him.. and hopefully some day will be able to conduct this course as well as he did. As for my squad - I got a good mix from Penang and Ipoh.. and thank God it's an English speaking bunch. Quite proud of these guys.. none of them fell asleep in my class and most of them participated well during all the modules. Hopefully, they learned something useful from me.. otherwise it'll be a real shame.



3rd KL Pre-Pesta Preparation Camp: 18-21st March 2010

Almost immediately after Penang, I was busy with another camp.. this time for my Company, 3rd KL. About 50 over of my guys went on band practice steroids for 4 days, with a odd group of 15 occasionally using the free time for drill practice. The camp went well, apart from some complaints from the locals that we were too noisy in the night thanks to the last post. After the camp, we found out that the school wanted to start BB! Praise God!



Talk at 12th Kuala Lumpur : 27th March 2010

Gave a short talk at 12th KL at Mr. Koh's request, as they lost Christopher, their Senior Section Officer a couple of weeks back. I just shared my BB experience and why I decided to stay and serve in 3rd KL and BBMHQ. These guys just took a bad hit as they got closed off from the primary and secondary school bases in Bandar Sri Damansara. Hopefully, their current members won't be deterred and persevere for the Lords faithfulness and timing.

2nd Puchong Company

It always excites me to see the birth of a new company. This is however is still on trials and so happen to be the church I'm trying out - Life Methodist Church, Puchong. This company is also is first company in Peninsula Malaysia since 1992 to consist only Boys (as the church also has a GB attached). GB already has a school base nearby. Very exciting!

Hope this company will reach greater heights in the years to come!

Recruits - how numbers do matter

Some people will tell you that whatever number of recruits you get, it is not about the quantity but it's the quality that matters. While that certainly holds some truth, churning out a good number from a recruitment campaign IS important.

Say, you have 100 members signing up - that is just putting their names and contact details down during recruitment day, half will turn up on the actual meet or parade. The following week, expect a handful to drop out after they find out BB's not exactly that they expected it to be. You can expect that figure to drop by another half by the time you reach Enrolment and Awards Day. By the end of the year, another half - you'll usually end up with about 12. This equation goes on, but on average, of the strong batch of 100 sign-ups in Form 1, 2-3 will stay till form 5.

Recently, 3rd KL's recruitment drive at SMK Taman Desa smashed into a huge stump. Only 17 new faces during the club's first AGM. Based on the progression I just drew up, a maximum of two will stay by the end of the year. By Form 5, only their hair and dry skin will remain.

So does that mean if there happens be to just, say, 10 sign ups.. is it the end of the company? Probably not.

An element of faith - there is a need to remember that God gave us those recruits, no matter how little or how numerous, we still need to give thanks for it. It's difficult to judge how things will turn out in the future. Maybe among 10, one of them will end up becoming the company's captain who'll lead the company to even greater heights the company can only dream about. In fact, most companies started small.. thanks to a bunch of curious dumb kids who honestly have no idea what they're getting themselves into.

Still, no excuse to not do our best! Recruitment does dictate if you have a good 3-4 years as numbers effect delivery of programs (if not enough people in a class, how to start?), manpower and .. well, fun (more friends).

So whatcha waiting for? Get your friends to join BB!

Fundraising Dinner and Bringing BB Australia members around

10th January 2010 - A successful fundraising dinner which saw 3rd KL raising RM40,000 for the band to buy more instruments in hope of giving a better performance in the years to come, as well as to give better opportunities for more Boys to pick up an instrument.


The next day, Lawrence and I took 4 BB members from Brisbane, Tim Rogers, Chris, David and Nathan, for a trip to Melaka. We managed to cover the main landmarks, but there was simply not enough time to cover the museums and the variety of food with the time. Still, it was fun hanging out with the Aussies. Learned quite alot from Tim, even on somethings about BBM and even the BB work in Asia.

Interview tomorrow at BBHQ. Hope it goes well!

I'm back!

Entering the year with great expectations - mostly bad ones, but those that are necessary for the advancement of Christ kingdom.

Band and Drill Camp 2009

For a period of four days (18-21st December) before Christmas, the Senior Section of 3rd KL held a band and drill camp at Sekolah Seri Cahaya, Shah Alam. About 60 Boys, including 3 Juniors, participated in this camp to brush up their skills and to learn a couple of new songs. Some time was given to sharpen their footdrill as well, led by the NCOs and Staff Sergeants. The company's former band officer, Joe Wong, was also present to guide the band. Lieutenant Lawrence Tay, led the devotion sessions sharing of the obedience of Daniel.

The objective of the camp is to prepare them for the upcoming Pesta in Penang. Band Officer, Warrant Officer Jasper Low's vision for the company is to be the overall champion once again and for the band to be the 1st-runner up. However, it is still a long way to beat 1st Johor Bahru in the band competition category.

Training aside, this camp has also allowed the Boys to bond and develop a strong company spirit, which is something any company needs to excel. The company intends to have several more camps like these in hopes of not just winning the Pesta, but to impart a lesson in the Boys that effort is necessary to improve and succeed.

If you think this company is kiasu - you're quite right.