Lencana Usaha - Broga 6km Hike

Hiking up Broga Hill

This was the toughest section of the hike

The Boy Scouts and their testers

Bob and me at the second peak

The boys, successfully completing their journey test

Slow and steady was the pace of our 'Patrol X' experimental troop for a three-year King Scout programme initiated by Datuk Bob Lew, my ex-schoolmate.
We planned it in such a way, the boys would have to go through a series of training and tests before they could qualify for King Scout assessment.
So far, we've had a decent run with four boys from Patrol-X.
They've been committed and our first series of merit badges conferred to the boys were their Lencana Usaha which was completed yesterday.
This includes a 6km hike which I had designed to incorporate a mini-expedition to scale Broga Hill.
The programme includes map reading, bearing marking and taking geographical information on the location.
Bob was instrumental in rounding up the boys which he had hand-picked.
With patrol-X progressing to their first Boy Scout merit badge, there were some resistance from some older boys in Victoria Institution's 2nd Bangsar Troop.
Some of the seniors demanded to be trained. This is something that I would not condone because their level of committment has never been assessed.
Besides that, their clickish behaviour is something that I would not tolerate.
At the end of the Broga hike, the boys were also issued with their personal Mora knives as a reward to their effort.

Gadget building with X-patrol 188

The boys at work..

Trainer Bob (centre), lending some supervision

The experimental patrol at work on the school ground..

There is an old Malay saying that goes: "Belakang pisau di asah, lama-lama
pun jadi tajam" (sharpen the spineof a knife, you will get an edge).I can say this with the experimental patrol that was set up for the purpose of
preparing them for their King Scout badge.Trainer Bob Lew had set three years as the deadline for the boys to complete
all their merit badges (three stages) beginning with the most basic
requirement: the Lencana Keahlian (Tendrfood badge as we knew it).We began with Kem Usaha beginning this month and proceeded by giving the
boys some assignments.During the camp, I gauged the performance of the kids and found that two out
of four of them had potential to be groomed.The remaining lot were weak.As far as Scout craft is concerned, they have a long way to go.I was tasked with edged tool education and axemanship, an area that is
familiar to me.Earlier today, I made at trip to their training ground and found them
constructing a gadget for their pioneering project.Leading the pack, is a 15-year-old boy. Two others followed suite while
another was on holiday in the United Kingdom.My initial assessment showed that the UK-brat is the weakest of the lot and
there's plenty to be done to toughen him up for the later stages.The other weakling is a talkative youngster. This small guy has the ego the
size of a soccer stadium.Coming back to the gadgets, I think they will take at least two or more
sessions to complete the project.On other development, I am happy to report that the kids are getting a cabin
for their King Scout activities. Bob showed me their new domain and I am very pleased with the progress.

Mission: A new Scout Den

My old patrol with KF Chia and BK Yap

The Scout Den, before it was razed in a fire..

I received an email from an old friend.We were in the same troop back in secondary school and the clarion call was to assemble
a team to raise funds for construction of a new Scout Den at Victoria Institution.The facility was burned down some years back. Some of the best years in my life was spent in this place and as a former pupil of Victoria
Institution and a ex-Scout of the 2nd KL troop, I felt obliged to help.The issue had also brought a few old friends together where most of them are now
professionals. Our target is to raise a targeted sum and place it as contribution to the construction of a
new facility for the kids.Its good to know that some of these guys still care.