Bangsar District Scouting Centenary Camporee Part 1

Last-minute preparation by a Tsun-Jin Rover at VI on Friday night

Kids practising for their Scout's Cultural night

I made a bee-line towards Victoria Instutition on Friday night to meet up with the organisers of the Bangsar District Centenary Camporee.
Met Assistant District Commissioner Chai Jiun Har who is also my wood badge trainer and saw a bunch of kids practising for their cultural night on Saturday.
My co-trainer Bob Lew told me about some potential danger lurking at the school's campsite.
This is apparent with the 2nd KL boys especially the Senior Scout who are kicking so much shit about their sovereignity and tradition.
Bob and I are training some kids from Form 2 and 3 for their merit badges.
Tales of bullying, intimidation and isolation became even more apparent when I saw a few of the Form 4 boys at the school.
Seems that the best course of action is to completely discard the older boys as they are beyond redemption.
Coming back to the camporee, I also met up with Bangsar District Commissioner Kenneth Soh who is the man behind the event.
Soh and Chai were instrumental in setting up the pace for the scouting event and attendance was also encouraging.
There were about 200 Boy Scouts and Senior scouts who took part in the three-day, two-night camping activity.

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.

A worthy cause

Bob, working with the kids on their merit badges and the National Scouting scheme..

I received a letter from the National Scout Council recently and was appointed
as a member of Malaysian Scouts public affairs committe.This came as a surprise as I have been actively featuring Victoria Institution's
100-year scouting centenary events.So far, three stories have been published in the Starmetro section.On a lighter note, Bob Lew and I are now training some form two boys for their
merit badges.This drew some flack from some folks who actually labelled our work as 'lost
cause'. Come what may, I obtained some blessings from my wife to carry on the work
and my task is also to take care of Bob in the outdoor activities.Hopefully, we would be able to produce a King Scout in three year's time.

Victoria Institution's 100th year in scouting

The campfire

A fire eater dude doing his stuff.. Pretty stupid if you ask me..

A section at the school where some relic photos were exhibited...

I've been giving my old school's scouts campfire a miss for donkey years.Since l dropped out of secondary school some 25 years ago, I had never
looked back.But the scouting spirit is still strong in my heart as I am still living my passion
for the great outdoors.Last Saturday, I went back to my old school for the first time in years to join a
few friends.My wife Michelle also joined in the fray as we meet up earlier in the evening for
dinner at a popular food outlet in the city centre.Later, we walked back to Victoria Institution to witness their 100th year of
scouting celebrations with a parents campfire.And I what I saw was not impressive at all. Through the years, the scouting skills and spirit has drained away.The boys are at lost when they performed in front of a crowd consisting fellow
scouts from other schools, parents and old boys who came back to suppor
them.As an old scout, I felt that the elements of song and yells in a campfire was
missing.This was marred by a daring 'rescue' act where kids performed free climbing
on the school's structure.Bob Lew, my old buddy protested the show by giving the campfire organising
committee a mouthful.All I can say is that scouting didn't change much, the only glaring difference is
the boy's attitude.I think they have a long way to go to recover what was lost not only in the fire
that destroyed the scout den, but the scouting spirit and skills that went along
with it..

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.