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Friday, March 14, 2008

Awards & Band Course

On the 10th, 11th and 12th March, 2008, a course has been held for our boys. The main aim for this course is to provide chance for the boys to achieve either the First Aid or Nature Awareness award. Our band instructor, Mr Leong turned up for both 11th and 12th for the band course.

First Day-10th March 2008

The boys reached Wisma Basel at 9.00am sharp. Our captain, Sir Raymond Wong gave us a talk on this activity. We were then separated into two groups- the first aid group and nature awareness group. Sir Raymond added that Mr Leong will be there for the band practice in the afternoon.Sir Raymond first walked into the first aiders' classroom and explained the requirements to get the award, that is to pass a paper test, a practical, to attend a course in the Red Cresent Centre, and to be present on all the three events. He
then introduced us our instructor, Preacher Lo who was an Ex-Staff Sergeant. He then passed the class to Preacher Lo.

Then, Sir Raymond went to his own class, that is the Nature Awareness class. The requirements to pass the award are abo ut the same, that is to pass the paper test, hand in assignments and not to be absent on all the events. He then drove the boys to the jogging park in Taman Tshun Ngen, to collect leaf species in groups. It was a great chance for them to explore the park's widths and lengths. The boys were asked to jot down all the characteristics and the uses of the plants. They actually had fun besides learning about nature =)


At the same time, the first aiders were taught the basic principles of first aid, the simple sicknesses, their signs and symptoms together with the ways to treat them. We were taught the common sicknesses such as shock, internal bleeding, external bleeding, burns and scalps.


A case demonstration was held too. Preacher Lo asked for a few volunteers to demonstrate the case. 5 boys volunteered! *claps* The case was like, a boy acts as casualty, and another one acting as a reckless driver while the other three will be acting as the first aiders. So, it went like this..
The boy : Dexter Wong
The reckless driver : Lee Han Wen
The first aiders : Chin Haw Wai, Philip Voo, Sebastian Chen


It wasn't too successful as the boys involved panicked but at least they've tried. Preacher Lo pointed out the mistakes made by the boys and called it a day.

In the afternoon, Sir Alexander, who is our full-time officer, bought us chicken rice as lunch and expected us to get ready for the band practice. It was really great for him to drive all the way down to Mile 1/2 and to get us our lunch *Thanks a lot, Sir Alex! You're the best!*
However, our Sergeant Kevin Wong had cancelled the practice because he thought that the senior trumpeters weren't around and the boys couldn't do without the absentees *that's too bad , huh?* This is a very wrong concept and i believe all of the members wished that he can continue the practice. Sir Alex wanted them to proceed with the practice, however he was too late as the boys had contacted their parents and were ready to go back. Sir Alex then asked the boys to call all of the band members to attend practice the next day. He even drove som e of the boys home by using the church van! *Once again, THANKS!! =)*

Second Day-11th March 2008


Once again, the boys were in the Wisma Basel at 9.00am sharp. Sir Andrew came into the class. He taught the boys how to identify human bones and uses of different types of bandages. He found out that most of the boys do not know how to tie a reef knot, therefore he taught us. He added that in order to become a first aider, one has to know how to tie a reef knot. The boys tried and tried but at last, all of them knew how to do it. *That's our boys!* The lesson today was more to external injuries in which a casualty was hurt and h ow a first aider is able to treat him.



For the nature awareness award, Sir Raymond drove the boys to where they went the previous day. This time they w ere told to observe the pitcher plants and jot down their characteristics. Pitcher plants were one of the categories that boys had to put into their scrapbooks, which is one of the group works assigned by Sir Raymond. It was, again, another great chance for them to have a look at those rare plants. The boys wer e really excited and they had a lot of fun learning about the nature!


Both the classes were ended at 11.00 am and Sir Andrew bought us lunch today. It was "mixed rice". Everyone was hungry so they ate everything and were given a short break until 12.00 noon. They moved their band instruments to the school for the practice, as the Girls' Brigade were having their Young Leader Training Camp and the band will cause disturbance if they have their practice there. The boys were supposed to have their practice at the grandstand, however the school drama team occupied the stage and they had to move over to the junior block and practise there. Mr Leong came at 1.00 pm. We were given the opportunity to play the songs that we are not familiar with before we were taught the new ones.


Mr Leong left at 3.00pm. Although the practice was supposed to end at 4.00pm, we were dismissed earlier on by Sergeant Kevin.

3rd day-12th March 2008

Today is the last day of all the courses. The nature awareness group went to the library to do some research on the data's collected du ring the last two days while the first aiders were taught by Sir Alexander on bandages. They were asked to read a text. The first aiders had a very brief lesson and revised what they have learnt on the past two days. A Q & A session was held.



In the afternoon, the boys were allowed to go downtown for their lunch. They boys walked all the way from Basel Church to downtown! *claps* They were told to come back by 1.00 pm and all of them did. However, the band course was postponed for about half an hour as the band storage room had its key stucked inside the lock. Luckily, brilliant Corporal Kwan Lik Jing had the crazy idea to climb inside the room from the "balcony" to open the door from inside and the door was unlocked. Thanks to the bravo's (Kwan Lik Jing, Nicholas Syn and Chung Vui Lam), they risked their lives!! And, we managed to open the door.

Practice went normal today. As the drama team wasn't there, we had the chance to use the grandstand. We played the songs which we are going to play in the PESTA repeatedly, and were not too satisfied with our standard.




As a conclusion, we wish that the old boys who left BB can come back and support the company. I believe everybody can do well no matter who the band major is. After all, if everybody does his own part, the band will surely be able to play well in the competition. However, the current condition doesn't seem too encouraging, so i hereby announce that we are in urgent need of experienced members for the PESTA, and for our further company activities, so, to the ex-BB boys, you are most welcomed to come back and help out. It'll be much appreciated.

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