Closed!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Events - 2nd Sandakan BB Coy

Although the company has had its closing ceremony, the activities are not "closed" yet. The company had planned a lot of activities for the members throughout this Christmas, so as to ensure that the BB Boys can spend their Christmas this year in a more meaningful way.


Besides the Agape Christmas Day, the members went caroling together with Rev. James. That was on 15th and 16th December 2008, when the BB/GB members went to 7 houses where non-Christian families live in. This is a kind of fellowship which had enabled the relationship among the Boys to have obviously been improved.



A Christmas Party was organized by the 2nd Sandakan Boys' Brigade Company together with the 3rd Sandakan Girls' Brigade Company in Wisma Basel on 21st December 2008. A snowman was made using recycled papers and cotton wool by the BB/GB members. The party started at 2.00 pm, when the guests started coming in one by one.



The entire celebration began with Praise & Worship lead by Mr Alexander with a team of worship members from the BB and GB. Then the audiences continued with some Bible Scriptures reading and watched a drama presentation done by the BB and GB too. Rev. James shared some sermons with the people who came, and gave out a unique pen to each and every one of them who came as a little Christmas gift. He also gave out some respond forms, asking whether the people who came are ready to accept Lord Jesus.

After that, the lucky draw started. There were a lot of prizes being given out, ranging from electronic gadgets and household tools. The games started right after the Lucky Draw. After playing some games, the audiences started getting themselves some refreshments prepared by the organizing committees before going back home.

On 24th December 2008, the BB and GB participated in the Basel Church Christmas Eve Service. The BB/GB members went into the Praise & Worship team as backup singers. Besides, they had also performed a singing and dancing show to the church congregations. The song "Joy to the World" was sang and a positive response was given to the performers.


That's all for Christmas 2008. Since the activities held were successful, more performances will be carried out in the district level next year.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Charity Project - Christmas Day

It's Christmas Day! The 2nd Sandakan Charity Project team went to the Agape Centre on
06 November 2008 to celebrate Christmas with the children there. After several days of preparations, the event was finally held in the centre.



Our chaplain, Rev. James Wong was invited to the celebration too!. The event started with a singspiration by the BB members. They sang "Feliz Navidad", "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night". Then, the teacher in charge, Cikgu Jukinah came out and gave a speech. She expressed her deepest gratitude to the BB members who volunteered to come and support this meaningful event. After that, Rev. James shared some messages with the children, telling them what is Christmas and what they should do on Christmas Day.



After that, Rev. James and Cikgu Juninah were invited to give out the presents to the children. Before this, the BB members had received a wishlist from them and the Boys went out to shop for the presents. Now, the children finally have their dreams come true.



This event is a great success. Being the first company in Malaysia to organise such an activity, the 2nd Sandakan is now confident enough to organize the Christmas Event once again next year, involving the other companies in the district level. We hope that we will continue to gain support from the community.


Closing Ceremony

On 29th November 2008, the 2nd Sandakan Boys' Brigade company had its Closing Ceremony in the parade ground.



The boys and girls reached Wisma Basel at 1.30 pm. Then, the Guards of Honor falled in and awaited the Guest of Honor, Rev. Tsen's arrival. Cpl Siah Boon Kiat was the parade commander, Cpl Daniel Fan the Color Bearer and Cpl Sweeney Ku the Color Sergeant. After uniform inspection. the Guard of Honor had a march-past round the parade square.


Then, the ceremony continued with a singspiration lead by Lt Alexander Liew. There was a live band playing the songs which were sung. After that Rev. Tsen shared a message with the Boys' and Girls' Brigade members. Then, a performances were presented by the BB and GB. The BB did first aid while GB did drill. The BB & GB both falled in according to squads to receive awards and promotion. The ceremony ended with a momento presentation to the GOH, Rev. Tsen.


Congratulations to those who were promoted. On the other hand, Captain Raymond encouraged those who were not promoted not to give up as they still have a chance to promoted in next year's Enrollment Sunday, provided that they do well in the upcoming Junior Camp next year.

ANTS Sabah 2008

On 13th - 15th November 2008, The Sabah State Advanced NCO Training School (ANTS) was held in BCCM, Tawau. The Boys' Brigade members from all over Sabah travelled to BCCM to attend this course. There were a total number of 20 trainees while for the 2nd Sandakan Company, 5 NCOs from the 2nd Sandakan Boys' Brigade Company took part in the course. Members who registered are at least 15 years of age, and had passed their BNTS level. The main syllabus in this course include: Time Management, Decision Making, Conflict Management, Goal Setting and Presentation Skills.


The opening ceremony of the ANTS was officiated by the Guest of Honor, Captain Liew Soo Chee on 13th November. The members of the training were trained to be proactive, instead of waiting for instructions before they take action. Each and everyone of them was given the chance to talk and debate over current issues.


ANTS Sabah 2008 was ended on the 15th November. The members gathered in the Conference Room for the Closing Ceremony, which was once again planned by all the NCOs themselves. Trainees shared about what they think about the course, and what they have learnt throughout the three days two nights course.


The main outcome for the trainees was that all the members are no longer slack-NCO's in the company. They had been trained to set up their own goals to be achieved by their respective companies. Besides, the members got very tough eversince joining the camp because the ANTS emphasized on discipline. It is hoped that all the NCO's can carry out their jobs as leaders in the company so that the Boys' Brigade Ministry can continue to grow stronger.


Tuesday, November 25, 2008

NS Potential Leader Training Camp

On the 19-22 November 2008, a training camp was held in Kem Bagai Budi, Sandakan. It is a training ground for the National Service trainees and the 2nd Sandakan Company is very lucky to have the chance to conduct the training over there. There are three objectives of organizing the camp. First, to promote leadership qualities among NCOs; Second, to train up toughness and endurity of the NCOs and Third, to give the members an early exposure of what National Service is like.


For the members, the most beneficial activity was drill. The NS Trainers taught the proper movement in drill. Besides, Captain Raymond also selected 5 commanders to be trained by the trainers. The trainers taught them the proper command language and the correct intonation slang to be used.


Various activities were organized in this camp and they were held in both indoors and outdoors. For the indoor activities, the "Character Building" module was introduced. This helped the members a lot as teenagers nowadays were distracted by too many attractions and they do not know the proper thing to be done at the right time. The module also includes the "commitment-action ratio".


As for the outdoor activities, the members were given the opportunity to try out the basic obstacle race used by the NS trainees. They include: 1.6 feet wall, monkey bar and tunnel. Some basic survival skills were also taught by the trainers. The members learned camper's, compass reading, cooking and bearing search. The Explorace was also held in order to ensure the campers are able reapplicate the skills taught. Besides, the members were also given the chance to do kayaking!

In conclusion, the Potential Leadership Training Camp was a great success. The participants earned a lot in this camp. Captain Raymond recognizes the capability of the trainers in conducting activities. It is predicted that the training will go on annually. The SDC (Sabah District Council) camp is likely to be organised here in next year too!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

XMas Charity Project - Decorations

Like what was mentioned in the previous post, the Xmas Charity Project will start in the month of November. On the 12nd November 2008, the Charity Project team went to the Agape Centre to put up the decorations for the Xmas Event to be held on the 12nd December 2008.



The boys waited at the Agape Centre at 10.00 am while waiting for Officer Alex to bring the Christmas Tree from the church. Everyone started to get to work at 10.30 am.



However, it was found that the upper part of the Christmas Tree brought to the centre wasn't the correct one. Therefore, the boys had to ignore the upper part and started with the bottom one with some coloured spheres and stars as decorations. The upper part will then be brought to the centre on the next day.



The decorations were simple enough to be done completely in approximately 1 hour. The Boys did not forget to clean up the place before they went home.

Brigade Cup - Football



It's the 2nd week of November and the football competition is held. The boys gathered in the parade ground and waited for the Officers to send them to the field in SK Sung Siew. The junior boys had their basketball match in the mini court too.

Competition was very tight and finally, Alpha Squad came out the champion once again. Congratulations!

BB Reachout '08

The BB Reachout program is actually a campaign started by the government. Its aim is to raise awareness among youths regarding the current popular issues related with AIDS/HIV. A seminar was held by the Sabah State Council and 2nd Sandakan did send a representative to attend the seminar. Captain Raymond brought Cpl Siah Boon Kiat over to Kota Kinabalu and took part in the 2 days 1 night course. Then, Corporal Siah is required to explain to the members in the company about AIDS and HIV so that the boys can help spread the news to their peers, too!


The talk conducted was given a positive response by the boys. The boys should then take the next step by explaining to at least 20 of their friends about this issue and get their signatures in order to prove that they have done so. After accomplishing all the requirements, the boys will then be awarded the Red Ribbon.


Friday, November 7, 2008

Sung Siew Speech Day '08

On the 7th November 2008, the boys were once again invited to play some songs during the Speech Day. Datuk Dr Kamaruzaman as the Guest of Honour of the day, arrived at 8.30a.m, which was welcomed by the band. Then, national anthems were played, such as Negaraku, Sabah Tanah Airku. Throughout the event, a few songs were played : -
1. Cherry Pink Blossom
2. Speedy Gonzales
3. Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin 月亮代表我的心
4. Xu Zhu Chuan Qi 虚竹传奇
5. Cheng Ji Si Han 成吉思汗
It was such a hot day but nothing is impossible for the boys, they still did their very best to present the songs. Good job, boys! The ceremony ended with the school song, 'Onwards Sung Siew Students'.