12th KL Company Merdeka Day Celebration: KL State Boys' Brigade

Reported by Lance Corporal Teh Eng Hong

August 30th, 2014 (Saturday)

Just a day before we celebrate Malaysia’s Independence Day again. Surprises? Not much really, unless if you count the long weekend. The 12^th Kuala Lumpur Boys Brigade Company conduct its Merdeka Day Celebration at Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur from 8 am in the morning to 12.30 in the afternoon. It was truly a day of fun!

After the logistics setup, the day kicked off at 7.50 in the morning with the opening parade. All the members clad in their company t-shirts and navy blue pants came rushing to fal1l in into their respective squads; One to Ten. The parade commander, Sergeant Jack Lim falled the NCOs out and proceeded with inspection. The NCOs inspected their own respective squad members and gave them 5 pushups per mistake. Attendance was taken as well. Once all these were completed, Sergeant Jack reported to Mr. Lim, one of our Lieutenants, and marched into place. Then, the opening prayer was led by Mr. Lim and we all then sung our National Anthem and The Anchor Song. Afterwards, we proceeded to the Chapel for Praise and Worship.

Praise and Worship took about 20 minutes at the Chapel where we sang several songs; My Redeemer Lives, Blessed Be Your Name, and Mighty to Save, where everyone worshiped the Lord through the music. After that, Sergeant Ong Wil Sern made an announcement about squad time, followed by a Word session by Mr. Andrew Tan who shared about the struggles of Daniel and his companions when their country, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, fell to Babylon. The learning points from the Word is that we must not lose faith when things seem hopeless.

The up was squad time. During squad time, we sorted the ko-ko (co-curricular) form, which was taken very seriously as a report of our BB participation is sent to the Ministry of Education. Mr. Andrew explained the purpose of the form and how it is to be filled. Then, the squad leaders took their squad members to their assigned classrooms to change into sports attire. The NCOs then brought the members to the assembly grounds where they were briefed on the next program.

After squad time, the NCOs prepared themselves for what was to come, followed by a briefing by Lance Corporal Teh Eng Hong on Station Games. After the briefing, Sergeant Ong Wil Sern planned out a special activity while the Station Masters made their preparations. The members had to fill up balloons with water; hence, they are making water balloons. Each squad has to make 15 water balloons in 20 minutes. Teamwork was key.

At 10 am, the Station Games begun. All 10 squads dispersed from the assembly ground to their respective stations. Each station played had an interval of 10 minutes. Once the time is up, the squad had to go to the next station. The transit time per station is two minutes. Laughter and watery splashes resonated in the air.

The stations were scattered throughout the entire school, which had clues leading to them. Station number one was the drill station. Here, members are required to do a drill sequence based on what the facilitator gives. The squad has a choice to choose an individual commander. That commander has to command the sequence on his own without referring to the cheat sheet. If he refers to the cheat sheet, the squad loses 5 marks. If the squad asks the facilitator to command, then the squad loses 10 points. Every time the squad does anything wrong, they get splashed. I guess drill promotes espirit de corps: pride in a unit.

Station 2 was particularly hard to find due to the clue saying: two cats hide in a random dumpster, MEOW! A few squads ended up going to the dumpster, which was a real laugh for the facilitator or class 3c, which was kinda hilarious. The squad has to act out a particular event that happened in the past. Station 3 was another station where people would end up sopping wet. Station 3 required the members to rescue a friend who will be a hostage and his friends will be required to rescue him without being shot by water guns from the two facilitators.

Station 4 was next to the library. It was practically a Q and A session. Station 5 was at the futsal court. The members were required to shoot goals while the facilitator defends. Station 6 was near the office where the squad was required to sing a patriotic song while dizzy due to spinning. Station 7 was at the Ping Pong court. It was another Q & A session, except the members had to move around in a different manner. Station 8 was at the Chapel where the squad had to take a picture of something. Station 9 was another wet station where the members had to do the human wheelbarrow while having a wet sponge on his back. Station 10 was where the members had to go and find two potted plants.

Some people say, when you have fun, time flies in an alarming rate. This was true. At 12.00 noon, the members were told to go to their precious station and clean it up. On the other hand, the NCOs collected the score sheets and calculated the marks. Then, the announcement of results and prize giving was done. The second runner up was squad 9, the Runner Up was squad 7; the champion team was Squad 3. The squads which gotten prizes were very happy. Closing Parade was at 12.20pm.

After dismissal, the members played sports while the NCOs went to the Chapel to have post-mortem. Overall, it was a good off-Parade event cum Patriotism celebration.

Page Created: 12th September 2014

Last Updated: 12th September 2014