Badges and Awards - A Motivation to Join BB: KL State Boys' Brigade

Written by Sergeant Jack Lim Kuan Wei of 12^th Kuala Lumpur Company

October 20^th, 2014

In The Boys’ Brigade, badges or awards are part and parcel; in fact one of the most important and popular activities among members. This is because they are like a reward and recognition for our hard work and achievements. There are four main classes of badges. They are the Interest, Adventure, Community and Physical badges. Every badge has two levels: Basic and Advanced. Members have to reach the basic level first to be able to try for the advanced level of a certain badge.

Basic Level Advance Level

Before applying for any badge or award, a member should have first received his or her Target Award. The Target badge is the first badge a member should receive and is one of the compulsory badges. The other compulsory badges are Christian Education, Drill and Recruitment. Without these badges, members cannot apply for the more important and prestigious awards, such as the President’s Award and the Founder’s Award. These are the most important awards, in fact the highest Awards, that a Member, a Brigadier can receive in the BB.

Among the many awards that can be achieved are the one-year service badge, the three-year service badge, the long year service badge, the NCO Proficiency award and The Cross For Heroism. The Cross for Heroism is awarded to a BB member who has saved another person’s life from danger or death. The Service Awards are given out based on the good attendance and service record of a Member. One has to at least attend 80% of the number of parades in order to obtain a One Year Service Badge. There are Special Awards that every member can get too which are the Bronze, Silver and Gold Scholastic Awards. These are awarded for good results in the public examinations such UPSR, PMR and SPM respectively.

In Group A (Interest), the badges consist of Arts, Crafts and Hobbies, Band Proficiency, Communication and Computer Knowledge, just to name a few. Certain badges like Band Proficiency require members to learn band instruments. The Band Proficiency Award consists of Bandsman, Buglers, Drummers and Pipers. The Arts, Crafts and Hobbies badges allow members to get badges for their favourite activities and hobbies. In Group B(Adventure), there are the Camping, Expedition and Water Adventure badges. Members have to take a course led by an qualified and certified Instructor for a few days and will be tested on their skills to obtain one of these badges. The skills learned could prove useful in the future.

In Group C (Community), the badges included are Citizenship, Community Service and so many more. This class of badges encourages Members to know more about Malaysia and perform community work to help those who are in need. Badges like First Aid and Safety also teach members how to respond in an emergency and to save lives. The Environmental Conservation badge teaches members to care for the environment.

In Group D (Physical), Members will have to be physically fit to obtain badges like Athletics, Gymnastics and Swimming. The tests conducted will test the physical and mental strength of the members taking part. After these tests, members will be strong and ready for any challenge. They will also become healthier.

Certain badges can only be achieved by submitting certificates as evidence of their completing the course or by going for lessons. For example, one may get the Arts badge if she or he submits a photocopy of his or her piano exam results. The Swimming badge also can be obtained by going for swimming lessons and getting the trainer to confirm the ability of a Member to get the badge.

In conclusion, badges and awards (a badge is the physical item, whereas an award is a title subject, ie. you are awarded the Target badge) are indeed a very important part of BB today. Each badge piece, regardless of the class and type, is much more than just a piece of metal that we, as Boys’ Brigade Members wear on both the arm sides of our uniform for every Parade or BB event. So, to all those Brigadiers, why not start picking up your BB Handbook and start applying for Awards and Badges today? These badges might just be helpful in our everyday lives.

Page Created: 6th November 2014
Last Updated: 6th November 2014