Posted on 15-Sep-2013
A joint report by Corporal Joshua Ying and Lance Corporal Nathan Chan of 10th Kuala Lumpur Company
August 31st, 2013
TAMAN GOODWOOD, KUALA LUMPUR – Widely considered one of the most anticipated events of the year for the company had arrived - Awards Day. While some companies have an Enrolment & Awards Day, 10th KL holds the two events on separate occasions. The event was held in Full Gospel Assembly Kuala Lumpur, our sponsoring authority. A few weeks prior to this, members had submitted applications for the various badges that they had worked hard on gaining both during and outside of BB hours. Before the start of the event, members were anxiously chatting with one another, talking about the badges they felt they had passed. Through this, they had some friendly discussion amongst themselves about who was going to get the most badges and of course, trying to guess who would get promoted this year. Yet when the actual event started, no one was really ready for what was to come.
Final preparations for the big day began at 6.45 am with the band section fall in, where we were briefed by Sergeant Timothy about our performance scheduled for the day. Once that was over, the company falled in, conducted a uniform check and opening parade was held. Members went the extra mile to make all their uniform parts shine for this special occasion. This was followed by some rehearsals for the various presentations and a sound check for the worship team.
Doors opened to guests at 8.45am. All guests were greeted with warm smiles and chirpy ‘welcomes’ by an ushering team. Our guest of honour was none other than our Honorary Captain, Mr. Tan Koon Hai, arrived at 9am sharp. Once he had taken his seat, Awards Day began with the marching in of the colour party. After this, the Negaraku and Anchor Song were sung, followed by an opening prayer by our Chaplain, Pastor Anand. We then entered into a time of praise and worship led by Staff Sergeant Benjamin Yap. Pastor Anand then shared a message about our purpose in The Boy’s Brigade and the furtherance of God’s Kingdom. This was followed by a short speech by Mr. Tan Koon Hai.
Then came the first exhilarating moment for the younger members – presentation Junior and Pre-Junior awards. The Juniors were all smiles when receiving their awards, marching up on stage enthusiastically with wide grins on their faces, receiving the Purple, Blue, Green and Red awards. A new award for the Juniors, called the Most Outstanding Junior award, was also given out to 3 deserving Juniors. Next up was a duet by Corporal Brian Ee and Private Jade Wong, singing the song Titanium by David Guetta, which was accompanied by a piano solo. There was a great round of applause for the excellent presentation, as they accurately expressed the emotions of the song.
Finally, the time for Senior awards had come. The first badges to be given out were the Target badges to the recruits followed by badges earned during badgework hours and outside of BB. Private Wong Zhen Lam attained the most awards this year with a total of 8 badges! The time had come for the band to unleash the end-product of their hours of practice, with their performance of the song Celebration Dance. Despite a slow start to their only song, the band slowly gained momentum and finished with a bang. Immediately after, the brass and woodwind sections stepped off stage to pass the limelight to the percussion section, which performed their own arranged/ remixed drum solo.
Following this was the presentation of special awards. These included awards for 80, 90 and 100% attendance (only a single member managed to come for every single parade, achieving 100% attendance. Funny enough, it wasn’t a Sergeant or an NCO for that matter - it was a newly promoted private), band recognition awards, awards for largest amount collected for BB Month and the BB Asia International Voluntary Service Program certificates, given to those who went for our company’s Philippines mission trip held at the end of last year. Once all those awards had been given out, the most eagerly anticipated time for the more senior members had arrived – promotions. This year, 8 members were promoted from Private to Lance Corporal, 1 from Private to Corporal, 4 from Lance Corporal to Corporal and 2 from Corporal to Sergeant. It had been quite a while since the last double promotion, making this Awards Day very special. Sergeant Loh Pishon and Sergeant Jeremy Cheong were discharged and appointed Staff Sergeants and instructor Kelly was appointed a Warrant Officer.
Lunch was provided. Not some mini meal with bread and water, but a full blown buffet style lunch for all. Everyone sunk their teeth into the delicious meal, as the day finally came to a close. All guests adjourned for some light refreshments, while members stayed back a little longer for closing parade.