Where It All Began

A compilation of photographs taken at the west end of Glasgow, tracing the historical roots of the Boys' Brigade and following the footsteps of the Founder, Sir William Alexander Smith.

The Dragon Boat Tragedy

I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the students and teacher killed in the dragon boat tragedy in Penang.

I remembered back in 2007 while I was in Singapore, there was a similar tragedy that happened to the Singaporean Dragon Boat Team competing in Cambodia. Again, five young rowers were killed in that incident. However, following that incident, there was a Safety Inquiry Panel to look into the incident by the Singaporean authority.

Perhaps these two incidents will provide us many valuable lessons about safety in water sports. Such lessons are much more important for schools and youth organisations like the Boys' Brigade which occasionally conducts water sports activity. My greatest worry is that unnecessary hinderance and bureaucratic measures will be taken to stop our young people to participate in these events. Instead, I hope that those who conducts these activities will keep ourselves abreast with the latest safety measures and hold firm to the principle that do not compromise safety.

In both occasions, it has been reported that the rowers were not wearing life jacket. Apparently, it's quite usual for dragon boat rowers not to wear them as life jacket is bulky and obstructing. I guess, safety should not be substituted for any other consideration, when it comes to safety in an open sea. Another student in the Penang incident, who missed that morning's tragedy, is also said not to know how to swim. I wonder, how many of those on the boat did not know how to swim and actually wore the life jacket? There should be no compromise in this respect and no exception.

According to the Singaporean Safety Inquiry Panel following the incident with the Singaporean team, there has been a lack of safety measures in terms of drills for contingencies. In other words, people who participate in water sports such as dragon boat, are not expose to safety measures such as capsize drill. I recalled, this has been the most important part in the course I took about canoeing. We were taught how to capsize and react accordingly in such circumstances. Perhaps such stimulation exercise should also be extended to dragon boat and other water sports.

I guess, by not compromising the safety and providing preventive "education", could be the step forward for schools and youth organisations in dealing with the future extra-curricular activities, especially in water sports. I sincerely hope that this tragedy will not turn into a political issue, as politicians seem to be coming forward to comment and "show" their concern, or rather as an excuse to add more bureaucratic and hindrance measures to discourage the participation of our young people in such healthy activities, but rather, served as a precious lesson for all by reminding ourselves about the importance of safety and preventive education.

What's the BB Object?

"The advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect, and all that tends towards a true Christian Manliness." This is the original BB Object designed by the founder, Sir William Alexander Smith in 1883 (read First for Boys by McFarlan).

Ten years later, in 1893, the word "Obedience" was added into the BB Object. This is also the version of BB Object that I was taught in 1994 when I joined the Boys' Brigade in Malaysia.
"The advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect, and all that tends towards a true Christian Manliness."

Several years later (exact year not sure), the BB Object in the Boys' Brigade in Malaysia became:
"The advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Members and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect, and all that tends towards a true Christian Character."

This change from "Boys" to "Members" was due to the admission of girls into the Brigade. Although in my opinion, it would be more meaningful to have "Boys and Girls" instead of "Members", nevertheless, I came to accept that this will be the BB Object that I have to pass it down to the next generation of members.

Just a few days ago, I was shocked to know that there is a suggestion to further change the BB Object of the Boys' Brigade in Malaysia more drastically that I could ever thought of and it's something like:
"The object shall be pursued by the development of the upmost potential of members in a holistic manner; socially, physically, intellectually and spiritually and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect, and all that tends towards a true noble Character."

Firstly, I cannot but felt pity for all the new members who will be joining the Boys' Brigade in the future that they have to memorise a much longer BB Object, not yet taking into account the understanding and appreciation of the content. Even with the current and shorter version, I have encountered so much difficulties in helping new recruits to memorise the BB Object correctly.

Secondly, on the technicality, the BB Object is the mission statement of the Brigade. It clearly states the objective and goal that the Brigade envisioned to impact upon boys (and later including girls). However, it would be rather weird to also include the means of achieving the objective in the mission statement. Why would the BB Object need to specifically include socially, physically, intellectually and spiritually; and isn't holistic sufficiently illustrate all these aspects?

Thirdly and the most important, where is the Christian Manliness or Christian Character that the Brigade envisioned upon for the past 125 years? This has been the highest focus of the Brigade that is to train boys according to the Christian principles (and not converting them to become Christian. To me, the decision to become a Christian is a personal decision and the Brigade only trained according to the Christian-based principles).

Is noble the same as Christian?

I cannot helped but felt disappointed. The Boys' Brigade in Malaysia has finally taken a reversal route to follow the Boys Scout. From history, we know that Boys Scout is a movement that originated from the Boys' Brigade, minus the religious value. Therefore, the act of removing the "Christian" value in the mission statement of the Boys' Brigade in Malaysia is very much adopting the principles of Boys Scout. Isn't that a move backward?

More importantly, by replacing Christian with noble, does this change signaled a shift in the philosophy of training in the Boys' Brigade. If nothing else but the wording of the BB Object changed, then how are the members going to reconcile the Christian-based training imparted upon them with the understanding of that being a noble-based training? It's like adopting one training style and yet conducting another training style.

Being a Christian, we pronounced our faith openly. We can't be ashamed of what we believe and yet not dare not publicly acknowledged it. Isn't that what Jesus reminded us in the Bible that if we are ashamed of acknowledging Him, He will also be ashamed of acknowledging us in front of the Father?

The biggest question of all is whether the change from "Christian" to "noble" as the ultimate aim of the BB Object, is after all an act of wanting to be seen less "religious" so as to attract more Boys and Girls to join the Boys' Brigade or merely heading for a different direction in the philosophy of training the next generation of Boys and Girls in Malaysia?

Sixteen Years of Distorted Gender Equality

Sixteen years had past since girls were first accepted into the family of Boys' Brigade. The initial idea of starting the Girls' Wing was a noble idea of optimising the limited resources of churches that could not afford to have both Boys' Brigade and Girls' Brigade concurrently and yet not depriving girls from receiving the opportunity to be trained physically, mentally, socially and educationally through the twin pillar of discipline and Christian Education.

I have the privilege of listening directly from the person who initiated the proposal as to why Boys' Brigade needed to have Girls' Wing. I agree that circumstances at that time (early 1990s) pointed towards the need of Girls' Wing. Sadly after sixteen years, the following problems seem to have outweighs the benefits.

Identity and Uniform Crisis
From early-1990s till late-1990s, girls in the Girls' Wing were wearing knee-length skirt (or rather pants plaited with skirt). The fairer gender do not wear marching boots but only black shoes; with the rest of the uniform remains the same.

However, since late-1990s, girls were beginning to wear long pants - similar to what the boys were wearing. Today, both boys and girls wore exactly the same and most of the girls are now wearing boots. The only different is the little asterisk on the name tag of the girls.

I am a person who agrees with gender equality but at the same time, I also acknowledged that God made Man and Woman differently. Therefore gender equality should not be taken blindly. The same principle applies into this issue. Yes, Boys' Brigade has accepted girls through the Girls' Wing. However, after 16 years, why isn't there a proper identity given to the fairer gender?

The Boys' Brigade in Hong Kong started accepting girls in 1986. Our friends from Hong Kong has provided such a beautiful identity for their sisters in the Boys' Brigade where boys and girls wear different uniform while both were still Boys' Brigade members.

Many argued that girls of this generation do not want to wear skirt. I am not suggesting for the current Girls' Wing uniform to simply change from pants to skirt. My suggestion is to give the girls a totally new uniform that perfectly portrait them as girls although they are in the Boys' Brigade. Simply saying girls do not want to wear skirt and we subscribe to that argument shows how immature the officers and decision makers are in handling this problem.

If our girls really hated skirt so much, then why are they still going to school? All female school uniforms, be it in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea etc...enforced that girls must wear skirt. Why are these officers and decision makers in the Brigade simply just fall for such shallow argument that if girls' don't like skirt, then Girls' Wing uniform should not be skirt. Are they more concern for the development of girls or the threat of withdrawal from the girls which affects the statistics?

God made Man and Woman differently. This means that an identity must be given to both gender that enables distinction, not merely separated with an asterisk on the name tag. To me, that's a mockery of respect to the fairer gender.

Educational Development
I agree with education experts worldwide that co-education is more effective to the development of teenagers. The opportunity to interact and communicate freely under the guidance of officer (adult) is indeed a good learning experience for both boys and girls.

Unfortunately, the lack of initiative to provide separate identity for boys and girls could have dangerous consequences simply because boys and girls might not be able to fully comprehend the differences between the gender. A simple illustration is a couple who already have three sons and then took home another baby girl to be their daughter. However, until the age of 16, the parents raised the little girl like their three sons. The daughter wore the exact same clothes, play the same toys, and carried herself exactly like the three brothers. How could the daughter ever learn that she is a girl and how could you expect the three brothers to respect and see the sister as a girl? This illustrated what is taking place in the BB with the Girls' Wing.

Drill and Band
There were so arguments of not creating a separate identity for Girls' Wing because this will severely reduced the uniformity in drill and band.

Firstly, I wish to point out that wearing skirt and being dressed more feminise, do not hinder a girl from doing drill. Our sister organisation, the Girls' Brigade, are strongly training their members to do drill and yet they are still wearing skirt. If GB could do so, why can't the girls in Girls' Wing could not do so?

Secondly, having different uniform for boys and girls do not reduce the uniformity of the band. To be a respected band, it is the quality of music that counts. That's why the title for the best BB band in Malaysia always head downsouth, simply because the quality of the music produced is good.

Thirdly, let's pull the argue a little bit further. If uniformity is really so important, is BB going to stop any boy from the Sikh Community from joining us simply because he has to wear a turban and not the Field Service cap? Similarly, if different identity is given to the girls and boys and they wear different uniform, two different uniform posed no problem to uniformity. A quick look at the BB Hong Kong website reassured everyone that two different uniforms is really no big deal.

Is the Name Appropriate?
Critics to the Girls' Wing will further emphasised that the name of the organisation, the Boys' Brigade, is inappropriate to accommodate girls. I agreed that indeed it is confusing. My wife and my sister were both members of the Girls' Wing. When it comes to scholarship application or job application, the impression of a girl being a Boys' Brigade member gives quite a bit of negativity.

There was once, someone after looking at my wife's resume, informed us that she made a typing error of Boys' Brigade instead of Girls' Brigade. At least, we could explain it to the person. I was just wandering how many girls from the Boys' Brigade having their resume and application being rejected simply because the people who access the resume could either assumed the application as:

1. not checked properly and have spelling or factual mistake, either in gender information or extra-curricular activities column; or
2. this must be a copy-and-paste resume from a friend in Boys' Brigade and the girl forget to change it

In short, much negativity is associated with such application, simply because the girl joined Boys' Brigade and not Girls' Brigade.

Some of the supporter of Girls' Wing might argued that this is just the name. Like other organisation, YMCA and YWCA, the name is gender-based but it is now open to both gender.

I would like to view it differently. Firstly, most of these organisations are social organisation, where the members are adult and their involvement are only social in nature. On the contrary, Boys' Brigade and Girls' Brigade are youth organisation and is closely affiliated to schools and other educational institutions. Such confusion has great implication to the future of the members, particularly those from the confused section of the Girls' Wing of the Boys' Brigade.

Conclusion
Conclusively, the lack of identity to the Girls' Wing is an important issue for the Boys' Brigade of Malaysia to deal with. Sixteen long years had passed and yet, the mentality to deal with this section of the Brigade is still at the infancy level. It took the Brigade almost 12 years to regulate the use of asterisk to differentiate the gender, because the officer at the uniform inspection could not identified whether the child standing in front of him is a girl or boy.

The mentality to see girls as merely statistics in the membership roll needs to be changed. Decision-makers and officers in the Brigade need to address the core issue that boys and girls were made differently and this indeed is according to the biblical principle where God created Man and Woman to be unique. No one could afford to wait another sixteen years, where at least another 3 generations of girls will have already walked through the ranks of Boys' Brigade with this distorted idea of gender equality. The recognition and identity remains the core of the issue.

Farewell to the Officers

I attended the Memorial Service of an old officer from 1st Penang, Mr Cheam Hock Seang. Though I do not know him personally, but the feeling of paying the last respect to someone who has served in the Brigade had driven me to the service.

The next day, the more shocking news came. A former officer from my former company, aged only 6 years more senior than myself, was called home by God. Mr Leow Kok Wei, someone considered to be very junior as an officer, but has left tremendous impact on the boys and girls. He's always close to the boys and girls, cheerful with no ego being an officer. After BB parade, boys and girls even addressed him "Drumstick" (because his leg looks like one) and he was never bothered with such unconventional way to reach out to the boys and girls. All this friendliness and cheerfulness, remains unchanged though, he himself was a high-achiever in the Boys' Brigade. Being the first batch of President's Award receipient of 6th Penang and was twice the BB National Bible Quiz Champion, he remains down to earth and never boost about it.

On a personal note, he is also one of the officers that have spent many important hours to listen and advice me when I was still at the infancy stage of learning to be a leader. Sadly, he was 'forced' out of the company the same time I assume the important leadership position of leading the NCOs and never have the chance to work under his leadership. His leaving from Boys' Brigade was indeed painful and I safely guess that many other incidents subsequently followed that he lost this whole group of brothers and sisters from the Brigade, which they have grew up together and experienced the thick and thin of teenage years.

All those who turned up at the funeral have not met him for at least a year. This is sad and hopefully with his return to the heavenly Father, it will serve as a reminder to everyone that life is indeed fragile.

Anyway, I personally salute these officers, for their passion, love and commitment laboured to the ministry of the Boys' Brigade. One whom have personally touched my life and another whom has impacted 1st Penang to be what it is today.

I am confident, we will meet again in heaven. Adios!

Big Disgrace!

I received the latest copy of BBM Point System for Application to Local Universities. It was really a disgrace to see the terribly low standard of points given for proficiency and achievement category. The maximum (5) points is given for the 4th proficiency award. However, the Boys' Brigade Award Scheme has a total of 21 proficiency awards. This means that a boy could easily gained the maximum marks on the first year of joining the Brigade.

What has happened to the prestigious Founder's Award? Isn't the award should be given maximum points? To qualified for the second-highest award, President's Award, a Boy needs at least 7 proficiency awards.

Personally, it is an insult to the entire Award Scheme by awarding the maximum points to only boys with only 5 proficiency badges (including the Target Badge). The maximum points can be easily obtained within one year. Founder's Award being the highest award requires a Boy to be fully committed and worked hard for at least 3 years to achieve that award.

Is this the way the Brigade encourages the Boys to strive for excellence?

Or merely as a cheap and distasteful recruitment method in attracting more members?

What is the signal the Brigade is giving its members?

Why does the standard of award scheme needs to be lower to such self-insulting standard?

I certainly viewed this as a shame to the Boys' Brigade and an insult to all the pass high achievers in the Brigade. Adding to that, it is also humiliating for BB members who are and will be applying to local universities. By merely giving easy points to the application, the standard and good reputation of the Brigade is at stake. I do not think this is helpful for to the members in their application process but rather a hindrance or humiliating factor to be associated with a sub-standard organisation.

I personally appeal for the system to be reconsidered and reviewed for the sake of the Brigade!

BB, GB & Girls' Wing

Two days ago, a friend asked me how could a BB company with Girls' Wing (GW) co-exist together in a church with a GB company. The question caught me by surprise.

My first respond was, "Well, GB and GW cater for different types of girls. The more adventurous will be interested in GW and the more girlish will opted for GB. Furthermore, BB has a school platoon but GB did not enter the school. Therefore the BB needs GW to cater for girls in the school." I'm not certain how convinced he was with my explanation.

This issue has always been closed to my heart. The three most important woman in my life was once a GB member, my mum, sister and girlfriend. However, both my sister and girlfriend eventually joined BB, switching from GB (although in very different circumstances). In addition, I also have the privilege to speak personally with the person who proposed BB to start GW, which was my uncle. Putting aside the biasness, I have to agree his reasons were valid and rational.

Many people who understands both BB and GB well, cited that the GB was not growing in accordance with the development of the generation. In this aspect, I have to agree. In the current fast-changing world, girls are striving for gender equality with boys. Feminine activities such as sewing, cooking, knitting and even wearing skirt does not seems appealing.

I further understand that another reason to start GW in BB was due to the efficiency issue, whereby churches only need to fund one organisation to cater for both boys and girls rather than two separate organisation. Again, this argument seems valid from administrative viewpoint.

However, the relationship of BB and GB should be illustrated as a marriage. In fact, many BB and GB companies were founded together in the same church. Therefore when BB opted to start GW, I illutrate it as taking a mistress into a separating marriage. This will caused more hurt and complication to the already strained relationship. Due to the breakdown in the relationship at the highest-decision making level, the consequences affected everyone in both the organisation. Just like kids suffer the most when families broke down.

Although it has been more than a decade that BB started GW, girls in BB stills struggle with identity problem. God created Man and Woman to be unique. I felt that girls in GW should have their own identity and uniqueness. In BB the only distinction of a female from a male is only an asterisk on the name tag. Other than that, everything is the same. It certainly distorted the differences of boys and girls. In addition, there was even a debate recently in BB trying to regulate that lady officers must only wear pants and not skirts. That reflected the level of tolerance within BB towards the opposite gender, even after more than a decade opening the door to girls.

I wish to add that girls in the GW struggle with identity and recognition problem. There was once, someone pointed out that my girlfriend made a typo error in her resume when she listed Boys' Brigade as an extra curricular activity. In fact, it was hard to associate girls under the name of BB. I always see the strange look on people's face when they hear girls in BB.

When a marriage fails, people tend to start pointing fingers at one another. However, it always take two hands to clap. In this case, I viewed the cause as GB's reluctant to change and BB's aggressiveness and self-centeredness that caused the separation, which ultimately led to the inclusion of GW. Therefore it needed effort now for both BB and GB to reconciliate again. Observing the progress of the both organisation, I am optimisitic that the ideal solution could be achieve.

Lastly, I maintain my stedfastness of perspective that BB and GB should be working hand-in-hand and more ideally, merged into one organisation like the Boys' and Girls' Brigade of Neenah/Menasha in the United States. Therefore, my challenge for leaders in both organisation to humbly come together, putting aside individual interest and self-centeredness, to sort out the differences and worked towards advancing God's Kingdom among the young people of Malaysia.

For more information about Boys' and Girls' Brigade of Neenah/Menasha visit:
http://www.bgbrigade.org/

Dilemma!!!

There is always this dilemma.

• To join or not to join?
• To serve or not to serve?
• To commit or not to commit?

I am sure many people have come across such dilemma such as the above in their involvement in BB. I have also encountered similar experiences throughout the past 11 years in the Brigade.

I struggled with the first dilemma for ages before joining the Brigade. I used to admire the badges on the arms of BB boys since the young age of 5 or 6. I grew up in the church with an active BB company. As I grew older and closer to the minimum age to join, the dilemma of "to join or not ot join" struck me. I struggled for quite a while before deciding to give it a try upon the invitation of two officers. Since then, I never regretted my decision to join the Brigade.

"To serve or not to serve" was a typical dilemma of officers, particularly those with family and busy career. For me, the experience came slightly earlier. While I was a Sergeant, I encountered problems with my company. I decided to leave the company but struggling to with the dilemma of whether to continue in BB or not. Subsequently, I was invited to 1st Penang. Even though I joined 1st Penang after visiting them for only one parade, it took a while for me to decide whether to serve or not to serve in this new company. At that stage, I was already too old to achieve much, BB has become more of serving than receiving. Proud to say, the decision to serve in 1st Penang has changed my whole perspective of BB. No regrets so far in making that choice. I have seen God's wonderful hands building up the company and see boys growing and changing. The experience was wonderful!

The third dilemma, is closely related to the second dilemma. I would think it is difficult to serve yet not committed. Therefore, I believe the decision to serve comes with the commitment to do my best. In BB, I have seen God's abundant blessings on His servants who are commited and dedicated to the ministry. It was such an encouragement to see God rewards them with good health, warm family, successful career, good study results and other success in life.

As I was sharing this article, fresh dilemma began to struck me again. I am now away in Singapore, deciding whether "to join or not to join" the BB ministry. Coincidently, my girlfriend, who used to serve along with me in GB/BB ministry, is also struggling with this dilemma once again, after being away from the Brigade for almost 5 years. I guess, the dilemma is still the same but the surrounding and experiences have made the dilemma more complicated.

Let wait and see how God guides us through!

Is NCO needed in BB??

I would say the second most common term used in the Boys’ Brigade is NCO. What exactly is NCO – “Not Committed Officers” or “Non-Commissioned Officers”?

Well, NCO stands for the later definition but how many of BB members, even NCOs, take time to ponder on what exactly is NCO and what is the function of having this position in the Brigade.

NCOs always prided having stripes on their right chevrons and white lanyard on their left shoulder. It symbolizes authority and higher position compared to Privates. NCOs also have the power to punish boys and give instruction to the other members ranked lower than them. This position is the most-eagerly awaited and most-looked forward short-term achievement in the Brigade. However, how many of the NCOs did actually understand and reflect on its actual role and what is expected of them in this leadership position?

A BB Company can be illustrated as a human body.

• Jesus, the Commander of the Boys’ Brigade, is the head and brain of the body. It provides direction, vision and objective for the company.

• The Officers Council is the nerve system, with the Captain being the major spinal cord, linking the Commander with other parts of the company. Every officer is part of the nerve system.

• The NCO Council is then the skeleton of the body. It provides the support for every movement of the body, which is the various section – Junior, Senior – are the other part of the body like hand, leg etc.

Illustrating this human body, we can visualize the importance of NCOs to the company. Company can have the best vision and goals with all the officers transmitting accurate information and motivate the boys to move towards the goal. However, imagine the company with no bone structure or with weak osteoporosis bones, can the objective be met?

NCOs need to understand their crucial role in the company. As leaders for the Privates, Squad Leaders to your squad members, NCOs must display committed level of leadership. You are bestowed with authority and power to execute your duties as leaders for your squad. However, authority and power comes with responsibilities. When I was an NCO, when a private was punished with 10 push-ups for not polishing their belts, an NCO will be punished with 20 push-ups for similar mistake. I viewed the additional 10 push-ups for NCO as a punishment for not being a good example as a leader. So before you punish your boys/girls, always ask yourself whether you will be able to do better than them? If not, then think twice before punishing because with the authority to punish, you also have the responsibility to correct them.

Every single member assigned to you is like a sheep to the shepherd. Being an NCO is indeed a good opportunity to enhance and learn the art of leadership. If you have learned to handle your squad of ten members, then eventually more will be added to you as time progress. One day, NCOs will become officers in the company and leaders in the society. Then you will realize the experiences and skills learned from the NCO days will come handy.

I observed that NCOs of this generation lacks of initiative and motivation to strive for greater heights. It is extremely important for NCOs to have continuous drive to improve your company. NCO Council provides an excellence platform for NCOs to work as a team to make a difference for the company. NCO Councils can provide many wonderful ideas for improvement, organizing exciting activities within the company and as a support group among NCOs to motivate and encourage one another to pledge their commitment to the company.

However, many a times, strong NCO Council within a company has been seen as a threat to the officers’ authority. I was once the Chairman of the NCO Council and I truly understand the difficulties of having officers viewing the strength of NCO Council as a mutiny (pemberontakan). NCOs must learn to the ways to voice out their opinion and viewpoint in a mature way. In fact, this is the best training ground for you to learn to face the reality of the society. It is good that we learn to interact and debate on our opinion respectably to put forth our argument.

Well, having worn the hat of NCO and then Officer, I certainly viewed the strength of NCOs as a blessing to the company rather than threat to the officers. Officers need to realize that when there are opposition voices from the NCOs, we should take time and consider the argument that the young leaders put forward. We should actually take joy because our future leaders are not merely yes-man leaders but leaders with views and perspectives. Therefore, it is a challenge for Officers to guide these young leaders with the right perspective and framework, according to Christian leadership, to work as a team within the company. After all, the ministry of Boys’ Brigade is for young people and not adults.

Back to the NCOs, are you striving for the best as an individual and as a team in the NCO Council? As leader to your squad member, are you a good example for them to follow? Imagine NCOs with long hair, smoked, played truancy (ponteng sekolah); what example are the boys getting from you? Therefore, NCOs must show respectable image as leaders and yet able to connect with the boys. NCO always needs to build good rapport with his or her members and understand their needs and problems. NCOs should be impacting the boys and girls’ live with their own.

When every Squad Leaders and Assistant had strived to do their best, it is where the NCO Council can perform accordingly. All Squad Leaders should share their squad’s problems and everyone in the team will contribute ideas and support the leader to face and overcome the problem as a team. It is through these team efforts, that NCOs can build the team rapport and move forward as a team. I can assure NCOs that if the NCO Council is united and committed, your company will transform positively beyond imagination. In addition to that, NCOs should also encourage and support one another in our Christian walk in times of personal tribulation and temptation through sharing and prayers. I personally had experienced the wonders of God’s guidance and transformation when NCOs come together in prayer and fellowship.

NCOs – past, present and future aspiring NCOS, feel free to share your thoughts whether is NCO needed in BB?

BB, Drill and I

In my humble opinion, the first BB activity back in 1883 is DRILL. I believed what Sir William Alexander wanted when he started BB was to control and instill discipline into the rowdy boys in his Sunday School class. Well, the best method would be to teach them drill so that we he gives command, everyone follows!

Well, after more than a century, is drill still needed in the Boys’ Brigade? Many argue that the weather today is too hot for drill (at least in Malaysia) and exposing too much to the sun will cause skin cancer. That’s scary!

Personally, drill is the activity I enjoyed most. I liked the feeling of oneness within the team and the smartness with accuracy in executing the movements. There was great sense of satisfaction when everyone is the team do their best in unity.

Having taken part in National Drill Competition in 1996 and 2000, I have gone through some intensive training in drill along with many other physical training, team building and mental psycho sessions were conducted to prepare the team for these competitions. I remembered after one training section, about a month before the competition in year 2000, a fellow Sergeant was sitting down with me and shared his concern with me.

“I’m sitting for my SPM at the end of the year. I have been so involved in this drill competition and have not even started any preparation for SPM. What do you think if we don’t win?”

Well, I remembered replying him that the drill competition is important. What is more important for the company and every member is what we gained in the process of preparing for
the competition. My opinion was we should look at the progress of every member and the team as a whole. We have grown stronger, closer and understanding each other better. Isn’t that already an achievement for us?

To cut the story short, the team actually went all the way and won the National Footdrill Competition despite numerous problems and conflicts. It was a joyous day for the team but certainly one of my worst. The day started off with arguments between three Sergeants in the drill squad, went on to win the competition and the last thing I know is that this will be the last time I drill in this team. I was shouting and jumping in joy but the next moment, I was literally crying, knowing very well I will be leaving the company or even BB. Many thought it was tears of joy but it was indeed tears of sadness. The importance here is the process of building the team and not winning the drill competition. The failure of it that saddens me.

Coming back to drill, what is drill? Is it merely turning right and stamping your foot under the hot sun? Is it worth some much of our time to drill, at least 30 minutes per week?

To be frank, I believe drill is an act to instill oneness and unity within a company and more broadly, in the Boys’ Brigade. When BB members talk about drill, it is like speaking a common language so dear to our heart, regardless of whether we come from English, Chinese or Tamil speaking company. Perhaps Sir William might not have thought about that, but certainly, drill has united us beyond our imagination.

However, as BB marched into the new millennium, there have been so much of changes in the drill system. There was this strong wave of reformation in standardizing the drill system. A drill conference was held in order to discuss and synchronize every particular movement in drill. To me, this certainly does not make sense and illogical!

When I said treating drill like a language, can we expect every Malaysian to sing ‘Negaraku’ exactly the same tone and beat? How then can we expect every single BB boy throughout Malaysia to drill exactly alike? Even the army does not do that. What do you expect then of amateur schoolboys? I am rather skeptical about the reformation.

In the 2003 National Drill Competition, an extra component of BB Drill was included into the marking system. When you have that element, who and how the benchmark is set? Isn’t all who took part in the competition are already BB members? Then everyone should be awarded maximum marks. Sadly that doesn’t happen. To this day, participants who took part in that competition do not know what exactly BB Drill is. Is the reformation for the good for the Brigade or is it causing unnecessary confusion?

The existence of drill competitions is to stirrup the interest of boys towards drill and provides an avenue for boys to have friendly competition. Winning or losing should not be the ultimate aim but just a bonus.

After 12 years actively involved in the Brigade, I humbly conclude that drill was, is and will be the most important tool in BB that instill discipline, building teamwork, concentration and espirit-de-corps as well as physical strength.

What Have I Learnt???

I joined the Boys’ Brigade at the age of 12, rising through the ranks from Private to Staff Sergeant and eventually became a Warrant Officer. Throughout my 12 years in the Brigade, I have learnt uncountable amount of life-changing lessons, which I will share the 5 most important ones.

1) Having a Commander-in-Life

The first, foremost and the best lesson is having Jesus Christ as my Commander-in-Life. The personal relationship built with Him through the guidance of Boys’ Brigade was vital. Although coming from a Christian family, it is through the fellowship and incidents happened in the BB that strengthens my relationship with God.

2) Leadership

Although BB is not the only place I learnt about leadership, but it is through BB that I understand what Christian Leadership is all about. I have the privilege of having committed and dedicated officers to guide and mentor me. The approach of leadership is serving the boys by providing them with example and impacting their lives. At the same time, instill in the boys values of self-respect, reverence, discipline and obedient. The greatest example of Christian Leadership is none other than Jesus Christ himself.

3) Overcoming Homesick

I was a Scout in primary school. Whenever I go for camps, I will cry my way home the very first night. Things did not turned better after going to secondary school. It began to change after I joined BB. It was through prayers and warm fellowship of fellow BB members that helped me to overcome this sickness. The first camp that I managed to complete is Drill Camp in 1996 followed by the week-long Golden Jubilee Pesta.

4) Striving for the Best

My dad used to said, “Don’t do well in your exams, then you better quit BB”. I answered, “BB is being involved in church. It got nothing to do with study.” I assume lots of boys in the Brigade will answer that.
However, after finishing my university and worked, my perspective has changed. Boys must first understand their roles and strive to do his best. Playing a multiple role in our daily life, BB members must work hard and strive for the best in everything they do. It’s all about discipline and the success you achieved in life that will reflect the success of BB training in you. I realized no matter how much you achieve in the Brigade, it will remain as only a small part of your life story. Therefore, strive for excellence in every role you play, be it a son, grandson, student, brother, BB, NCOs etc.

5) Understanding Human Beings

This is the most expensive and most bitter lesson I have learnt. Growing up within a warm fellowship of fellow members in BB was sweet and simple. However, when problems propped up and individuals’ interest come into action, friendship will take the backseat. I learnt the hard way of organizational politics by paying the price of losing all the friends. Backstabbing, betrayal and bad-mouthing became the deadliest weapon. Officers can even misuse their authority to manipulate situation according to their interest. It was also in BB that I learnt the hypocrisy of Christians. Certain people might look pious, religious, caring leader with all wonderful characteristics, however, when personal interest is at stake, the dirtiest and most ruthless ways can be used, even towards fellow BB members and within the BB community.
On a positive note, these incidents had taught me to be more observant and cautious towards the people I encountered. It has taught me to handle different people with different characters in different ways. More importantly, Christians are also human being, therefore they also make mistake.

I remembered!

I remembered! It has been almost 12 years that I have joined the oldest youth uniformed organization in the world. The experiences accumulated throughout this period was filled with joy, laughter, sadness, tears and many more feelings that was indescribable by words.

I remembered! I was 12 years old. One Sunday afternoon in November 1994, after church, I was about to go home. On the way out, I met two BB officers, Teh Tiak and Amos Lim. They offered a casual invitation for me to join them for the afternoon BB meeting. Although I was reluctant, nevertheless, I still when for the first BB meeting that afternoon. From that Sunday, every Sunday afternoon is never the same again. Subsequently, I officially joined the Boys’ Brigade in January 1995, with the 6^th Penang Company.

I remembered! The 5½ years with 6^th Penang Company has been remarkable, experiencing the ups and downs that I guess not many teenagers or even adults had experienced or furthermore, understand! No doubt about it, this period of teenage years was filled with many sweet memories as well as bitter experiences that I would never forget.

I remembered! It was also these 5½ years in 6^th Penang Company that I found Jesus Christ as my Commander-in-Life and in addition, Zhi Ling, my girlfriend for the past seven years.

I remembered! In August 2000, I transferred my BB membership to 1^st Penang Company. Since then, I have been with 1^st Penang until August 2006, where I left to pursue my graduate studies overseas. Six years with 1^st Penang Company has transformed and changed my perspective of BB tremendously. I thanked God for the opportunity to witness His great transformation in the company, from a small company to more than 80 boys when the company celebrated its 60^th Anniversary on 6 August 2006.

I remembered! These 12 wonderful years in the Brigade has been great. I have gained uncountable blessings and experiences, but sadly, along with several regrets as well.

Lastly, “Thank you” Lord for this ministry of Boys’ Brigade and for the opportunity to let me be a part of it.