Annual Show!

Hey,

So here's a short post on Annual Show (particularly for the Sec 1s who don't know what it's like). Essentially, as Scouts, each Scout Group holds an annual campfire and invites other scout groups to attend their campfire. The more ossum your campfire, the better your reputation and the more prestige you get. So campfires are an important way of showing other scout groups how cool you are and stuff. 01 has traditionally had the most awesome campfire in Singapore (I'm not joking) and it's quite famous. The location for our campfire is normally jam-packed on the day itself and everything is planned quite nicely.

However, the campfire won't just be ossum on its own. Everyone in 01 Scouts plays a crucial role in this campfire, from the (mildy sian) banner committee to the more funky dance committees. Don't get discouraged if you didn't get into the committee of your choice, as after all, we're all working towards helping 01 and making this Annual Show a success. So, remember to bring your enthusiasm and excitement for all Annual Show preps and Annual Show itself. I'm sure that it will be an eye-opening experience for the Sec 1s and a wildly exciting event for the rest.

The Burning Issue of Campfires...

Hey,

Recently there have been a series of campfire opportunities for you guys, such as the Zhong Hua campfire, St Margaret's Campfire, and St Andrew's Campfire. I hope to see a better patrol turnout than what I've seen so far (the highest ever turnout was 3 wtf) and a common trend for campfires is to have the PL, APL, and 1 other guy there. I can sorta understand if the Sec 1s don't really want to go for too many campfires, trust me, I've been a Sec 1 before. But for the Sec 2s and Asyraf, I really hope that you guys will try and sign up for more campfires.

Campfires are a unique experience where we can go and have fun as a patrol, and many of the ones I recommend (like St Andrews) are seriously fun. Don't regard going for campfires as a chore, because it isn't. I sincerely hope that you guys will set a good example for the Sec 1s and go for as many campfires as possible. (It's not impossible to have a high patrol attendance for campfires, look at Eagle) Just put in that extra effort to make your life in 01 way more fun and meaningful. I doubt you'll regret it.

Hope to see a better campfire turn-out in the future,
Jun Xiang

My first Patrol Log XP

Hi guys,

jus finished my first patrol log and posting it here as an e-version? critisicm is welcome XP

Jason

FALCON 2011 PATROL LOG

DATE: 21^ST MARCH

SENDER: SOME RANDOM SEC 1 KNOWN AS JASON

RECIPIENT :__( you insert your name here, you know, like in your head as according to act 11.47 of the National Public Library, “It is a chargeable offense to deface a book that is property of the National Public Library of Singapore”. Ahem.)

Chapter: Term 2

Mission: Act 1

And so, today was the inevitable end of the world, as we, the sec 1s of 01 Raffles Scout Group knew it. The terror of the single, lone sheet of paper placed upon our desk was enough to drive some of us into fits of hysteria.

That’s right, as maybe some of you post-apocalyptic survivors who are reading this patrol log may know, it was the WORLD SCOUTS BADGE TEST(cue Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6)(Chester screams out, “Fun!”)

Now as the untrained observer, I drew a general conclusion that most people didn’t study for the test. For those who did, I would give you a ‘free ‘no-need-to-do’5 push-ups coupon, however, that power lies with the victor of the war, and that title clearly screams “Yi Ming”.

Note to the sec one who will get his hands on this very, trusty guide to surviving the yearly holocaust (for all sec ones at least), you should better get what I’m about to tell you into your system if you want to win the rat race.

Step 1) After SUTC, do not go home and sleep. Instead, take your 01 Raffles Scout Badge Handbook and put it under your pillow and sleep.  Make sure you sleep on your pillow.  This extremely effective method is known as osmosis,  and since it has such a weird and fancy name for it, it probably works.

Step 2) Chill out and breeze through the test with no problems at all. Watching your friends suffer should provide some entertainment for the next 39 mins of the 40 mins test.

The small  print: This is a lousy method. Osmosis actually refers to the movement of water molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane down a water potential gradient. Therefore, it is not the posh name for absorbing knowledge as you sleep. Consumers use is at his own discreet.

Step 3) Ignore what was on top of this line.

Now as I was saying, most people didn’t study. I had the extreme fortune of actually studying, during an inconspicuous period in the morning know as ‘Mother Tongue’ where soothing words of some flowing language provided me with just the right conducive environment to study in…

WAIT A SECONFD!!! What was I doing studying in Chinese Class?!

Ok, scrap that last part. Enough of digressing, on to the main show! XP

The test was basically an assassin in the night. History, as all of you know, is one of our 6 core subjects. The test secretly incorporated that subject into the test, which adds on further proof that the GC of 2011 are in cahoots with the history teachers of RI to bring the 01 Raffles Scout Group down to guard against sloppy homework after SUTC. Wait…forget what I just said.

So, it went something like this.

3. Where did Lord Baden Powell die?

Some sec one’s answer: In his house.

So from that one line, you can see why surviving a nuclear fall out is better than our test XP.

Part 2

I sit, and look around me. The fate of my fellow laborers, their plight, oh it breaks my heart. But what can I do? I am but one man, against the might, of the fourth Reich, where supreme chancellor ’GC’ rules. –Excerpt from war survivor.

So after the apocalypse, we were sent down to the labor camp, where I saw a number of my kind being worked for the ‘greater good’. Some of my seniors, despite surving through so much, including the SUTComet, and the GTClash, were now working with their heads bowed down, their spirits broken, reduced to scrubbing pots and pans…

That was a very biased account of what happened. What really happened was this.

Today, we cleaned up our equipment. This is very important as we use our equipment on a regular basis and we are responsible for them.

Random reader holding this patrol log, this may sound very clichéd and stupid, but it will all make sense as you sleep on a mud-caked tent and increase the risk of you getting cancer from the charred bits on the pots and pans, and most importantly, the regret you will feel at the funeral of a random person who got hit by the axe head that flew off as you were swinging to vigorously. 

Another thing you will learn, is the friendship and warmth of the brotherhood of scouting. As you hold up one corner of the wet tent, with other scouts, and run crazily across the field, your heart will fill with joy and you will truly feel the scouting brotherhood…

Ok, choose to believe that or not, but that’s how I felt, albeit on a much, much, smaller scale. But seriously, running around with a wet tent in your hands is definitely one of those bonding activities.

And so as we reach the third piece of paper, in order to save ink and the environment, and to allow a certain someone to escape and do his homework and revise for his Japanese test tomorrow,(and then go to sleep XP) here’s wishing you the best of luck in your scouting journey( unless of course, you’re not a scout, but that can’t be since the den rules state clearly that no non-scout is allowed into the den under ’pain of death’ or something like that, which means GET OUT BOYS BRIGADE or NCC or NPCC!!!)

SUTC

Hey,

So as this all-important and awesome camp has drawn to a close, it is only fitting that I make a random blog post about it. For those of you who have completed SUTC, be proud of it as you have every right to do so. For those who felt like giving up at any point during the camp, look back and marvel. And for those who ponned or missed any part of the camp, envy your friends (:D).

On a serious note though, I hope that you guys found SUTC to be a meaningful experience. I hope that from SUTC, the things you guys take away won't just be buff muscles, but the more important things like greater batch cohesion, discipline, care and concern for others, and initiative. Especially for the Sec 1s, take this as a kickstart for you guys to start speaking up more and to start playing a bigger role in 01. The fact that you guys are the youngest batch should not limit or restrict you in any way. And above all, I hope you guys bear the lessons you learnt from SUTC in the forefront of your minds and hold true to them throughout your years in 01.

Cheers,
Jun Xiang