Sec 1 CCA Orientation 2009

Beatty Sec Sch had its CCA Orientation last Saturday morning, and i must say that it was a very quiet event this year. We certainly did not see as much Boys and Parents as compared to previous years. Maybe the school statistics are inclining towards the girls population.

Nevertheless, the Scouts had done a great job of putting up a wonderful booth display. The team headed by PL Nicholas Loh, did the usual stuff but added a new item this year. They had put up a mobile Movie Screen behind the booth to showcase our Adventure videos.

The event was quite a noisy one, espcially so, since we were stationed next to NPCC and NCC. But still, we managed to speak to a couple of Sec 1s and their Parents who were very keen in the Program that we offered. The Boy's Bridage & Girl Guides Booth was also quite a nice one, and we hope that they would have a good recruitment this year as well.

Whatever may be, all Scouts,Leaders & Rovers had done their best to showcase Scouting. Sec 1s will join us if they are keen in the Outdoors and in our program. Let's just wait for the numbers to be confirmed. Thank alot to Mr. Wong Sung Kok (Chairman, Beatty PSG) who turned up at Beatty in his Woodbadge Scarf, in support of Scouting.

Sec 1 CCA Recruitment Part 3: Why Join Scouting

Hi Friends,

Thank you very much for visiting the Blog of Beatty Beaver Scout Group. Let me welcome you to your new school, and we really hope that the past week had been a fresh and interesting start into 2009 for you, with new friends and environment.

Well, I'm sure you had visited all other CCA Booth on Saturday, and had heard quite alot from many people about their own CCAs, and I'm sure you would have heard about Scouting from them too.

We hope you would take your time to go through our Blog, and see the Recruitment Videos and the Pictures of our activities in 2008. This blog should give you a rough idea of what Scouting is about, and if you want to get a better idea, come on down for our first meeting on 16th January 2009, at the Scout DEN.

In a Nutshell, let us tell you, WHY JOIN SCOUTS?

• You get to go Overseas and expose yourselves with the cultures of the World
• You get to make Friends with Overseas Scouts as well
• Scouting makes your boring school life more Adventurous
• You get to meet lots of Girl Guides when we go Campfire
• You learn how to be a Good Leader, which prepares you for Army & for you LIFE
• You get to make new Friends from other Schools in the District when we go Camping

Sec 1 CCA Recruitment Part 2: Why Join Scouting?

Scouting is a lot of fun. You really have to try it for yourself to understand why. Scouts offers you challenges and skills that will help you when you grow older. It can even help you get a job! But more than anything, it really is a lot of fun getting to make a whole bunch of friends along the way. Every Scout Troop is different, but we are confident in our program and we have had a lot of smiling faces over the years to prove it.

Scouting is one of the most exciting experiences a boy like YOU can have. You can go camping, travel across the border to meet new friends, challenge yourself with adventurous activities that develops you physically, build your own "playground" with Pioneering Poles and ropes, and many more stuff that many other friends of your may not have the privelage to do.

Sec 1 CCA Recruitment Part 1: Why Join Scouting?

Scouting attracts a lot of members, each with his or her own reasons for joining. Some come willingly; others have been convinced to join. Let's look at some common reasons young people join Scouts.

1. Fun and Friendship: Boys like to have fun with friends. The camaraderie of Scouts is one of its strongest draws. Boys can enter a friendly environment to play sports and games as part of a team. The Scouter is like an older brother or sister, offering friendship and security in a different way than parents and teachers.

Scouting provides an alternative to sports and other clubs that put competitive pressure on young people. Scouting offers them the chance to succeed as a member of a group.


2. Setting and Achieving Personal Goals: Boys like to challenge themselves. They find satisfaction in reaching small goals--earning a badge, for example, or learning a new skill such as firelighting. Then they can set larger goals-surviving a first hike or camp or canoe trip. Later, they may want to earn the Chief Commissioner's Award or set personal standards for their own lives.

Their goals are guided by their interests and hobbies. After awhile, Scouting itself may become the hobby. Whatever a young person's goals, Scouting can provide a way to meet them.

3. Independence and Responsibility: Boys want to become adults. Scouting gives them the opportunity to take small steps towards independence. When they join, they may be breaking away from parents for the first time, and the experience can be fun or lonely.

As they progress in Scouting, they are ready to take larger steps by planning activities, outings, and camps and learning from their experiences, good and not so good. If they become patrol leaders, they become even more responsible members of the group. Perhaps the leadership role is an important goal in itself, something through which they gain confidence and esteem.


Adapted from The Leader

Launch of New Recruitment Posters

The Scout Group has launched a set of 4 posters for this year's Recruitment, to better reflect the changes in the Unit's focus in Scout Program, as well as to bring out the message of Scouting and it's benefits to the new students of Beatty Secondary School.

This year, the Group would also be heavily publicizing the Scout Movement through it's Blog and also through these Posters, ahead of the CCA Orientation Day on 10th January 2008.

We hope that the initiatives this year would help us get more Sec 1s to strengthen our Unit Membership.

Happy New Year, Beavers

Hello Beavers,

The year 2008 had been a very eventful year with plenty of events organized to celebrate our 55 years of existence in Beatty. As we march forward into the year 2009, may i wish everybody good life and health in the coming year. Always remember your Scout Promise and do your best in whatever you embark on, and your good deed everyday. Let us look back at 2008, and reflect on our path taken over the year and learn from our mistakes and set ourselves new limits to reach.

In 2009, some of our major events would include:

1. Founder's Day Campfire & Investiture (FEB)
2. Annual Jobweek 2008 (MAR)
3. Scout Skills Camp (APR - Tentative)
   
4. Vietnam Scout Exchange & Service Learning Trip (JUNE)
   
5. 4D3N Group Camp 2009 (DEC - Tentative)
   

With these events to look out for, lets work towards a better future for our Scout Group and all.

Yours in Scouting,

Scouter Kumanan

Recee to Abandoned Railway Track

Many of you may have heard about the Malaysian Railway that runs between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands. But what many are not aware of is the Abandoned Railway Track that is more than 50 years old. Where is it? How it looks? And why is it abandoned?

These were the questions that were running in the minds of the 3 adventurous Patrol Leaders, who decided to explore into the mystery and have their questions anserwed. Well, of cos, they didn't go alone. They had their friendly guide, Scouter Kumanan, to guide them through the trek.

The trek started of with us walking alongside the Malaysian Railway, trying to find the slip track that goes away from the main track. Having trekked this route before, Scouter Kumanan was quite familiar but somehow, the overgrown bushes had hid the slip route. Finally we managed to find the route and proceeded on into the thick jungle. As soon as we entered the forest, we started seeing reminence of the Railway track in its original condition.

Throughout the trek, we were faced with plenty of obstacles and challenges. Crossin over thick fallen trees, and navigating ourselves away from thorny Palm trees were a constant turn off. To top all these off, came our biggest challenge of having to cross the dark tunnel that was filled with, god knows what. The whole tunnel was muddy, slippery and wet. You can see frogs and fishes jumping occasionally and giving you a shock at times. Even after crossing the muddy tunnel, we had to bypass knee deep water drains to cross over to dry land. The rest of the trek after that was very much dry and clear. Except for occasional weird calls of birds that we had not heard before at all.

As we drew closer to civilization, right before our eyes was a old bridge (probably over 50 years) crossing the Ulu Pandan River. It certainly looks majestic, compared to those that we see in MRT. Crossing the bridge, over the river was a mind challenge posed to Zhen Jie who was afraid of heights. Not only had we got to cros once, but twice.

In overview, the trek was great one with God's blessing, as nothing bad happen especially in terms of weather. The trek ended with us having a lecture from Scouter Kumanan on how to do a proper Programme Planning for our Patrols and what to look out for when we bring them out for such Outdoor Trip. Oh yea, we learnt about RAMS as well.

National Patrol Camp 2008

The results are out for the National Patrol Camp 2008, and we are glad to announce that the Patrol of 7 we sent had clinched a Bronze Award, despite the tough competition and high standards posed by other established Units. The Scout Group had previously sent Patrols to the NPC 2001 & NPC 2003, but this would be our first time clinching an award.

We hope this award would motivate the Scouts of future batch to outdo their seniors in the next NPC in 2011.

Meanwhile, no awards or medals come without any sweat. The Patrol consisting of the following Scouts had trained tirelessly over the entire month of November coming down to school to train hard. They had to go through 2 Pre-NPC Camps totaling 7D6N to prepare themselce well enough for the Competition.

1. Goh Wei Yuan (PL)
   
2. Choo Xuan Jie (Camp Cook)
   
3. Chua Zhong Han (QM)
   
4. Alvin James Ting (Welfare I/C)
   
5. Yip Keen Wah (First Aider)
   
6. Ang Mao Wei (Asst. Cook)
   
7. Koh Zhi Rong (Asst. QM)
   

Well Done Beavers !!!

Aiming for Bull's Eye: Archery for Scouts

Who says Scouts don't learn the skills of using weapons. Has the picture on the right given you some proof. Well, the Scouts may not be armed with dummy pistols and wooden rifles, but we sure can prove how good our skills are using a Bow & Arrow.

The Scout Group had organized for a 8 week Archery Program for our Sec 2 Scouts and above, giving them a 20 hours of Archery skills learning and practice. Throughout the 8 weeks, the Scouts sure had lots of fun becoming a young Robin Hood in the making.

At the end of the course, all Scouts had achieved their Master-At-Arms Proficiency badge and also completed their Skills component for the National Youth Achievement (Bronze) Award.

Centra Area Scoutlore Quest 2008

Well Done Beavers !!! We have clinched the Gold Award for the Inaugural Central Area Scoutlore Quest 2008 held on 30th August at the Raffles Institution Campus. Beaver Scout Group was competing against two other teams, both from Raffles Institution, the school with the best brains of our nation. RI 01 came in as Champions and RI02 came in as the 1st Runner Up. The team led by APL Chua Zhonghan had many "Happy Reading" sessions in preparation to the Competition.

Team Members:

PL Nicholas Loh Kian Seng
APL Chua Zhong Han
APL Choo Xuan Jie
Scout Abdul Gader

The Scout Lore is a body of tradition and knowledge that has evolved with the Scout Movement since it’s founding in 1907. The Scout Lore Quest aims at creating an awareness of the Movement’s rich past among its members. It is also a platform for scouts to learn how the Movement has contributed to the progress and development of a harmonious and peaceful, albeit diverse society that we live in today.