Year One Induction, 10th February

Hi Guides :-) Last Friday, we invited the Year 1s into our CCA with the Year 1 Induction. This year, we have about 22 Year 1s joining Guides, and all of us were extremely excited to accept them into our Guides Family. To induce the Year 1s into our CCA, we prepared 3 stations of games. Here are some reflections from the Year 3s on what they felt about Friday’s 集合.

Station 1:

Each patrol will be blindfolded and led into a room. In the room, the tables and chairs will be arranged such that it forms a maze and patrol members will be led to different entrances of the maze. In the maze, there is a button which will be known as the escape button and it will be placed in a clearing somewhere in the maze. When a whistle is blown, the patrol members have to navigate their way towards the button blindfolded. Only when the entire patrol has reached the clearing will they be allowed to press the escape button to escape. The station masters will time the patrols and award them points accordingly.

Once both patrols have escaped the room, they will come together for a game of Poison cup. There will be 4 rounds, and each patrol will take turns alternatively to be the “Guessing Team” and the “Acting Team”. First, the “Acting Team” will have to send out 3 people to drink, one of which is the bad one. Then, the “Guessing Team” will be given 30 seconds to discuss between themselves and guess the person who drank the bad one. If the “Guessing Team” guesses it correctly, they will win that round, if not, the “Acting Team” will win.

At Station 1, my patrol was competing with Patrol 5. The first part of the station was to blindfold ourselves before we were led into a dark classroom. When the time starts, we have to try to reach the center of the room to touch the ball placed there in the fastest time possible. It was really fun as we tried to get past the obstacles to reach the middle. There was a lot of shouting and cheering as we speedily made our way to the destination. I think we completed it pretty fast. The next part of the station was to guess which opposing patrol member had drank the 'poisoned drink'. My patrol did really well since we guessed correctly on both attempts. When it was our patrol’s turn to be the “Acting Team”, we took some time to strategise and decided to fake that all the drinks tasted horrible. The one which turned out to be 'poisoned' was the one that I had drank, which was unsweetened coffee. Truthfully, I could not tell that it was the nasty drink because it was much better as compared to what the previous patrol had drank, which was vinegar. Luckily, we did not have to drink that drink XD. Overall, the station was really fun and we had an enjoyable time bonding with the Year 1s!

Station 2:

At this station, patrols are to build a simple catapult. After which, they would try patrol skiing where each member of the patrol will have all their left feet on two 黄木 sheer-lashed together, and their right feet on another two. They will hold onto (18 sets of) 麻绳 handles to move together as a patrol to the next part of the race. The only way to play this game effectively and efficiently is coordination and teamwork. Once they have reached the end of the race, the patrol has to solve a number to letter puzzle, where 1-A, 2-B etc to form the sentence: ‘Welcome to DHSCOY, Fifty First Batch!’ The patrol will have to work together to decipher the 5 codes to form the sentence. After decoding the puzzle, the patrol has to complete a 3 legged race as a patrol back to their base.

Overall, this station was quite funny and competitive. We focused more on speed than quality when building the catapult which caused it to be lopsided and difficult to aim. Nonetheless, we managed to knock down most of the cups (with a bit of cheating >.<). I enjoyed the second part of the station the most. The patrol skiing was indeed an activity which improved our patrol bonding and teamwork, since everyone had to move together to keep moving forward. However, the last part of the station did not prove to be very challenging as we had already practiced moving together. In the end, we came second but it sure was a meaningful station.

Station 3:

Both patrols get three minutes to strategise and decide where they want to position their flags and their safe haven. The flags would be hung on a flag hanger. Once the flags and the safe haven are positioned, the game begins. In order to win the game, you must capture the opposing patrol’s flag, and bring it back to your own territory. But if a patrol member from the opposing patrol catches you while you are in their territory, you will have to head to the jail. You can be freed from the jail if one of your patrol members touches you, and there is no limit to how many times you can be thrown into the jail. There will be a safe haven placed in your opposing patrol’s territory. You will not get caught by your opposing patrol if you are inside this safe haven. The game will be over once one team has won or the time limit (20 min) is up.

We spent 3 minutes strategising on our game plan, and agreed to have a few people playing defensive while the rest played offensive. However, we should have thought more about the implications of such an idea. The moment the game started, many of our patrol mates charged into the other patrol's territory. The other patrol had not made a move yet so inevitably, everyone who entered their territory were caught and had to go to their jail. Those who could escape were caught even before they could make it to the safe haven. After some time watching the other patrol, I decided to enter their territory to save my patrol mates, as there were far too little people on our side. Expectedly, I was caught. However, we lifted everyone's spirits by chatting with each other and getting to know the Y1s better. Then we received news that we could be released from jail on a condition. The Y1s had to name 3 seniors while The Y2s, Y3s and Y4s had to sing Maboleh and Chek Chek Goleh to be released from the jail. We then decided that one person should stay in jail (even after being allowed to return to our base) to save the rest who were caught too. After which, my batch-mate and I decided that she would distract the enemy while I attempted to escape from jail to the safe haven. It worked, but there was no chance of returning back to our territory as there were too many enemies around the safe haven. The fact that the safe haven and jail had been placed on the patch of grass, far from no man's land, further increased the difficulty of the game. Unfortunately, the game then came to an end without either patrol wining. Overall, this station had been really enjoyable but the experience could have been more exciting if we had discussed and strategised in a more logical manner. All in all, I really enjoyed bonding with my patrol mates and although no one actually caught the other patrol's flag, I'm pretty sure that everyone had a lot of fun at this station.

Published by:

Chen Wei
48th Batch Secretary

Patrol Activity, 6th February

Hello fellow Guides! Last Monday, we had Patrol Activity (PA) and this time, the various patrols paired up to conduct their activities. Patrol 1 was paired with Patrol 4, Patrol 2 was paired with Patrol 5, and Patrol 3 was paired with Patrol 6. Here are some reflections on what happened during PA.

P1 & P4:

On Monday, we had 1 mass station and 2 other stations. For the mass station, we were asked to split ourselves into 2 groups with a mixed amount of people from each patrol in each group. One group had to do a flag pole structure according to a given proposal while the other had to do circuit physical training. For the structure, we did not carbon copy the frames properly and should have tied the flagpole neater to the 2 crosses. We should have also allocated manpower properly and brought our things nearer to where we were building the flag pole. For the next station, we were asked to layout our things in the 配备 and change into our Physical Training (PT) kit. Instead of having 2 Year 3s arranging the layout while the rest went to change, we should have had an equal number of Year 3s and Year 2s doing it together, because the juniors were lost when they had finished changing and no one was there to guide them. We also 过时-ed and got 2 bottles kupped from us, had some labels missing, and did not keep our uniforms quickly enough. In the future, we should check the things in the 配备 properly beforehand to be more efficient and be more vigilant to prevent our belongings from being kupped. For the last station, 2 members of the patrol were 'injured' and the rest of the patrol could choose whether or not to administer first aid while we were given the main task of building a structure with 木 provided and the 白绳 in our 配备. For this activity, I felt that we could have worked harder on remembering the steps to administer first aid more completely. The patrol leader could have also spoken up more. In the end, our structure was not done too well as we put groundsheets over a table with benches and the shape of this meant that water could not flow down the ground sheet and thus the structure would collect water (should it rain). Overall, while we could identify the injuries, we should have and will work more on our time and people management.

P2 & P5:

For Patrol Activity (PA) on Monday, P5 had combined with P2. After that, we split into our batches, the Year 3s and Year 2s. For the Year 3s, we had to build a Kitchen Shelter. At first, we were quite speedy and had a better sense of urgency but as time passed, we became slower. For me, I think this was due to the fact that the 麻绳 for our main guyline kept on snapping, forcing us to have to 倒 the structure repeatedly in order to reattach the guyline. This was quite demoralising, but with constant cheering, we managed to build the structure within an extended time. One thing we could have done better is definitely to 照顾好东西. Our arthurs were kupped once but we did not realise it until it was time for us to 起 the structure. This was irresponsibility on our part and certainly could have been avoided if we placed our logistics nearer to us. Secondly, we could have also chose better 麻绳 so that we could 起 the structure up more quickly. Finally, we should have communicated more with our fellow patrol mates so that the structures can be finished more efficiently. All in all, I look forward to more PAs where I can learn more lessons like these. 

P3 & P6:

During PA last Monday, we worked with Patrol 6 and had to build two emergency shelters, one kitchen shelter and one flagpole. Overall, I felt that we could have done a much better job at time management. We had to stop building the emergency shelter and flagpole halfway because the kitchen shelter was taking too long to 起 and the Patrol Leaders thought it would be better if we all did it together. I think we could have sped up the pace for the flagpole and emergency shelters because the standard time for an emergency shelter is around 3 minutes. As there were many available manpower, many patrol members—especially the juniors—were unsure of what to do and just stood around. I believe that it would have been much more productive if we, as seniors, had stepped up to lead and show them what else they could help with. Even though we were generally clear on what to do, there were still some hiccups along the way, for instance when we did not connect the 蓝木 to the canvas sheet, or when we forgot to minimise the distance between the 青木 and the canvas sheet resulting in a saggy shelter. We should take note of things like this in the future so as to never make the same mistakes again. All in all, I think as Year 3s, we could have led the juniors better by being more sure and confident in ourselves as all the hesitation and unnecessary discussion wasted a lot of time. Better manpower allocation and cheering to boost our morale could also have made the PA a lot easier.

Published by:

Chen Wei

48th Batch Secretary

Skills Training and CNY Celebrations, 3rd February

Hi Guides! Last Friday, we had an Alumni Training where some Year 6 guides came back to train the 团. Most of our activities were carried out in our respective batches. Here are some reflections from Year 2s, Year 3s, and Year 4s.

Reflections from a Year 2…

Firstly, we had inspection with the Year 3s, where half of us did Physical Training (PT) while the other half did inspection. One special feature of this activity is that no time limit was given—each group would feel compelled to work as fast as possible so that the other group would not have  to carry out PT for too long. After one round of inspection, both groups swapped roles. However, this time it was harder as the current group doing inspection had to lay out a flipped version of the layout done by the group before them. I was part of the 2nd group, and this activity taught me how important communication was between the 2 groups as we had to work together to finish the task. After inspection, the Year 2s and the Year 3s split into our various batches. 

We (the Year 2s) had to mass change into guides uniform within 5 minutes. However we 过时-ed as not all patrols had one representative who was ready in time to ask for time extension. Next, we did PT again by running as many rounds as we could around the Media Resource Library (MRL) for ten minutes. Although we were reminded by the seniors many times to 等人 several times, we often forgot and from this, I feel that we should improve by looking out for our batch mates more. After we finished running, we were told that if we had ran more rounds, we would have a higher chance of choosing an easier PT from a box (resembling a lucky draw). As we ran 9 rounds in total, we managed to draw 2 relatively simple PT from the box. We did burpees on the 3rd floor, planking on the 4th floor and 站马 on the 5th floor. The challenge on the 6th floor was the most fun as we were split into three groups, namely P1 and P3, P2 and P4, and P5 and P6. We went into different classrooms and had to figure out what we had to do through deciphering the guides code. For P1 and P3, we had to build a baggage rack. One thing that can be improved would be to have a better time management, as we had ended up having to require assistance from other patrols. After this activity, we had to mass change again, 拆掉 the structures, and bring the logistics back to 团部 within 10 minutes. This time, we were more organised as we agreed for each patrol to split themselves into two groups. One group would mass change first, while the other would help to 拆掉 the structures first. Afterwards, we would swap roles, and one group would bring the logistics back while the other would mass change. This system also ensured that we had a representative from each patrol to be able to ask for time extension if needed. In the end, with a time extension, we managed to finish everything and everyone was back by around 11 minutes. However, one thing which could be improved would be to 照顾好东西 as many of our water bottles were kupped throughout the activity. At the end of the activity, we had a feedback session from both us and the alumni. After that, we got to eat 团圆饭, which was really enjoyable. Overall, it was quite a fun but tiring experience because even though the PT was really tiring, it was enjoyable to do it and cheer together as a batch.

Reflections from a Year 3…

Alumni Training for the Year 3s mainly comprised of Inspection, Physical Training (PT), Pioneering and Tent-Pitching. 

For Inspection, the Year 2s and Year 3s had to split into 2 groups where one group would do the inspection first with no specific layout while the other group would do PT. Once the first group was done with their inspection, the two groups would reverse roles. However, the 2nd group would have to use the flipped inspection layout from the first group. This proved as a challenge for the second group as we did not observe the layout of the first group and were very confused. However, after some prompting, we realised that we could consult the other group who were doing PT for the inspection layout. 

After the inspection, the Year 3 batch was split into two groups. One group would do Barang PT with our school bags first while the other group would build a Kitchen Table and an 8-man tent on the floor. Personally, I felt that the PT was quite challenging as it was the first time I did Barang PT with my heavy books and school supplies, but this session had also helped to toughen me up and get a glimpse of what Know Your Body (KYB) would be like in the upcoming Patrol Leader's Training Camp (PLTC) in May. After that, the two groups reversed roles and I was in the group building the 8-man tent. I felt quite confused at first as I was not familiar of how to build an 8-man tent on the concrete floor. This helped me to learn more about more structures and think of different ways of how to pitch a tent without having to 打进.

Overall, although I felt that this 集合 was tougher and more mentally challenging than usual 集合s, it helped my batch to realise that we had to step up our physical fitness and start preparing for PLTC and thus inspired us to arrange for batch PT once a week! All in all, we are thankful for the  Alumni for coming back and teaching us many new things. :)

Reflections from a Year 4...

Last Friday, we had a training session with the alumni. Our task was to build a tower and a bridge which we had to alter whenever we got an update. Having not tied lashes for quite a long time, I could feel that my lashing speed had decreased tremendously and i felt that my skills had dropped. Nevertheless, it felt great to be down and carrying out activities. A pivotal point in our training session was when we had to change our entire structure as it did not fit the criteria for an update. We only had 30 minutes left, including our time extension,  and we had to redo an entire structure. At that point,  I really could feel myself work so much faster and the overall sense of urgency amongst my batch mates was incredibly high. I’m proud to say that we had completed our structure in time even though it had seemed almost impossible. Sometimes, it's a sudden situation which inspires us to push ourselves beyond our limits and be our best selves. Perhaps this could be a way to instil a better sense of urgency in our juniors instead of the constant reminders which may be futile.

Published by:

Chen Wei

48th Batch Secretary