Roaring Monkey Roars

1st - 3rd June 2010, Chung Cheng High School (Main) Leadership Developement Program

2010-06-10T23:18:00.001+08:00

C – Committed ( with passion we learn)

C – Confidence ( with pride we progress)

H – Honourable ( with integrity we live)

M – Mentally tough ( with perseverance we strive)

S – Servant Leaders ( we lead by example)

HI BOBS~!!! It’s a just about a week now after our camp, hope everyone’s doing great! ^_^

It’s been sometime since I did full, overnight camps, let to say leadership camps. So I was really looking forward to the camp. A camp is a learning journey for both the instructors and campers. With each camp, we encounter a different group of campers, different problems and have different ways to solve them.

This camp was a special one. Many of the activities are in fact rather new even to me. Some are combination of a few activities to make it more challenging for the campers. Also because this is a leadership program, there were more activities that require camper’s thinking skills, initiative, communication skills and command & control.

River challenge was modified by adding a building challenge to it to test the ability of campers to give clear specific instructions.

Games with a point required campers to come up with a new game with a learning point and then conduct the game for the cohort. A test of organisational skills, briefing, execution, command & control and debrief.

Besides the activities, there’s something new for me in this camp as well. Though it’s not my first leadership program, but it’s the first time having “non-student leaders” in my group. Despite having everyone introduce themselves during the ice-breaking session, I did not realise this because there were a few others who also did not hold any leadership position yet. This turned out to be a problem.

In Leadership Programs, much more is expected of the campers. Stricter, campers expected to be more proactive, self-motivated...etc... This is usually a little too much for the “normal campers”. In usual cases I’d be able to motivate those that are not so driven to press on, however, I fail to realise the needs of this small group of campers. The root of the problem only came to my realisation on the 2^nd afternoon when I decided to pull them out instead of stopping the whole group. After Shuko, the camp chief spoke to them while the rest of the BOBs carried on with planning for Games with a point.

This is really a lesson for me. 2 years back when I was really seasoned with regular camps, I’d probably realised the problem and fixed it on day 1. But that’s no excuses. Because I was too excited to see what this group of leaders, BOBs, handed to me are capable of, I overlooked that small group. Something I should really remember not to do in future. On the other hand, handling a “different” group like this is a pretty interesting experience as well.

That’s about it for personal reflection....now let’s talk about BOB?

GREAT CAMP BOBs~!! But....I’m going to nag again... PLEASE STOP THAT PUSH BUTTON SYMDROM!! Once that’s out of the way, you guys can really go far. There are some really, really, promising individuals in BOB. You know who you are. ^_^

I believe you guys know what to do, what right. The something that’s lacking is perseverance, believe and some guts. No matter how good a plan is, if it cannot be carried out, it stays in your head, nothing is going to happen. The starting is always the hardest, if you know it’s right, push on, like what I’ve told Xin Hao. He did try to encourage others to take the lead, but gave up after just a few tries. Push on for what you believe.

Be more confident. A leader is not someone who knows everything, someone who does not commit mistakes. A leader is someone who makes responsible decisions and ready to face the consequence of his/her decisions whether it turns out good or bad. He/she is HONOURABLE and ACCOUNTABLE. A leader doesn’t need to be the best.

A leader is one that makes the best work seamlessly together to achieve greater things.

In case anyone’s wondering why keep a blog on camps, it’s for REFLECTION. It’s for me to think and condense my lessons learnt from. For me to know my weaknesses so I know where to improve. If you guys read the post on MJC’s leadership camp, there’s more on “reflection”. Know your weaknesses, that the key to success.

OH YES! Please do leave comments? I wanna know what you guys think about the camp too! And, maybe even how I fair?? And yes, it ok to criticize. ^_^

I'm STILL ALIVE~!!

2009-03-04T23:43:00.003+08:00

HEY~!!
haha...
i'm still alive and kicking!
lol...
sorry for not updating for soooooooooooo....... long...
wonder if anyone still reads this...
Anyway,
been really really busy TRYING HARD to juggle studies and DANCE~(WEE~)
concert's in less then 2 weeks!(wonder how's ticket sales...heard it's not really that good>.<)
on 15th march at national lib drama centre.
been dancing almost everyday...and last week, everyday.(literally)

just came back from diving trip over the weekend...quite a sad trip cos my dive buddy, instructor MAO pang-seh me...T_T

anyway...
that almost sums up what i've been doing lately? kinda no life?
NO. DANCE is LIFE. lol.

Hope everyone's doing fine~!

Han quan, Ye An and kayying, NO!
I REMEMBER ALL OF YOU.
XINMIN Leadership camp!
haha...

Management with Humour Lect 5

2008-12-27T02:51:00.002+08:00

"NEEDs"-Motivation to work.

One need to be motivated and willing in order to do a job well.
One of the most important role of a leader is to motivate his team to perform to their best potential. To motivate means to make the team willing to put in high amounts of effort and work towards a common goal.

People are motivated by “Need”. The need to get better that what you already are. The need to live better than you are living. Need to affiliate with others. Need of sense of achievement....etc. If a leader is able to make the team see the need, and make them want it badly, the team will be motivated to work. However if the team is satisfied with what they have, there will be no motivation to get better.

Needs, according to Maslow's can be classified into higher(“spiritual”:social, esteem, self-actualization) and lower(physiological (hunger...etc..), safety) needs.
When the lower needs are not satisfied, one usually will not consider the higher needs. When you cannot even have full meals a day, you wouldn't think about things like getting famous.

The lower needs are usually the more powerful motivators. Eg. When you are dying of hunger, you can even forgo safety and try to get food that's dropped on the road. But would you give your life for something like fame? I believe for most people, the answer is, “no”.

The need to affiliate is another powerful driving force. Humans, as emotional beings have desires for interpersonal relationships. Very often, people are willing to stay working at a place because they have friends there, they like the culture there. To these people, the good relationship with colleagues is the motivation to stay on and work hard.
Eg. When I was working as a camp facilitator under a certain company, even though all of us working together under the company knows that we can easily find other companies that pay much better, we still stayed on because we enjoy working with each other.

Management with Humour Lect 4

2008-12-03T18:38:00.002+08:00

Here's a little something for you guys to read if you too border and have nth better to do...
something I wrote about managing people for my management module.
We can discuss this if anyone's interested. haha...

Understanding behaviour is very important in human management. To make majority of the people feel happy under your management, you have to be able to understand how and why they behave the way they do.
Humans can behave very differently when they are alone compared to when they are with a group. People can also behave very differently when they are with different groups.

People often conform to a certain way of behaving with they are with different groups at different places to avoid conflicts and also not to look “out-of-place”.

Very often, the behaviour of a person is linked to his attitude towards something.
Everyone has a way of looking at themselves and others, the cognitive component; how they feel about something, the affective component; how they intend to behave, the behavioral component.

What's interesting is, even though everyone of us have a certain way of looking things, how we look at ourselves, what we perceive to be the right thing to do. But very often under different circumstances, we often do not do what we think is right or what we originally intended to do. This, is cognitive dissonance.

We always gave ourselves excuses and reasons to do things different from what we believe in and sometimes even what we know is wrong. This is exactly because we want to look “normal” with the group. This is like peer pressure.
It can be good and bad.
If the influence is good for example, a lazy employee placed in a very hardworking work environment will be “forced” to work hard.
On the contrary, if a hardworking employee placed in a very lazy and laid back working environment can “turn-lazy” so as to fit in.

Last paper tml~!!!!

2008-11-19T21:54:00.002+08:00

YEAH~!!!
IT's FINALLY OVER~!!!

tml's my last paper...
then it's gonna be dance dance dance and prob a bit of piano and guitar~!
b4 my lousy result kill my joy!
haha...
hope everyone's doing great!

Exams probably over for everyone le rite?
Hope u guys did well!

YEAH~

I'm still alive/Management with humour Lect 3

2008-11-03T18:39:00.004+08:00

Hi ppl...
sorry for being dead for so long with the lag of updates...
been dancing alot and busy with essays projects and stuff....
exams round the corner!!! in 9 days!!
and after that it'll be dance everyday cause competitions coming up and a performance too~
haha...
hope everyone's going great!
those in sec 2 hope yall did well for ur streaming!
sec 3, hope yall did well too so you can play hard this hols. Next year's TEH year for yall!

well...
here's a little something for you guys to read...

Leadership styles and having the right person for the job

An organization can have many different structures and with these different structures come different ways of management.
The different structures also makes the job scope and work load of the the employees different. From highly specialized, in which employees of a specific department do only one kind of work to one which is diversified. In which one employee can have many different jobs.
From highly centralized, where there's little autonomy and decisions are mostly made by higher management while employees have little say; to highly decentralized, where employee at given much more autonomy and more say and chance to make decisions.

Highly specialized can improve productivity by eliminating redundant “actions” as everyone know has to worry about doing their small part right.
Highly centralized management will make decision make very fast and efficient.
Highly diversified job scope ensure employees do not get bored of their job.
Highly decentralized management give employees more autonomy and a bigger part to play thus possibly giving them higher job satisfaction.

However, it is not the type structure that determines the success of the organization. Rather, it is whether the structure employed fits the people with in the organization. Whether the management can work with the particular kind of structure and whether the employees are comfortable and able to derive satisfaction from working this way.

This is where Human Resource Planning comes in.
Not only must one know when and where to bring in talents, where to put them.
Job profiling can be done to find the best person to fit the job or vise-versa.
This is important as if the wrong person is given the wrong job, he will not be satisfied and this will decrease productivity. He may not be able to do the job well either.
E.g. If someone who does not like decision making is given a job under a highly decentralized management structure, he will be satisfied as he's forced to make decisions.

SORRY~! Been MIA-ing~

2008-09-25T22:47:00.003+08:00

Hey....

Haven been updating lately....
Sorry if any one's waiting for me to post...
Noticed the significant drop in number of hits...

Been really busy...
Just got back from dance class...

Went to Tioman for advance open water course over the weekend and only got back on monday evening...Then went for dance chalet the next day....got home this afternoon...took a nap...then went for dance class...
SHag~ but I'm LOVIN IT!!

DANCE. EAT. SLEEP. REPEAT.

Anyway, I hope everyone's doing great! And doing their best.
I'm trying to be my best too~
Hope I'll be able to post more meaningful stuff for you guys to read soon~

GO Monkey Spirit!

So busy with school.....

2008-09-13T23:26:00.003+08:00

Hey...
been a long time since I last posted...
sorry guys if anyone is waiting for my next post...
have beeb really busy tryign to study for tests...
it's CA week...
term break's coming...
hope i'll have time to update soon.....

hope everyone's doing fine~

Management with Humour Lect. 2

2008-08-30T16:30:00.003+08:00

Decision making and Choice.

A problem may exist but it is not a problem unless you are aware of it.
Also, you choose what problems you have in life. You yourself decided if something is going to be a problem to you.
Ask yourselves, " Can I live with the problem?".
If you can, then it is no longer a problem.

After analyzing the situation and having decided on an alternative to resolve the problem,
things do not end here. A manager has to make sure everything goes according to the new plan and do follow-ups.
Evaluate the outcome. Was the plan effective? Has the problem been solved?
If it is not, new measures need to be taken to solve the problem.
This is especially important today with the ever changing world.
Situations are ever changing and so are the problems. A manager has to follow-up regularly with consistency.
If a manager is inconsistent, his subordinates will have problem following his lead.

Just like treating an illness, solution to a problem has to address the root of the problem and not just the "symptoms".
Addressing the problem only on the surface is only a short term solution.

Dwelling too much on trying to get the best solution, you will realize every solution has it's problems and end up not being able to decide.
Every solution brings with it a seed of the future problem.
Problems will keep appearing.
That is why we need a manager.
Very often, there is no 'Best' solution/outcome for a problem.
The manager has to decided if it is "good enough" and "can I live with the problem?".
Not "giving up" and pull out of a situation early enough because you do not want to waste all the effort that has been put in can result even more lost.
Just like in the stock market, people decide to buy-in even more instead of selling, when then prices are dropping.They do so because they do not wish to lost the money they have invested by selling off their position at a lower price.
Very often, this kind of mentality causes them to go bankrupt.

Dayang Adventure: DAY 1

2008-08-19T21:53:00.017+08:00

Day one wasn't much actually.
Zedong and I got to the dive shop at around 0810.
Waited for the rest to come while we packed our diving gear.
As soon as everyone arrived and we were ready to move, we loaded everything on the
a van and we're on our way.

Passed the custom an arrived at Johor at around 11am.
We stopped for and early lunch at 1120.
The place we had lunch was interesting.
The food were laid out buffet style.
We took what ever we wanted to eat, and after we sit down, the waiter will come over and write
us the bill according to what we have taken.
Wonder how they actually charge...
I ate alot as this would be the last meal before we arrive at Dayang for dinner.

After lunch the van then took us all the way to Mersing without stopping.
Much of the road was just straight down all the way to the horizon.
The journey wasn't really comfortable when though the van actually has a TV for us to watch.
It was really packed as we have lots of equipment with us.
When we finally arrived at Mersing after the near 2 hour journey on the van(as usual, zedong had motion sickness and he slept through the journey),
we couldn't wait to get of as our butts were aching.

When we arrived at Mersing, the boat was already waiting for us so we boarded immediately.
The boat ride lasted nearly 6 hours and was really bumpy due to strong winds and choppy waters.
The boat wasn't really big so we couldn't go fast also due to the water condition and the fact that we are going against wind.
As the waters got more and more choppy as we got out into the open sea, the boat ride seem more like a roller coaster ride. haha..
I sat on the side of the boat, enjoying the wind and I could see clearly how much the boat was tilting.
Sometimes a little scary. But fun!
I stay on the out side of the cabin almost the time,
when the wind blowing salt water at me and later drying it off,
by the end of the journey, I was literally covered in salt.Haha...
Some of us slept a bit during the journey, it's just so long.When I got up, there was white line of salt running from my neck all the way down my right arm. lol...
Zedong slept through the journey after staying awake for the first 40mins to 1 hour after taking his motion sickness pills.
I tried to take a nap but couldn't really fall asleep with the the occasional splashes of water and the boat shaking so violently.
But because some of us were not sleeping, we saw dolphins as we were nearing Dayang!
Though sadly, they were too far for my camera to take any clear pictures of them.
But I took pictures of the beautiful sunset behind us. haha...

When we finally arrived at Dayang, it was already 8pm.
Unload our stuff, checked into our dorms and snacked while waiting for dinner.
After dinner we chilled and had a little guitar/song session before we called it a day.

That's pretty much for Day1~

Going trekking tml!!

Management with Humor Lect. 1

2008-08-16T19:45:00.005+08:00

Hey, it's been sometime since I last updated.
Been busy with school.
Well, I realized before I post about the Dayang trip, I can actually shared this.
This post and a few more to come are actually part of my project for my module, Management with Humor. We are required to write a 300 word learning journal after every lecture for the first 5 lectures as part of our project work which is worth 60% of our results of this module.
As I was writing, I thought, ,my learning out come might be useful to some of you guys interested in leadership stuff. So here it is.

The lecture started with the lecturer telling us about how his book, “Management with Humor”, was turned in to a course by “chance”. This reminded me that in life, you need that little bit of luck for success. Also, many things we do/create for a certain cause, may result in something unexpected. Just like when the Internet was first “invented”, no one knew it can do so much and cause so much impact.

Many of the things I've learn from the lecture can actually related to my experiences and an adventure camp instructor.

Different places have different management systems. The style of management largely depends on the work culture of the place and the character and personality of the people in the system directly affects how the systems functions. This is why when we enter a new environment, be it work, school or society, very often we need time to get use to the culture and they way things work.

It's just like how you can find your things in you “untidy” room initially but not after your mother tidy it.

Different people have different ways of working and thus managing different groups of people would also require different styles. Just like how every camp is different.
I can never use the same style to interact and handle campers from different schools and age groups.

The manager needs to be able to bring his point across accurately in order to be efficient and effective. “Fear” may be able to people work more efficiently, but coupled with unclear instructions, it will still result in ineffectiveness. (just like example of cleaning toilet in the lecture) A manager asked the cleaner to clean the toilet and make sure anytime he checked the toilet is spotless. The cleaner worked very hard to make sure it is spotless. To make sure it's stays that way all the time, he locks the toilet.
The task is completed.
But this is not effective.
It has totally defeated the point of having a toilet and cleaning it!

Humans are emotional beings. How we feel directly affect our productivity. Everyone likes to feel recognized and valued. And when we feel recognized and valued, we are more driven to work because we do not want to be a let down and thus increase in productivity. The opposite is also true.
Just like when campers feel that instructors really cares and believe in them, they show improvement and perform better.

All, if not most of us always choose the conventional way of doing things. It's human nature. We choose the safest way—the one that many have used and proved to be the best.
However, with the ever changing world today, what works today may not work tomorrow. Managers have to be innovative, to be able to stop, think and come up with new ways to solve problems.

BACK FROM DAYANG!

2008-08-13T22:24:00.003+08:00

Hey~
It's been sometime since I last updated.
Sorry~
The blog is still ALIVE!!

Just got back from the expedition on Sunday night.
Haven't updated yet because I missed 2 days of school.
Really busy trying to catch up now.
haha...
I sure I can do it...
GO MONKEY SPIRIT!!!
I must!

The trip was great!
The natural cliff abseil....trekking...diving....
Everything was COOL!!

I'll be posting about each day of the trip soon as soon I catch up with school.
Or when I can squeeze time to do it.
So stay tuned~

Thank you for your support to Roaring Monkey~
YEAH~

FIRST DAY OF SCH!!

2008-08-05T02:13:00.004+08:00

YEAH!!
SCHOOL WAS GREAT!! haha...
Especially the last lecture on "Management with Humour"
The lecture was really interesting and the prof was a great speaker!
But, first day and I already ahve project to do.
haha...

and...OMG....
it's 2.22 am now...
just got back home not long ago...
checking my backpack for tml's trip...
woot...
the one i've been talking about.

well, going to MIA for at least 6 days.
will update on the trip asap.

Wish me luck~

Beginning of a new chaper. Is this the end? When will be the next time?

2008-07-30T23:02:00.005+08:00

For the past few days, I've been looking through the camp photos and video I have.
Some of my old blog entries.
Blogs of campers.
Reminiscing.

School is going to start this coming Monday.
4th August 2008.

Wanted to do that last camp from Monday to today.
28th-30th July 2008
Wanted to mirror Zedong or Baoyun.
Wanted to mark this point in my life with something dramatic or at least something really memorable.

But, sadly, CANNOT.
Zedong can I had to go for diving lesson.
Leaving for Dayang for a recce/exploration trip next Tuesday.
The lesson ended at 1030pm.
By the time we got back to Choa Chu Kang, it was 1137pm, the last 975 was gone too.
Not only couldn't we attend the last campfire,
we could not go in to crap with the instructors for the last time too.
I was intending to write this post in JBac, where I immerse myself in the atmosphere there.

It is a pity I couldn't end it the way I wanted.
However, it may just be a good thing too.
It's not like it's really the "full-stop" in my "career" as an instructor.
It's still in me.
I'd probably still do camps when I have the time.
But, this "imperfect ending" will probably make sure I'll be back for more camps.
Because I'll be reminded that, "there wasn't an ending"

I wonder when will be the next time....
The next time I put on the instructor T....
The next time I wash the toilet at JBac...
The next time cheering with campers....
The next time I feel like throwing up blood because of campers....
The next time I cannot sleep because I need to do sentry....
The next time I have a campfire...
The next time I hear, "Instructor, when can we wash up~?!!?".....
The next time.....

So many memories....
The fun with campers.
The fun with instructors.
The lame joke sessions at night.
The problems campers give me.
The happy faces of campers.
The improvement you see in the campers.
The....

I'm sure going to miss camp.

Don't worry.
I'll continue to post on this blog.
Stories, show recommendations and reviews, outdoor stuff....etc...
Though there won't be can camp post for sometime...

P.s: was looking at uni schedule....maybe September 20th - 28th can do camp! lol...

Taggie replies.

2008-07-29T13:29:00.003+08:00

Racy: Hey~ haha...yeah... long time no talk....glad you're doing well. ^_^

Amanda: haha....yeah....the injury sucks... I'll be going for diving lesson later think it's going to hinder me.... and the expedition next tues day, hope it's not going to stop me from doing anything.

Rena: Hey... haha... Well, it's company policy to protect campers and mainly male instructors i guess. Things like campers getting too attached to instructors, feeling betrayed when instructors get busy to talk to them, sch or parents no happy about campers being too close the instructors, more extreme cases of camper being raped by instructor(seriously i dunno how true this is)....yadayadayada......
I dun really care cos I believe I'm not the type that female campers will go crazy over, and if remaining in contact means that I can continue to influence them positively, why not?
I know I may not be the best role model, but I hope my campers can learn form my positive side.
I think i explained in one of my post. but for got which one...
BUT, it's different when we get hunted down by campers(as in somehow find our emails and add us), which happens really often...haha...so... yea...

23rd-25th July 2008, Greenwood Pri P5 Adventure Camp

2008-07-27T21:12:00.004+08:00

After slightly more that two weeks from rest from full camps, finally back to doing full camps.
But the camp that just ended is probably going to be my last camp.
School's starting next week. Going to miss camp days, miss the people and the fun we've had together...
Shall leave this for the next post or something
For the past 2 weeks, I've only been doing 1 or 2 day events here and there and going to JBac to help out in a camp.
Been taking courses these past 2 weeks too.

Well... let's talk about the camp now...

The camp didn't start well for me actually. It's the first time ever that I dreaded the start of the camp so much.
My mood wasn't right due to some personal problems.

I thought I wouldn't be in the mood to be handling 40 little monkeys, but for this camp, there a change in the system.
Instead of the usual, where the 2Ic is the station IC and only the IC follows the group.
Both Ic and 2Ic follows the group. Making the handling of campers much easier.
And apparently, according to the camp operations, the campers are quite good, so I thought it will not be so bad after all.
But on Monday I starting dreading the start of the camp again, all the way till Wednesday when the campers arrived at the campsite.

I didn't want to push away the camp just because of my mood because I though that it is irresponsible to do that.
Just because of some personal problems, if I pushed away the camp only 1 or 2 days before the camp started, the company would have a hard time trying to find replacement.
Plus, my troubles had nothing to do with the camper or the company.
I cannot affect them because of my personal problems.
I had to do what I had to do.
I locked myself for this camp, so I am responsible.

The weird thing is, when the students arrived and when I took over my group, the moment I realised there are "problematic" campers in my group, my drive came back.
Though probably not 100% of what I usually have for camps, but I felt motivated for the camp again.

The camp started with Ice-breaking which lasted slightly longer than 1 hour.
I made sure the ice breaking session was done well because--lesson learnt from Jurong West Pri camp...

Generally, the camp went on quite smoothly besides the fact that the hand full of "problem" kids giving me problems throughout the camp.
The 5 of them were constant up to some monkey business and they had very short attention span. Most of the time they did not listen to briefing and debriefs. I had to stop activities or briefings so many times just to talk to them.
Despite many repeated reminders and they still carried on their ways, they are primary school students after all, they need constant reminder.
It was really unfair for the group, having to stop and waste the group's activity time or wash-up time juts because of these few students -- look at the big picture. Don't neglect the majority for that small minority.
On the last night, I left them alone and spoke to the rest of the group only after debrief.
The few of them were blatantly lying on the floor and sleeping. Not wanting to do their reflections or listen to the debrief. So I kept them back to finish everything after I let everyone go.

Some of the activities that are especially worth mentioning are River Challenge and Command and Conquer.

River Challenge was our first activity.
The task was to get the whole class from 1 end of the "river"(the Milo pond) to the other in a given time.
On their first try,they took 18 mins and got only 8 people across because the wasted a lot of time getting in and out of the water and deciding who sends the floats and PFDs back.
Though in fact, around 13 people already went across, some of them just wanted to play more and didn't care about completing the task. So after the got out of the water and took of the PFDs, on subsequent trips, the wanted to send the floats back, so time was wasted for them to put on the PFD again, getting into the water then send the floats back.
Alot of time was wasted this way.
Largely because they didn't plan well and stick to their plan when they were given the time. Also many of them were only thinking of whether they got to play.
Had to make them learn.
So I cut the activity and debriefed them on their first try.
Wanted to prove to them how much better it would be if they planned and stuck to it. And also how much better it would be if they worked as a team.
Wanted them to know the importance of having a shared vision in a team.
I gave them the plan, told them the record timing and that usually it would only take 20mins for a class of 40 to finish the task.
Then challenged them to finish it, to prove to themselves that it can actually be done in 20mins.
In the end, the task was completed in 20min 30 sec.
Hope they learnt from that experience.

Command and Conquer is worth mentioning because of the the team spirit they showed. Especially the girls.
Command and Conquer is a game where the kids get to play with water bombs.
The task was to take out their opponent's castle or people. The number of water bombs each group/each person has is actually limited. You would expect the kids to want to throw the water bombs themselves but the girls and a few boys in my group surprised me.
The group was split into 2 smaller groups and we played against another group.
When 1 sub group ran out of water bombs I went over to the other group and ask, "hey, our other group has ran out of water bombs to defend or to attack, we are a group right? You are allowed to pass them some water bombs. Do you want to do that?"
Without any delay, they immediately handed a few water bombs.
The team work and spirit they showed really surprised me.
Maybe the debriefs really got into them.

My reflections:

After camp, for some weird reason I actually felt better.
Maybe the injury to my hamstring helped a bit too.
(I injured my hamstring AGAIN during campfire. Got sabo-ed to come out to do split during campfire. Thanks to my lousy mood I think I forgot to tell them I'm injured. 3rd time this month. It never got to recover totally. This time it serious. I couldn't walk or stand after that and also for the next day. It's stupid, but I didn't want to disappoint the kids. Passion/stupidity is going to kill me one day.)
This sounds stupid. but it was so painful I couldn't think of any other thing. Then I suddenly though to myself, what's been bothering be for the past weeks, suddenly I'm not thinking of it just because of pain. Maybe it doesn't mean so much after all??

Guess what I can bring away from this camp for myself is that don't run away from things. You'll never know what's installed for you. Maybe you'll feel better after that. It may not be the camp that really made me feel better but it's a fact that after the camp I feel better.

I'm sorry that this post may sound negative to you readers out there. But I hope you guys can understand and learn from this.
I'm not afraid of showing/sharing my feelings, even some of the more negative ones.
Even when I know that some of you(I'm not flattering myself) might look up to me as a leader of some sort.
What I hope you guys see is not just the negative side of me. But my willingness to face up to the problem and to solve the problem. Not run away from it. Some of you who have been talking to me might know that it wasn't easy for me either. It was really a mess and I was really quite lost.
But what's important is that you have to face the problem.
For those who still think that a leader needs to be perfect, this is what I think--a leader need not be perfect, no one is. You just need to have the courage to face your problem.

For those who are actually worried for me, if there are any,
sorry for making you worry.
Though it wouldn't harm if you dropped a few comments or taggies?hahha...
to let me know you're reading too...XP
I'm ok. Just that I'm still recovering form the hamstring injury.
Hope I'll recover in time for diving class tomorrow evening and for my expedition next week~

P.S.:
Thank you Jesslyn for what you said to me. It really helped.
HuiMing, thank you too^_^

Back from camp!

2008-07-26T15:53:00.002+08:00

Yo!
Back from camp!!
hmm....blog seems to be dying...
wonder how many ppl are still reading...haha...
cos no comments or tags....
but at least I know there are still a few that are reading....
as long as anyone still reads, I'll write.
haha....
anyway, before I go on to post about the camp I just had with Greenwood Pri,
taggies reply...

Daniel: o. THAT daniel. lol....hi.

Samuel: sorry....which samuel r u? camper? which school? or instructor???>.<

pokpok: yo! lol... haha...i'm ok. wa abt u?

Jiahui: haha....hey....yea....it was painful too and showering with that hand like that was worst.... ur banned lifted??

evelina: hey. i'm doing ok. you? hope all's ok for u too.

jesslyn: haha...i'll try... passion and stupidity is going to kill me someday. lol...

ok...
that's that...

stay tuned for the post on Greenwood pri camp.
comign soon...

5-7th July 2008 Meridian JC Leadership Camp

2008-07-20T18:09:00.009+08:00

To MJC campers who actually know about or read my blog, really sorry for the late update(2 weeks...I know...).
Been really busy attending courses and yes, procrastinating...
I, too, need to to discipline myself more...
That aside, here's the post about your camp.

The camp's the last one of my 5 back to back camp streak.
Unlike any other camps that I've done before, besides being a leadership camp, this is the first camp that I've done that is joint with the soft skill side of High Achievers.
The leaders of MJC where there to lead a leadership model(which name I forgot, was it TLC???).
My debrief points after activities, though they are essentially the same thing as what I usually teach. It's made more challenging because we have to fit these points into The Leadership Challenge’s Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®.
Shall not talk about the leadership model here though.

The camp started for the camper in the morning where to attended the soft skill module during they day time on the first day. We took over only in the evening.
When we got there, the campers were already very "high", shouting, cheering and all. Guess that's what you'll be expecting form leaders.
Took over the campers and did allocation of huts, then it was dinner time followed by the night activity--candle war.
It's a game where we just need to observe the campers. Their integrity, teamwork and planning.
Shall not talk about how the game is played.
The game is designed to tempt the participants to cheat. Also, they are given limited resources which when ran out, means they can only defend. It's up to them to decided how to play the game.

The game also very much about Choice.
"Spies" are also planted in every group to observe the group.
My group, Cool Heat, really had the spirit to have fun. They didn't care if they won. They cheer and laugh at everything and had fun.
This is the kind of spirit you should have when facing anything.
Being able to--Shake It Of.
Especially when you encounter failure and difficulties in life. Instead of drowning yourselves in sorrow, think about things you've learnt from the failure/the process, and how much fun you had during the process.
You haven't lost everything.
You learnt a lesson and you gained experience.

It was the campers choice whether they wanted to cheat.
The place was really dark and it would be really tempting to cheat, because if you really follow the rules, the game would be so much more troublesome to play.
It's to make participant cheat.
True enough people cheated, thinking that no one was looking.
We would keep quiet and just watch them cheat and only talk about it during debrief.
The point here is, in life, there are many many situations that you can cheat, you can do something illegal. Because you think no one is looking, because you think you can get away with it.
It's your CHOICE.
Can you answer to you conscience?
Will you be proud to succeed by cheating?
Do you have the integrity to play by the book even when no one is looking?
When you won't get caught?
Then again, are you really sure no one is looking?
Could it be like in the game, "hidden observers" have been planted?

Also, as a leader, what will your team think of you when they see you cheating and going for the easy way out?
You ARE modeling the way.
Do you want you team to be cheating and "cutting corners" for the easier way out when you give them instructions?

Rafting was the first activity and I was the one doing the briefing for all 3 groups doing the activity in that slot. Similarly the briefing had to be linked to the 5 practises. Chief Jeremy was there to observe. Everything went on fine, but he observed that I use "ok" very often to assure myself before I start a sentence. I need to work on that. haha...
Anyway, back to the activity.
Since they were leaders, the challenge to them was to set the time needed to plan and complete the floatation device themselves and stick to it.
There was no time reminders by instructors as we want them to be able to keep time in check themselves.
Also, since they are old enough, the "rafts" are expected to stay in one piece after entering the water.
As the timer counted down, I observed that my group lacked a sense of urgency. Something I observed and already pointed out to them on the first night.
Many were talking and sharing ideas, but they are not focus enough on the job. though everyone is working, but they are working very slowly.
Only when they realised they only had 5 mins left, then they started rushing.
This actually also one of the biggest problems of Cool Heat.

You can have a great plan, a great idea, but if it cannot be materialized in the given time, it's as good as nothing.
As a leader, you must really be able to get the team to focus and work fast.
You must always keep track of the dateline.
Know your priorities.
Think, being punctual vs being early. In this case, finishing early vs finishing on time.
Why wait till the last minute then go into a mad rush?
Have you considered, if you take things too easily till the last min then start rushing, what if you realise there's a mistake somewhere and things need to be changed?
Besides the risk of not being able to complete a task, last minute work not only compromises the quality of the product that was rushed to complete, it also leaves no room for error and changes.
I.e., even if you manage to finish things the last min, there's no room for changes/improvement/correction after completion.
Compared to, if you plan well and with a sense of urgency, complete it fast. You'll have time to do checks to remedy any errors and improvements to produce the best results.
Think. Doing good vs Doing you BEST.
Note, having a sense of urgency does not mean you rush to complete things producing sub-standard products.

After Rafting was campfire preparation. Everything went on really smoothly as expected.
My group missed abseiling due to bad weather. It's really a pity for them, many of them have never tried abseiling before.
However, when the rain stopped, we had the MOST entertaining CRC session ever!
Tabitah was so cute! Screaming and shouting "Wait wait wait..."
I got it on video.

Song session after dinner was almost entirely ran by the campers. After we practised a few campfire songs, got people to come out to lead cheers, the cheering just went on and on.
So many people where standing and stomping on the small stage we were afraid it'll collapse.
The campfire was great too(though I sprained my ankle running around the campfire. dumb me.). Though every single group did skit, which is actually what we really hate to see during campfires because usually it gets very dry and the audiences will get bored. But surprisingly, all the skits were really entertaining. The only problem was they are all too long. Except for Cool Heat's, short and sweet. Chief Jeremy was telling me, get you group to cut short their performance, we are really overrun. But I told him, not to worry because ours is short.

My Reflections:

Generally, the camp was great.
However, I think I have done better.
Half way into the camp, I was actually a little taken aback by the calibre of the campers.
I very much felt that many of them, if only the just had a bit more drive and spirit to strive of the best, they can very much be as good as any of us instructors.
This actually shook my confidence a little.
I thought, "am i good enough to have them look up to me as their instructor?"
One of the reasons cause this negative thinking could also be the fact that I was too tired and wasn't able to think well. I was question myself if i was delivering what i set out to teach.
Probably because I was too tired, I couldn't really tell if I did a good job.
Come to think of it, now that I've had enough rest, I shouldn't be thinking the way I did.
Clearly, I was able to spot their flawless and point out to them where to improve on.
I shouldn't have been shaken even by that tiny bit.
It could have affected the quality of my guidance.

Lesson learnt: Always be confident in what you do.
And, when I'm doing back to back camps, remember to sleep instead of staying up till 4 am for lame joke sessions...-.-

I wanted to do this camp despite my tiredness because I felt I needed some energizer, a really great camp, to perk me up(Hong Kah Sec did too. but I've already locked myself for this camp).
To make that burning passion in me even stronger, like what Xinmin Sec Camp did.
Also wanted to challenge myself as this camp is ran very differently from other leadership camps where we "tekan" the campers.

Also, this camp has soft skill sessions that other camps do not have.
Like I always tell my campers to challenge themselves and try new things, I wanted to challenge myself with this new style, which really proved to be quite hard.
Throughout the camp, the campers where rather laid back and relaxed.
A little too relaxed in fact(again, no sense of urgency).
The biggest challenge to me is actually instilling the sense of urgency in the campers without any punishment of any sort(without tekan-ing them). This would have been easily achieved if I used my usual style.
The objective was to make the campers think and truly understand the importance of having a sense of urgency. Therefore we only talk to them about it and leave them to think and decide if they want to waste time.

Despite the great camp, level of fulfillment for us instructors form the camp was actually not very high, as we do not see marked improvement in the campers.
It's good because it shows that these campers are really leaders.
But bad because it means that we do not see marked improvement in areas that we pointed out.
Hope campers will remember things they learnt in camp and apply them.
And work on weak areas we pointed out.

Message to Cool Heat(if anyone from Cool Heat is reading, help me get the whole group to read?):
I hope I've done a my best in leading you guy in the camp. Hope you've learnt something from the camp and from me. Hope I managed to Model the way for you guys by showing you guys what I think a good leader should be like--my monkey spirit, my passion and my determination. Hope it not just a tired guy trying to hype up himself and finish his job. Remember what I said about sense of urgency and perseverance. A good leader needs lots of determination and passion to overcome difficulties and setbacks. You guys have got what it takes. Work on the flaws I've mentioned to you guys. You guys can certainly achieve much more.
And who knows, maybe we can be fellow instructors in High Achievers or Trekkers?

Key to self improvement: Self realization.

You need to know and acknowledge your flaws before you can improve on them.

Also, something extra, now that it's 2 weeks after camp. Have you guys, not only those who are from my group, thought about this--how much have you learnt(from your instructors or from the camp generally) and how much have you brought back? Are these skill/lesson useful? Are you applying them?
Leave your comments so that I know?
Thank you.

Toilet party! haha...

16th July. Cable Ski at BATAM!!!! WOOT!

2008-07-18T18:39:00.026+08:00

Woot!
Went to Batam for cable ski with Zedong and Lesh(a fellow instructor from trekkers).
Lesh's the one that organized the trip.
I'd probably be organizing one myself soon.
This is going to be a photo intensive post.
Haven't recover from the sprain ankle I got from the MJC camp actually.
But went for the trip anyway, I don't regret!
It's was fun!!!
Compared to SKi360 at East Coast, I think Cable Ski park at Batam is much more worth it.
Why?

Rates:
Ski360: $115 for 8 hours on weekdays.
Cable Ski park at Batam: $97 for the whole day(will reach the place at around 10am Sg time. Can Ski till 7pm Sg time), plus, the $97 includes the ferry tickets, tax and lunch!
So much more value for money. The Ski park is much bigger at Batam too!
You can also experience much more at Batam. I'll talk about it later in the post.

We met at 8am at Habourfront Centre Mac. Waited for everyone to gather, Lesh handed us our boarding passes and we took the ferry to Batam at around 9.20am.

Here we are, on the ferry going to Batam. Great Whether!!

Arriving at the place!!!
Some pictures of the place. Nice right!?
So much bigger than Ski360.
The place is also very relaxing.
If you still cant ski, go on a we day like us. You'll have almost the whole place to yourselves and you can ski till you drop.
No long waits!

There were monkeys at the the gate!!
Kept by the person running the place!!

Day beds!

Pool table!!!

It was a weekday and few people were there, so we can even do the Batam jump, or some call it the Batam Fear Factor---climb up the cable tower and jump down!

Scary. But fun. It's also really an experience for me as an instructor.
Very often in camps we tell campers to overcome their fears when doing high elements like abseiling, challenge pole and zip line.
However, sometimes it's hard for us to understand their fears because we've done it so many times. We trust the equipment and we've forgotten what the fear is like.
Jumping of that tower with no safety other than the water below was nerve wrecking. But I told myself, it's a chance to experience the fear. I have to overcome my fears too.
I was a chance for me to experience what campers feel.
Will try to upload vids of the jump. haha...

Lesh hanging on cos he didn't dare to just jump down. LOL!!
Posing with the knee board!
I did 360 spin with the knee board! weee...
will try to upload the video.
Yes, we are chilling. Can?

Me and Zedong trying the wake board.
The photos look cool.
But seconds after then picture were taken, we fell. haha...
I held on to the handle too tightly when my board went into the water. Though I pull myself out. Instead it got ripped out of my hands. Skin got torn.
First aid given was, clean with alcohol swipes, which was super painful, then tape it so that it doesn't rub against the handle. Yes, scotch-tape! First layer is up-side-down so that it doesn't stick on my dropping skin. 2nd lays was to wrap around and secure it. This way I can carry on playing! Kinda crazy, but it was only 2pm, we had 5 more hours!
Though, before going for it again, I decided to take a break on the day beds. The music was playing and the wind was good. Some of us, including me, even fell asleep!
The place is just so relaxing. The music played comes from our own Ipods.
You can just bring your Mp3 player there and play it there. So you can listen to anything you want. The sound system's pretty good too.
If you go with a bunch of friends on a weekday like we did, it's almost like you have the whole place to yourselves. There's not many other people.
Really a good place to chill out.
After we got enough rest(sleep), we went to try wake boarding again. And the handle got ripped out again. This time the dropping skin plus more skin and the tape all came off together.
Pain!
But this time it's almost time to go back already.
Wanted to stop, but suddenly realised I haven got a picture taken of me in action.
I.e., standing on the wake board in water.
So, went on with that injured left hand anyway.
haha...
That photo up there of me on the wake board was taken after my hand became like what you see below.

After that it was time to go and they shut off the motor for the cable ski.
But guess what?! That's not the end.
One of the workers there climbed up the tower and tie one of the ski handles to the top, so we can play...er...Swinging Tarzan?
haha....He let us climb up the tower half-way, grab the handle, swing and drop into the water.
Was really fun!
No pics for that, only vid. will try to upload.

Aside from skiing, I also learnt how to ride a bike there(should have taken a photo)! haha...
The place was big, so if we fall far from the launching point, there a motorbike to pick us up and ride us back. That's actually the most dangerous part about the trip. Because you will be riding with no protection. No helmet, no shoes. Only your shorts, PFD and your board. lol...
Plus, it's kinda off-road and they ride pretty fast(I dunno how fast cos there isn't even a speed0meter for me to look at!!).

To end this, the trip was really fun. Most of the people working at the ski park are actually pro or semi-pro wake boarders. We even got to watch free show! One of them did lot of stunts for us. He competed in one of the competitions in Singapore and actually got 2nd place. He's really good.
Not only did we have fun skiing, we got free show. haha...
Going to organise another trip there myself....

Will try to up load the vids asap.

P.s.: Btw, just got my sport climbing lvl 1 today. wahahha...

Taggie replies.

2008-07-18T18:25:00.002+08:00

Just got back form Batam!!
haha....
first to reply than blog about the trip.

Nive: hi. I'm not sure if he has a blog lay. haha...

Shihui: lol... cos rumble no group photo ma...got meh?

Sirong: haha....u all happily tgt dun fight i happy le. hmm....really dunno sia... that time i'm prob doing my last camp before school starts.

Alison: ur alison from where? sorry, really bag with names. plus os many alison. see u will remember ba...

HuiMing: lol....of course. li hai rite? haha....cos zd keep saying " with a 'g'." lol... so i know lo. then saw ur name on ur shirt too. ya. i remember liao. haha... lol... wad pro...eh...y u not so "crappy" during camp, joke with u u always like blur blur one. now liddat?
u means u accidentially stumbbled across my blog? my group ppl wants the camp photo can i cant pass them man. though they gave me my blog. but nth lay. though they gave me their email(no chance to return them), i cant contact them. cos technically we are not supposed to keep in contact... but if they hunt me down then not that bad. stupid rite. but it's like that.

3-5th July 2008, Hong Kah Sec Sec 3 Adventure Camp.

2008-07-13T17:29:00.008+08:00

Shall not with about Ai Tong Pri camp since I'm only there as belayer.

I'm going to try writing this post without all the day summaries, think it's kind of boring reading it. But, please comment? Haha...so I can make changes accordingly?

Here goes....
After so many schools in the East, finally one in the west(for HA).
During pre-camp brief we where told that this camp would be a little challenging and the culture is actually quite different from the schools that we've done.
And that there's lots of malays in the school.
Please note, I'm not racist. In fact, I like it when there are many malays.
More fun.
The interesting thing is, because of the number of malays int he school and also because of the school campaign to encourage chinese to learn malay and malays to learn chinese, many of the chinese actually knows how to speak malay. Some chinese can even converse in malay with the malays.
Really interesting. Always wanted to be able to do that.
And the more challenging the campers, if I'm able to run the camp well for them, the better the sense of accomplishment.

There where a total of 14 group instructors in the camp. Most of the class where separated into 2 groups and shared by 2 instructors. Only my the first class and my class is taken by only 1 instructor, my class, 3C, only had 29 campers(one absent).

On our way to the campsite, it was already evident that there are a few boys in class that were more "nosier" than the others. If they could direct their energy to doing constructive things, it's going be a great camp ahead.
Actually, I would say that that the class is quite problematic. Not because the students are delinquents but because there seems to be lots of tension, conflict and misunderstanding.
The problem between chinese and malays is actually quite serious in the school. But luckily in my class, there wasn't much of such a problem.
However, the class seems to be quite divided. On the first day, ready a fight nearly broke out because our class flag went missing and someone started pointing fingers.
Also, there's this girl that was sort of "out-casted" because the class didn't like that way she behaves and the way she want things her way.

The tension and misunderstand in the class is most probably due to the way they talk. Especially the boys. From the start of the camp, I've never actually heard a decent conversation within the class. The way they speak was more like quarreling.
I had to pause activities so many times to talk to them.
Even had to cut an activity just to make them communicate with each other.
I had to stop so many time to remind them of the same thing, they actually remind me of Jurong West Pri P5 camp that I just did.

It is really saddening to see them behaving they way they did. And seeing the way the class is divided.
Secondary school life, for many, would actually be the best time to make friends. No where else later in life as a student will you actually have chance to spend 4 years with a friend. Secondary school friends, for many, are actually the ones that you are going to be with till you grow old. As we get older, we get more busy and will have less time to actually make friends.
In JC, you only spend 2 years together, and because of the busy schedule many might not really have time to bond with classmates.
In Poly and Uni, because it not a "classroom teaching" style, it's not easy to make friends either.
So to 3C and all the readers and my little monkeys out there, really really treasure your time with your friends. Make more friends. Not enemies.

The objective I set for myself for the camp was really get the class to bond. And to help them learn to talk to each other and clear the misunderstanding. It was really quite demoralizing and saddening to see them they way they were.
But, I had to do my best. They need me. I cannot go "down".
Was actually mentally prepared for a "Cui" camp.
Was like hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.
Turns out, it was actually one of my more fulfilling camps.
Things started changing a bit after I cut the Rafting to talk to them and during campfire prep time, they were sort of working together. Though there was a bit of hiccup along the way. The campfire performance turned out great.
They seem to be starting to learn to work together. Hope they really have...
Was reading SiRong's blog that day....
3C reverting back to the old ways again??

3C: Even though you guys might say that you guys will not get angry at each other because you guys already know each others style.
But do you really think it's ok?
It's not. Even if you are not angry, you'll lose the motivation to talk things out.
Think about it, how many times have that happened?
When there's a misunderstanding or when you guys want to talk things out, then because of the way you're talking to each other, you just think, "aiyah, it's pointless to reason with him."
I believe this has happened countless times.
Because so many things are left unspoken, then tension and misunderstanding builds on it and make the class even more divided.

Living in a group takes skill and tolerance. We all have to learn to tolerate each others differences. Learn to give and take. I'm not saying that the class have to give in all they way to Nive. Try to solve things the peaceful way.
And Nive, the guys need to do their part in understanding you, but should you do something about yourself as well? When it's not only a few people in class that against you, surely, there's somethings you need to re-think isn't it? You're not living alone. Remember.

3C and esp the 5 of you that I spoke to, remember what I said.
Hope you guys can really make you secondary school life,
The Time of Your Life.

Finally went for my Kayaking 1 Star

2008-07-13T16:48:00.002+08:00

Yeah!!
Almost 8 years of kayaking, and even doing KI for camps,
I finally got my one star!
On the 8th, the day right after my 5 camp streak ended on the 7th, 12 hours of kayak course!
lol....
I was quite tiring because I haven't got enough rest yet.
Nearly fell asleep a few times when the coach was explaining the theory behind certian things we need to do.
But the course was fun!
Out of 21 of us, 19 were trainers, roughly half from innotrek and half from trekkers.
As expected, many of us all very hyper and crazy. Lol..

The course was conducted by innotrek and since most of us are trainers, the course was modified and a little extras were thrown in. Things like observing current, familiarization of the waters and surrounding at Sarimbun/Jbac/Christine camp and slightly more rescue techniques.
It is to allow us to facilitate better in future, though many of the things some of us already learnt through experience.

We also cover ideal places to raft-up during high and low tide, dangers of drifting and capsizing near the fish farm.
Last activity to let's us practise rescue, the coach got all 21 of us to capsize and timed how long we need to get everyone back on the the kayak.
We took only 17mins plus. whahaha....
The practise was to let us know how to do rescue in an event where we ourselves capsize with our campers or when we go kayaking alone with a friend and bought of us capsize. It's roughly the same as when I do rescue in the water. hahah..

Company wants to push us up to level 1 coach.
Probably going for 2 star end of this month or early August.
Then Level 1 Coach course will be at the end of August, but it's only for selected trainers...
I WANT!! This way, even if I can't do full camp when school starts. I can at least do KI.

Taggie replies.

2008-07-13T16:38:00.002+08:00

Sirong: Hey. About the bbq, i'm not sure if i'll be free. Plus, it's actually against company policy.
Really really appreciate the effort though.

annting: er...hi? Gan laopo? wad's that sia?

natalie: lol...ok...

claudia: Hi! liew....but y dumbo again....

Caroline: haha...y dun like mad spa.... you liked it rite? her group was the ONLY group that got to go to the water fall know. lol...

26-28th June 2008, Jurong West Pri P5 camp.

2008-07-12T18:29:00.003+08:00

This post should have been up long ago...
Day one was written on the end of day 1 itself.
I brought my lappy to camp.
Part of day 2 also...
But later was too tired to write, I needed the rest and energy for my camp...and also some problems lately...so...
sorry for the late late late up date....

Day 1:
The school arrived late at Sarimbun.
Ice breakers where not done.
Took my group for the first activity--rock climbing.
The kids where lively all climbed really well.
West-side school.
I live in the west too...
hmm...maybe that's where all the monkeys come from....
Was expecting a great camp ahead, as the kids seemed quite enthusiastic at this stage....
but...Murphy's law proved itself....
speaking of monkeys, to my "horror", they really behave like monkeys!
They were really playful, had short attention span, on top of that, they were not cooperative and there where many conflicts with in the group.
Most of the campers in my group, esp the boys are really self-centre.
They only wanted to have fun and have many tried of the activities themselves and never considered that the other group members hadn't try.
Activity time this 1hr 30 mins per-session because they where did not cooperative and i had to stop sooo many times to tell them off, and wait for them to gather and settle down, actually time for each activity as actually reduced to less than 1 hr.

Rock-climbing, they climb and queued up for 2nd try even b4 everyone in the group tried.

Gladiator(boys vs girls), few of the more active and aggressive boys did of the tying of the catapult and the launching.
There was a lack of communication, or rather, they did not how to communicate,
when i said that everyone should be getting a try, these few boys actually started shouting and scolding the other boys for not helping.
When it's because of their aggressive and harsh ways that they other boys felt left out.
They where complaining that they didn't get to do anything and only the few boys are having fun.
They didn't get it even after I went over and told them their problem a few times.
They continued their selfish ways.

Command and Conquer, another game with water bombs.
The same few boys wanted to do all the playing.
One even snatched the plastic bags form the girls that was tasked to do the distribution.
same thing happened again.

River challenge, the boys want go for 2nd and 3 rd tries(sending the tubing and life vest back) even when the girls haven tried.
The teacher could no longer stand it and stepped in.
She gave them a good scolding, before my debrief.
I let the girls off to shower first and kept them as punishment.
Have to make them understand the importance of sharing and that when you're living in a group, it is only fair that everyone gets a fair chance.
They need to stop being so self-centered.

Night debrief, sense of urgency was missing again and
Teachers stepped in.
This time, there were 4.
The group was separated into 4 sub groups as suggested by the teachers.
The 4 more aggressive boys, who were also the trouble makers are made the group ICs.

The teachers commented that after scanning through the students in my group, they saw that all those with attitude problem, short attention span,....etc are all in this group.
Only 2 or 3 were "ok" ones.
That explains....
After so much prep talk today...really hope they will learn and get better...

really wanna find a way to change these kids...
it's a challenge to myself...
an achievement to help them.

Day 2:
Though day one was some what demoralizing. but had to pull myself together.
Whether the campers learnt and whether they have fun during the camp depends one me.

The day started out quite well actually.
On the first actvity, nature rumble, really saw them starting to work together and looking out for each other by helping each other up and down the steep and slippery slopes.
Praised them for it, they got change into their clean shoes/ washed their shoes pretty quickly too.
They did really well for outdoor cooking too.
Listened and cooperated with the staion Ic, Yimin, who's also our groups 2IC.
So there where actually one of the few groups that got to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Hotdog with bread stick and baked banana with chocolate.

But after lunch they seem to reverted back to their old ways.
2 of the boys fought and one of them refused to tell me what happened when questioned them.
Not wanting to hold the group back, I sent the 2 boys to the camps Ops.
For next actvity, with the 2 boys taken out from the group, I realised that the group was much more cooperative and the game went on really well.
Through 2 days of observation, actually out of the 4 boys, 3 really understood what I've been telling them and are really changing.
Only that after all, they are primary school kids and they need consant reminder.

During the last activitythey were very lower energy. Guess all of them are tired after a long day.
We still had our campfire item to practise but many of them just kept asking when is it wash-up time and kept saying their not interested in the game.
Something that happens very often in primary school camps as they generally have lower tolerence and will power to go on once they fell uncomfortable and tired.
During campfire preparation, all of them were not motivated to do things properly even though I told them there'll be time for wash-up.
But the I told them it's the last practise, do a good one then they can all go shower, suddenly they did everything nicely.
Hope they realised when they all put their hearts into doign somethign togetherr, thing cna be doen really easily.

Day 3:
As usual, last day of the camp is for area cleaning. My group had to clean the girls toilet.
After area cleaning was the final debrief. After the debrief I brought 2 of the "problem-kids" a side and spoke to them.
Could really see the change in them. It's a pity I couldn't make one of the boys "wake-up". These 2 that I brought out realised the problem too.
I challenged them to help their friend change as well. They agreed.
The most touching thing is that one of the boys actually wanted to give me Strepils before leaving on the bus because he knew they made me shout alot and I lost my voice.
He said, "Thank you for improving me."
It was really touching.

Lesson:
The importance of Ice-Breaking sessions within a group before they start working together.
On of the factors contributing to the conflicts in the group and the fact that they are unable to work well togther migth be because the school got to the campsite late and no proper ice-breakers was conducted.
Many of them did not even know each others names. And as they are only primary school students, not many of them actually made and effort to ask for wach other's names.
It's really difficult to work when you are calling each other "eh".

Also, this camp has reminded me once again. Never give up. Don't jump to conclusion.
Never give up half way. Because if you do, you'll never know what greatness is waitinf fro you at the finish line.
Many times during the camp, I was really almost at the verge of breaking down. But I kept tellign myself, I had to go on.
The kids are depending one me. Luckily I managed to push on. Seeing the happy faces o nthe kids and the improvemnet in them was really fulfilling.
All the trouble was worth it.

Of course I need to thank Baoyun, Jarred and forgot who's the other instructor.
See you all when I was conducting TP suffle was really nice.
Sort od an energizer for me.
Hahaha....

I'll reply taggies in my next post.
need to go out now...

Taggie replies.

2008-07-09T18:19:00.002+08:00

Ok!
Back to blogging.
First, to reply tags.

Guo Wei: sorry man...i had a camp straight after we break camp on had lunch on sat.
so couldn't make it. you guys saw instructor potato and yuanshan rite?

Caroline: hey....that name rings a bell! i checked my name list and, yea! she's in my group.
lol....small world. Cant remember her face though form her name though. got pic? lol....wad did she say abt the camp and me? she had fun?

kayying and vanisa: thank you. lol...

Jiahui: o. got vid r? show me hor. haha...

natalie: wa sia? jestyn's camper?? lol....how did u get my blog address sia??

Huisi: wahhaah....liddat i must see! CLASSMATE, SHOW ME HOR!!

kayying: swee! show me show me. lol...

si rong, shi hui, sok kee, jia sheng, weehong, karthick: hey...haha...will post on ur camp soon. but gotta wait awhile. cos stil lgto a few camps b4 urs to write abt. ^_^ speaking of running ard the campfire....i just sprained my ankle during my last campfire jumping ard the fire. lol...stupid man...

vanisa: lol...thanks....cos i away in camp for like 2 weeks ma.

will finish the post on Jurong west pri asap...
Grrr....
I need more discipline!!! and endurance!!!

Finally back!

2008-07-07T18:32:00.003+08:00

BOO!!
Finally back!
My 3 camps back to back was extended to FIVE camps. lol...
SHAG~
but SHIOK~!
lol....
sorry for the delay posts.....in camp all they way,
will bw taking a short break for now to recharge...
will update the blog...
so many camps to write abt...
But still going for kayaking course tomorrow, 12 hours. WOOT!
haha...
will update asap!
ciao

23-25th June 2008, Simei ITE Student Council Bonding Camp.

2008-06-29T15:10:00.003+08:00

My first ever ITE camp.
I.E., first ever camp with campers age so close to mine.

The camp is a bonding camp for the Student Council, the school wanted to Student Council to know each other better so as to work together better. There are a few different committees in the Student Council and the members from different committees not necessarily knew each other. Also, the camp was also done to instill a greater sense of belonging in the Councilors so that they will be more committed to Student Council duties.

Day 1:
Got to the school and waited for the student to arrive at school before we started taking attendance and dividing them into their groups. This took quite long as there were some problems with the groupings and it had to be done again.
After ice-breaker in school we left for Bottle Tree Park.
The first activity was Amusing Race around Yishun.
It's my first time conducting this activity around Yishun, so I'm not familiar with the place as well. But luckily, the objective of the activity did not require me to know the place well.
Objective of the activity was to make them realize the importance of communication and raise their awareness to their surroundings and well-being of their teammates. To learnt to look out for each other. Also, the importance of planning. For this camp, also for me to observe who are the more outstanding leaders.
The team forgot to check strength before moving off after a Check Point. The route to the next station went through the shop houses below an estate. There were many turns and one of the campers was lagging behind. She was spotted by one other camper but he did not stop the group to wait for her. So I decided to get her to hide with the student facilitator that was attached to my group and see how long it'll take the group to realize their team mate was missing. They didn't realize it until we arrived at the next Check Point, when I asked if everyone was around. They even answered "yes" without counting. After counting, they realized someone was missing and I asked them, "what now?"
Some of them started to stress and some started pointing fingers. Blaming the girl for lagging behind. Blaming the guy who spotted her for not stopping the group.
I got the "missing" girl to come back to join the group and gave time a time penalty of 5 mins for losing a team member, during the time, talked to them about the importance of looking out for each other.
When you are a team, always look out for each other, especially when moving in groups. They have to learn this because they are leaders and might be leading their own groups in future. They are lucky the "lost" was arranged by me and that the event is held in the urban environment. Campers are not allow to carry hand phones with them. Imagine what happens if someone in the team is actually lost during an activity in a place like Lim Chu Kang? Or say maybe Nature Rumble? In the forest?
Always look out for your friends and team mates.
Leave no one behind.
To test them furthur, as a road block for them to earn back points they lost, I challenged them to carry the "lost" girl to the next check point because she is now "injured". She not light!
But the teams performance was really impressive, not only did they make it to the next check point while carry the girl, there was ZERO complains. Many of the guys were close to their physical limit and along the way they had to keep switching guys.
Night activity was Kidnapped!
This time I took out the Ex-co member that joint the group as a camper because she have been playing a very active role in the day in leading the group during the Amusing Race. I wanted to see how the team will function without her. Wanted to force others to lead. As expected, as they are, after all leaders, people step forward to lead the team. And because it was dark, many where really counting and keeping a look out to make sure everyone was together.
During the activity, also made the team come up with 3 new cheers which took less than 5 mins each, compared to the first one which took almost 30 mins to come up with at the starting of the camp.

Day 2:
People I pointed out on the first night that I hope to see them stepping out started to get more active. Also told the Ex-co to keep quiet today so as to give the campers more chance to lead. The group have gotten more familiar with each other and can now work better together. The quieter people also started to talk more. There was more discussion going on in the team. For campfire preparation, they were expected to organise and come up with an item themselves since they are all old enough and also, they are all student leaders. 2 guys that were really laid back on the first day even took the lead for Campfire item preparation.
However, the group still lacked the sense of urgency. They had lots of time for campfire preparation, there's alot of discussion going on, but after very long, nothing solid is seen yet.
So I told them I want to see something within 15mins.
Again, the item was planned up and we started practising within 20mins.
Clearly, they needed to be able to force themselves to work faster.

Lesson for readers: Being motivated to work is not enough. We need to work fast. Do, not just say. You can lots of discussion going on but if none of these ideas are tested or tried, nothing will happen, problems withthe ideas will not be seen too. Also, a little pressure to work is alwasy good as it forces us to work fast. Look at the campers from this camp. As leaders, they are definatly motivated to work and willing to share ideas, but progress is slow until pressure was given to them to step it up. Look at how much time can be saved.
This pressure to work fast need not come from an external source.
In academic terms, this is the difference between an A1 student and and A2 student.
Though both are motivated, the A1 student pressure him/herself to work faster and more efficiently.

Day 3:
AREA CLEANING.
Area cleaning at Bottle Tree Park is so easy!
It was done in on time.
Then it was floowed by a massive photo taking session before the closing of the camp.
After the closing, I kept my group to share with them my observations that's actually meant for the repor for the teachers, but I really hope they'll know and understand their strength and weaknesses and work on them. Of course I did make it a point to tell them that those are only my observations and what I feel, if they disagree, it's fine.

The really respectable thing about this group of campers was their respect for authority. Even though the age gap between instructor and campers is so small, with some campers even older than their instructors, they are still able to respect us as instructors and learn form the camp and learn from us.

Readers: Respect of authority and willingness to learn from people, even younger than you is really really important for self-improvement. It take alot of courage to be able to recognise the ability of someone that is, in the norm, "lower" that you and later learn from them. But if one can forgo the stigma of asking and learning from the younger or someone "lower" it can really bring you to greater heights.

Though the camp was rather slow paced and a bit "low". Probably due to the camp schedule and the number of activities in the camp. Camp needs more ups and downs in order to be more fast paced. It needs more climax, which means more activites to create these ups and downs and to make it more fun and fast paced. You cant expect campers to stay "high" throughout the entire activity when activites lasted 2 to 2 and a half hours each.
I guess it can't be help since the camp was held at Bottle Tree Park and not JBac, there's only so many activites that can be done at Bottle Tree Park that's suitable for campers their age.

Fellow instructors commented that I was running the camp a bit like leadership training camp. In fact, I was....well a little. I threw in many things that are meant to bring out that leader in them and things to make them think. Actvity time was long, so debriefs were lengthy. Up to 1 hour after each activity(no complains again, as expected. they all wanted to learn), as I got everyone to share their views. I wanted my campers to gain more than just friendship and bonding from the camp. The camp objective was to get them to bond. If I can give them more, why not? Through they "hardships" that I made them go through, they bonded and they learnt.
It was really encouraging to see that the campers really wanted to learn, wanted to improve and when they thanked me on the finaly night after campfire for giving them more that just bonding.
Many of them really have the potential. Can see that many really learnt and benifited from the camp and change in them was evident.
Some who feared to lead now realise it's actually not that bad.

Overall, the camp was great. One of the best camp I've had in fact.

Going Camping again!!!

2008-06-23T02:18:00.003+08:00

woot....
going camp again tml...
first ite camp...
interesting....
will be MIA for like more than i week i guess....
3 camps in a row...
WOOT!

HOPE I HAVE THE ENERGY!!!!

The Coffee Powder, the Egg and the Carrot.

2008-06-22T00:11:00.002+08:00

Since I heard this story in secondary school, it has motivated me and help me fought my way through trying times and reminded me I need to adapt since I heard it in secondary school

The Coffee powder, the egg and the carrot.
This 3 different things when placed in a pot of boiling water, gives 3 very different results.
The Coffee power turns the pot of boiling water black.
The initially fragile egg turns in to hard boiled egg.
The hard carrot turns soft and crumbles.

This 3 different objects' reaction to the pot of boiling water is analogous to how 3 different type of people reacts and adapt to a trying environment.

The first type of person, the coffee powder--very influential
when placed in a tough situation or a new environment, instead of changing himself to fit into the new environment, he changes the environment to fit him.

The second type of person, the egg--what doesn't kill him only makes him stronger.
When placed in a trying environment, he may not be a very strong person initially, but he toughens himself up to survive in the harsh environment.

The third type of person, the carrot--breaks down under stress.
He may be the stronger one under normal conditions but when thrown in to a new and trying environment, he is unable to adapt and crumbles.

In is true that it's impossible to always change the environment to fit you. Moreover, not everyone has the charisma or ability to do so.

But at least, be the egg, not the carrot.

There'll be many trying situations as we grow up and throughout our life journey.
We need to adapt to the changing environment to survive and to strive.
If not we will just break down and crumble like the carrot.

Everytime when I face trying situations and feel like giving up, I'll tell myself, I a am not a carrot.
If I cannot be the coffee powder, at least be the egg.
What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.

Pain is weakness leaving your body.

My Blog My World -- 19th June 2008 9.30pm Channel U

2008-06-20T03:01:00.004+08:00

Hey...
SORRY FOR THE LATE POST!!!
This post should have been up on Thursday night or Friday morning...>.<
busy fooling ard...Xp
well here it is now...

The episode's about boy whose mother died when he was very young, didn't catch his name, we shall call him Sam.
Sam's father remarried.
With memories of his father hitting his mother and because his father didn't like to see him playing soccer all the time, he felt his father hated him.
Trapped in this whirlpool of bad childhood memories, Sam had a void in his heart.
He felt he didn't belong to his home.
He felt unloved.
He lived in agony.
Each day, Sam arrives home after school with a long face and locks himself in his room.
In the morning, he go straight out the door, he never noticed the breakfast prepared for him.
His step-mother didn't know what to do as well.

He needed love to fill the void.

He was interested in a girl in his school, Christine.
He only looked at her from afar.
He didn't dare to make a move, he thinks he isn't fit to.
His buddy realised this, he knew Christine and gave Sam her number.
Sam was hesitant and didn't think it'll make a difference.
But he soon gave in to his urge to know her.
He sms-ed her, introducing himself and asking if they could be friends.
She agreed.
He was overwhelmed with joy.
In his world, there's only Christine now.
To Christine, Sam was only a normal friend she just got to know.
But he was too eager to feel loved, rushed to get her flowers before meeting her after school; cooked for her on her birthday(he remembered how his late mother used to cook for him); met her to walk to school together; running off straight after soccer training to meet her.
He took Christine as his girlfriend.
When Sam sent flowers to her place and got her scolded by her mother, Christine finally decided she's had enough.
Sam was rushing off after soccer training to meet her when she called to scold him. He was really disappointed.
The next day when he wanted to meet Christine in school, she turned and walk away at the sight of him.
They met to talk things out after that. Christine didn't understand why he behaved they way he did.
She wanted an explanation.
In front of Christine, all Sam could say was, "I'm Sorry."

Sam's world came crushing down on him.
He lost all motivation to do anything.
She skipped school, skipped soccer training and locked himself in his room. (this brings me to my post on BGR. Pls read the post, Roaring Monkey looks at BRG)
He ignored the calls of his buddy who is also his team captain.
At night, he went to vent his frustration at the soccer field.
Knowing that he'll turn up, his buddy met him there.
They talk about it and played together.
Feeling much better after sweating it out, Sam went home in the morning.
When he entered the door, on the table was breakfast waiting for him.
This time, he saw it.
As Sam sat down and started eating. his step-mother quickly got him a new cup of hot milo.
Sipping the hot milo, she suddenly felt the warmth, suddenly realised his family did care for him.
He suddenly woke up.
He asked himself, "What have I been missing out all this while?"

.....................
The family in this story lacked communication. If they had communicate more, things would have been better, there'd be more sense of belonging.

Very often when you are feeling unloved, like no once cares for you, don't get consumed in your self-pity.
Take a step back.
Look at yourselves and the people around you.
THERE ARE people who CARE.
You don't know what you've been missing out.

Something positive in the story, Sam didn't choose to drown himself in self-pity and start to do things like hurting himself to feel "relieves". IT WON'T WORK!
Instead, he chose to sweat it out.
With the help of his buddy, he felt much better. THIS WORKS!!
This is something we can learn.
Exercising helps us relieve and release all that vent up anger and frustration and gives us a clearer head to see more clearly and to work things out.

Doubt I'll be able to write on the next episode.....
I'll be doing back to back camps...
23-25 ite camp...
26-28 jurong west pri or something...
29...abseiling i think...
30-2 ian's last camp...
woot...power pack week.
NEED LOTSA ENERGY!!!LOL
Cheers~

16-18th June 2008, Chongfu Pri P5 Camp.

2008-06-19T19:18:00.003+08:00

Done with the taggie replies and reading a few blogs.
Now to write about Chongfu Pri P5 camp.
P5s...haha....had to shout alot because the kids were too playful. lol....but we had fun.
O...and I just bought my camera the day before the camp. It's the Olympus u1030SW. The shockproof and waterproof one. So there's even picture from Nature Rumble this camp!

Day 1:
Met at 0700hr at Jurong Point and took a cab down to Sarimbun Scouts camp.
Prepared the campsite and logistics for the camp then waited for the arrival of the students.
Finally, my 33 little monkeys(literally) arrived. This camp, even though each group has 2 instructors, only the main group IC follows the group around. The 2IC is a station IC and he stays at the activity stations throughout the camp. I'm the main group IC, so I had the little monkey to control whole of the 3D2N. Man, was it a headache!
The first activity they had is....MUDSPA! lol....Dirtiest activity to start of the camp!
My 2IC was the station IC for Nature Rumble but he haven't conducted it before, so I conducted the first session of Nature Rumble, which is for my group and he tag along.
Many of the kids were initially reluctant to sit down and play in the mud, but after I promised to bring them to the waterfall if they do, all of them sat down. I taugth them the "Ah nor neh" cheer while we were sitting in the mud.
After that we all got to the waterfall and......posed for photo!
The plan initially was not to bring any group to the waterfall as those who have been there would know, the current is strong and the water is deep. I decided to carry on with it because the kids in my group were quite tall and all knew how to swim, in addition, it hadn't rain in a few days so the water level was not that high.
However, the choice proved to be wrong! Though they were tall enough, the current was still too strong for primary school kids. So the other groups did not go to the waterfall.

Day 2 :
The boys in the group were a bit hooked on the "Ah nor neh" cheer and was doing it when they were waiting for lunch. The kids where quite competitive and enthusiastic throughout the day. However, they were not able to accept failures too well, especially the girls, they tend to take things too hard. They where the first to finish the telematch, sat down, and did a cheer. But because they did not line up properly and sit down after it, the judges did not recognise their victory. A few girls took it quite hard. After that during campfire, I was the MC for the campfire. (Trekkers planning to train permanent MC for both camps and events. I was a little hesitant initially, but it's good training. So went for it. To challenge myself and to set an example for all my little monkeys). Games were played during the campfire, my group didn't win, though in on of the games, they got 2nd. They didn't take it well. The girls were expecting me to help them win since I was their group instructor.
Of course I did not, little monkeys, winning is not the most important thing. It's the process. As long as you did your best, be proud of it. If you won something and you know it's not because you are good, will you be proud of it?
My 2IC brought them off for debrief while I helped to pack up the sound system for the campfire. When I went over to them, some of the girls actually started shouting "Monkey I hate you!" at the sight of me. This kind of thinking actually spoilt the camp experience for them. They had been enjoying themselves so much for the pass 2 days but just because of this, they feel that they hate the camp.
Had to help them change their mindset with the debrief.

Lesson for all little monkey and readers:
Don't be blinded by the title of a victor. Winning is not eveything.
Also, look on the positive side. Life is short and there's bound to be ups and downs in life. Do not let the little set backs and unhappy things spoilt it.
The girls of my group in this camp were to concerned about winning and when things didn't go their way, they too it too hard. So much that they forgot how much fun they actually had the past two days.
Why let such little things in life spoil your mood? Think positive. Enjoy life!

Day 3:
After debrief last night I supposed the campers did reflect, even though they are only 11.
Had breakfast then did area cleaning, which was failed in the end and I had to sweep the sand off the whole dining area alone while they were doing the closing of the camp. T_T
Final debrief went well I guess. Most if not all the campers understood that they shouldn't take things too hard and that winning is not everything. Do thing not to win but for pride. So it still ended with 33 happy faces.
Didn't manage to give the sweets to the kids because ofthat too. I was still sweeping...

After the kids left and the area cleaning passed, we went over to camp christine for our own debrief for the camp. Everything was ok! ^_^
Some Girl Guide were camping there. Was hoping to see some camper from East Spring, she told me she'll be there for camp and asked if I'll be having camp. But, too bad, didn't get to see. They where too far from the place we did the debriefing.
.....

Stay tuned for the next post on today's episode of My Blog My World

Taggie replies.

2008-06-19T17:18:00.003+08:00

Vanisa: think it was random placement.

Jesslyn: thank you for asking. haha...still sick ba.. haha...like i told you ytd, uni is starting soon. dun chiong camps now, dunno when then can do again liao.
Just read your blog....liew....was it really necessary to BOLD "dumbo".... lol....u say gimme long reply i tot wad, in the end is "titi...titititi...."-.-
haha, anyway, the abseil, dun scared diu odac de lian. remember wad i told you yesterday? attitude and spirit is more important. never do it well first time can try until you get it. that's why I gave you the tips and later asked if u wanna try again ma. The wall is slippery la. almost everyone slips. sometimes I slip also.
Dun give yourselves too much stress to do the best, don't be afraid to fail.
Remember, shi bai shi ceng gon zhi mu.
I know many ppl, like baoyun and I have high expectations of you, but dun stress out. remember what i told you yesterday? As long a you did your best, even if you do not get the best results in the end, we are proud of you.

Jiahui: CLassMAte!! haha....just went to read your blog. like finally. read the story from roaring queen and all the newer post. haha....ur posting alot again huh.
Sadly, I wont be able to make it to your performance. Got camp.
Guess dance is really tough this week huh. Hmm....just some words to motivate you?
I know it's tiring and all, but remember--Pain is weakness leaving your body. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. So jia you ya? And why you say ur not cut out for dance?
Dancing is a passion. You should be enjoy it.
Your coach maybe a little strict on you guys, but put yourselves in her position, the performance in coming up and she has to make sure you guys make it a good one. it's stressful for her too.
I was a dancer too! so, think i sorta know how u feel ba. haha...now tryign to get back the strength in my legs after surgery so i can dance again...haha...
Jia you!
btw, that video is ur kissing video r? -.-...
and where's that play ground u where at? interesting.

Chong Teng: yoz. haha...the vanisa is a camper form xinmin sec. still a bit sick ba. but still active too. haha..

Claudia: Wi-5 was a crazy bunch. I like...lol...chongfu pri...haha, pri sch lay, cant expect them to understand as much as your guys did also. then my group super talkative, talk and talk only..need me to keep shouting....jumping ard like little monkeys, 33 of them...lol... some of the boys were addicted to the butt kicking too though. lol...

Huisi(odac): when is that guanyang camp?

HunQuanL lol...okok....sorry, i changed liao.

YeAn: haha...ok... if i'll post abt camps de ma.

Back from camp! Here's Hun Quan's comic as promised.

2008-06-18T17:41:00.016+08:00

Hey...
I'm back form camp again. Will blog about it later.
First, to post Hun Quan's comics like I promised.
Click to view larger image.

Hun Quan! You're really talented man!
Never expected Blurking to be so good at this. haha....
Eh, but wad is said is, "The worst fear is the fear of trying."
you Blurking!! lol...
Can see the you really enjoyed the camp and made new friends.
Hope you still remember the lessons one leadership and living in a group.
Apply them. Though you are blur, actually you do have some potential leadership qualities. Work on it. Jia You!
The rest of Wi-5, hope you guys feel the same kind of bond Han Quan feels.
May you friendship last forever.

To those still missing camp,
Live in a journey not a destination.
The camp is but a passing phase in this long journey.
All meetings has to come to an end.
Learn from it.
Don't be sad because you've left camp because you have learnt so much form camp and have so many fond memories.

Be happy.
Because you have changed, for the better.
You have learnt.
Keep the lessons learnt and memories, be it good or bad, with you.
Apply them, let them help you get better and better.
As you step out and begin a new chapter in your life journey,
we will always be there with you--in your heart.

Sorry guys, this post should have been up this afternoon....but I fell asleep halfway when creating the post...XP
Will be replying tag in the next post then write about the camp that just ended today.
gotta go~

9-12th June 2008, Xinmin Sec Advanture(Leadership) Camp

2008-06-13T17:50:00.007+08:00

Edit: Something to add, Wi-5, if you all are wondering you throughout the camp i kept rushing you all and kept counting down when I gave instructions, and many it was to make you all feel pressured. As leaders you need to be able to handle stress, work wit hit and still make responsible decisions.

The camp was one of my most fulfilling camps yet!
Started with only 1 SiaoCharBo in my group and ended with 19 crazy little monkeys!
The camp was great. Can see that all the campers wanted to improve. All the problems brought up during debrief showed improvement immediately during the next activity and I really saw them get better and better with eat day of the camp. Such positive attitude!
However, sadly, after reflecting on the camp, I do have some regrets from the camp. Somethings I could have done but did not for my campers.

Maybe because I was coughing all the way and I was over zealous about my first full leadership camp? Too eager and excited about bring out the potential in camp, about bringing out the best in them, I sort of neglected the feelings of my little monkeys. The line between instructor and campers might have been drawn too clearly. Realized I actually could have bonded better with them so that they'd talk to me about their feelings so I might be able to help more....

I guess I was too obsessed about my "Roaring Monkey" thingy, too much monkey madness in me. Should have accepted the nickname "Dumbo" even though I didn't like it. For Students.
The campers where already convinced on the bus that I'm dumbo so I'd probably should have played along after the first few failed attempts to convince them I am monkey, so as not to disrupt the flow of the camp.
Should have made myself high even though the nickname "Dumbo" made it a bit hard for me to high.

To the campers: Sorry~! Felt like I could have help more....hmmm...this blog is meant for continual guidance, please do get everyone to read. And even though I may not be posting about your camp, but I will post stuff like inspirational stories and meaningful programs to watch with reviews, so do continue reading. Though I may not be the best example to follow be it as a person or as a leader, but please learn from my positive side.

My lesson learnt: Well, we cannot always live in regret and feel sad. Nothings going to happen. Things will just get worst. We need to learn form our mistakes. Another camp, another learning journey. Even after so many camps, I'm still learning to strike a balance. Just like in this camp, I wasn't able to, very likely because I was over zealous. I need to take a step back and look at the situation and reflect on how things can be done better more often.
Also, need to remind myself to accept things like nicknames and stuff even if I don't really like them(as long as they are not insulting).
Need to be more objective, if doing that will help meet the objective, why not? A little sacrifice is worth it for the campers. Like I tell my campers,
"A leader has to put the team's benefits before his/her own and be prepared to sacrifice for the team."
Leadership is about balance. The balance of when to be serious and when to be crazy.

Done with reflections...i think... now for the day summaries...

Day 1:(1x Crazy little monkey, jesslyn, that you. LOL)
I didn't need to meet in school at 0745 but meet at Jbac at 0845 instead (which proved to be quite a bad choice) so I got a little more sleep. My partner, Baoyun, introduced me as Dumbo, instead of Roaring Monkey cos we've been calling her Bimbo....lol.... dunno who's bright idea was it that Bimbo's partner = Dumbo....
Why cannot Pretty and Monkey sia...Beauty and the Beast also can liao....
Anyway, after allocation of huts was done and the group flag and cheer done up, it was lunch time.
And right after that was 3 hours of belay school. Imagine how dry it can get. Never had I had a camp with such a long belay school. But well, it was necessary, the school wanted the students to belay, wanted them to have the responsibility to "handle" a human life, so they had to go through it. A camper, Han Quan, actually had to go through the practise 6 or 7 times because he just could get it. But he never complained. That's the spirit!
Next was General Stations, I felt the games that are played usually couldn't meet my objective, which is to get them to communicate, so I came up with my own game on the spot with hula-hoops. Haven thought of a name for it yet...hmmm... Well, as expected, the game made them stressed and start to shout at each other and still couldn't complete the task. Made them realised the importance of effective communication in a team environment. The importance of talking nicely too. And making sure everyone knows what's going on.
Night activity was Blind Man's walk. This one was done quite well as it's a small camp and all instructors made sure their group kept very quiet. If not the feeling of uncertainty in campers will be gone, and the activity would be pointless.
End of day 1.(4 crazy little monkeys)

Day 2:(4 Crazy little monkeys)
The day started with my fellow instructor complaining to me that some of my little monkeys were cheering at 3am. LOL.... really up to monkey business....
Day 2 was the day with all the highlight activities(zipline, abseil, nature rumble and kayaking) and a lucky day for Wi-5 too.
Cleared everyone on the zipline and abseil, except one for abseil because he's just too afraid of heights. It only started raining after everyone had clear abseil and I think a few even managed to go for 2nd try. The CCOs knew their stuff and things went smoothly, but the thing is, the break they take between sessions is just too long. And because of that, and original 2 hours session was cut to 1 hour 20 - 1 hour 30 mins. It's like short changing the kids....I DUN LIKE.
My group got scolded by me right after the first activity. Because not only did no one had the initiative to bring the pulley for flying fox back, when I arrowed someone to bring it back, they refused. I said we'll wait, and they actually said ok. First time I scolded my campers like that. Even my normal campers don't give me that. As trainee leaders, I expect much more from them. They got scolded by their teacher in push-up position too.
The rain stopped during lunch time, before we went for Nature Rumble. So lucky, because it means the mud pool will have lots of mud and water level in the river will be high. And most importantly, the small waterfall will have great flow volume! More fun for the campers. But yet, they disappointed me again. Late again. So the punishment was to cut the time they will have for kayaking and use it for Nature Rumble.
Well they, still had fun in the mud, especially at the waterfall. It a treat, not many instructors know of that route.
We washed ourselves of the mud at the waterfall and then went for kayaking. Only had 1 hour 20mins. But made them promise to be good, in return, conduct all the activities for them.
After kayaking, they were given wash up time before dinner. This time all were punctual. Guess they finally learnt their lesson.
Night activity was kidnapped! Though our group was the last to finish, they didn't give up, and was very high through out the game. Everyone were running, trying to save their team mate as soon as possible. Their spirit was commendable. Many opened up, like yuting and claudia, they were practically jumpping around, and was very hyper during the game. I Like.
End of day 2. (6 plus a few more crazy little monkeys which I could not identify)

Day 3:(6 plus a few more crazy little monkeys which I could not identify)
HAHA.... Day 3 started again, with a fellow instructor telling me my little monkeys were cheering again. But this time it's at 6.15 am. Guess it's ok. It's about time to wake everyone up. LOL...
The group was super high today. Guess maybe because of the sense of accomplishment in finishing the campfire prep without our help ba? By lunch time, I already had almost 19 crazy little monkeys. I Like. They were cheering all they way right till campfire and after. Even Cheif Ian was impressed by them.
The first activity of the day was Campfire prep. And unlike the past 2 days, I want them to run the show themselves. So ICs were arrowed to lead the group in coming up with an item for campfire. They did well. Baoyun and I did not have to step in to lead the campfire prep at all. They came up with a Stomp performance and 2 girls taught the group a dance. Arrangement and steps all did and taught by themselves. Just gave a few needed pointers to the ICs. Keep it up Wi-5!
One of the ICs was reprimanded by me because of the way he reacted when one of the group members was sharing his idea.
The group had some problems accepting Tin Fung because of his temper and because of the way he reacts too violently to things. Well, but in the end the group did start to accept him and he also knows his problem and i can see that he's really tryign to change. Hope the camp really helped him and he'd continue to improve on himself. Wi-5, remember, leaders need to keep an open mind ask treat everyone equally. When encountered with such problems in a group, you should talk things out and not out-cast the person. Ok?
Campfire prep was followed by low elements, ICs were arrowed again. This time, their job was to ensure safety. Also went through with them some points about conducting activites for their juniors in future. Also made the ICs appointed do debrief for the activity. One of the ICs, Zhuyin, though she never really speak up and ask the group to keep their hands up to spot for their friends, the debrief points she brought up were excellent. She had great observation skills.
Zhuyin. you gotta speak up. You have the potential.
Safety, always, must not be compromised. The rules of the games can be changed to ensure safety while still maintain the objective of the game. If there no way to meet the objective of the game when the rules are changed in conditions like wet weather, then it should not be played during wet weather.
Wi-5 did the monkeyhood proud too during CRC. Many people whom I didn't expect would be so willing to try all the stations including the challenge pole all tried as many stations as time permits. People like Yuting and Zhuyin are one of the 2 I didn't expect would want to try the challenge pole. Well done girls, you stepped out of your comfort zone an tried something you don't usually dare to do.
As for Han Quan, though the teacher said not to let him belay during CRC on the 3rd day, but baoyun and I both think he should be given the chance since he's so determined and willing to learn. He did it. With the help of his teammates. They trusted him to belay them.(Jesslyn, you were the climber rite? You TEH MAN! haha..)

To all, stepping out of you comfort zone very often isn't really that bad once you tried. Just like abseiling, the first step out is the hardest, but once you stepped out, you'd realised it's really not that bad. Very often you may not dare to step out to lead due to various reasons, like your in security to stand and speak to a crowd. Step out of your comfort zone. It's really not that bad.

Campfire: Wi-5 was super hyper through out the campfire man! I Like!! LOL... Wi-5, really really thank you guys for the wonderful campfire! It's really the best campfire I've had yet! Love you guys man. For MonkeyHood!!!

Day 4:
19 crazy little monkeys and they're still roaring after so many days!
It's already the last day and they are still so hyper!
Can really see that you guys are indeed a little tired but kept your spirits up because you guys remember thta leaders must be the last to go down! I LIKE!
During breakfast, Jesslyn and Chella were chanting "Huan Ying Huan Ying, Re Lie Huan Ying!" to everyone gettign their food. So cute la. Since they were so high, I made them lead the breakfast hungry cheer. LOL...
I'm a bit low...haha...because Baoyun and I only slept 30mins. Spent the night writing messages for them on their reflection booklets and to complete their evaluation forms.
Debrief the night before was rather disappointing for me and Baoyun though. Seeing the improvement and the kind of spirit in Wi-5 we felt that they really really deserve the best group! It's the first time I ever fight for best group in my camps. Usually I would think that my group certainly could have done better. But Wi-5 exceeded our expectations. Their willingness to learn, readiness to accept criticism and change for the better. Really really very encouraging for us instructors to see such spirit and that feel that we made a difference.
Initially Baoyun and I were still a little worried that the group might not take the fact that they did not get best group well, because they really put in so much effort. But, again, WE WERE WRONG! They took it really well and even cheered for the winner of the best group!
I LIKE! I LIKE!
That's the spirit leaders should have Wi-5!!!
Once again you proved to Baoyun and I why we think you are the best group.

To Wi-5, hope all of you guys will keep all the lessons learnt from the camp with you and apply them in life. And, Pass It On. Make a difference in the lives of people around you.
Once again, thank you for giving Baoyun and I such a great camp. It's really very encouraging for us.
The relationship between team and leader is like a chain-reaction. It works both ways.
The leader motivate and get the team to work together, the team spirit and performance of the team encourages and motivates the leader to fight on. The reaction migth just stop if the chain is broken anywhere.
In a nutshell, Leader motivates team, team motivates leader.

Sorry Wi-5 if I made anyone of you feel that I was too "high-up" so you guys didn't dare to share your though with me, especially on the first 2 days. I probably should have lowered myself more closer to your level so ask to bond closer. Hope it didn't make your camp experience any less enjoyable. A camp is a learning journey not only for the campers, but also for the instructors. We learn from each other.
San ren xing, bi you wo shi.

Well...to end this...
FOR MONKEYHOOD!!!!

ROARS~ Back

2008-06-13T13:41:00.004+08:00

Woot! I'm a wake!
First thing to do, reply my ROARS!
kk...

Racy: Good. haha.... if really really got anything find someone to talk to huh.

Syarm: Great that you've learnt and grown form your mistakes. Continue to fight on. With the right mindset and determination, you'll achieve your goals. Be it in leadership, studies or in life.

Pauline: hey... haha... organise a get together with the group loh!

chevron & Syarm & little monkeys wanting my MSN: erm...sorry la... like me and instructor zedong said, company policy, we cannot give la. BUT...we haven been hunted down and added by some of little monkeys le...>.< so all I can say is, erm...go hunting? lol....ask them? woot, promoting communication between diff schools...LOL! eh, but dun get so obsessed everyday hunt then dun study ok?

HUISI: hey, hihi, ban on the com lifted? wait... time is 01:14....u sneaked onlien again huh... naughty girl...lol...

Chong teng: hey, thanks for asking, camp was great! haha...well like instructor zedong said, it's different form other camps la, cos it's a full leadership training camp. you guys might even find it dry during debriefs, cos the debriefs in this camp is very long and we're more strict with the campers too.

Jean: Woot! fast. no need to sleep r? oya...you guys did sleep at night...lol... I M MONKEY. lol... as for MSN...like I said...sorry. go hunting....lol...

vanisa: ROAR!! haha...hi~ I saw the sms you sent jiahui too. LOL...

Adam: yo! LOL... nice one la... Roaring Monkey Hidden Dumbo...eh, but dun hidden dumbo can, elephant so big hard to hide sia. lol...

Alecia, Huisi(odac), Gilbert, jolin, Gina, Beatrisa, kayying, caroline: hi~ thanks for the taggies! hope you guys got valuble lessons and friendships form the camp. Apply what you've learnt and PASS IT ON!! ^_^haha, ur maomao visits the blog regularly. we will say hi to jestyn for u~

JiaHui: hey, Classmate!! lol....i go find see whether got my classmate photo show you. LOL... She's a trainee teacher now, with luck maybe she'll go your school for attchment! lol..then jiu hao wan liao...LOL..

Jesslyn: (This is uber long, cos wanted to write in you reflection booklet de, but never sleep, so brain was not working) Hey! I really need to thank you for your super hyper spirit throughout the camp! It was really motivation for me to be high and guide you guys through the camp even though I was sick. I really respect you for that. The spirit you had...I really got nothing to say. Only 1 word, HAO! Really made me think about the roaring monkey in secondary school when I was a camper too. Even I didn't had the will power and crazyness to stay SOOO hyper throughout a camp. Plus, you didn't care even if the rest was not hyper-ing with you, you just wanted to be hyper so the rest would follow right?
Feel I really need to tell you this, during nightly instructors debrief with you teacher(Mr Rodja....I dunno how to spell) he mention that you and your other siaocharbo are alwasy so hyper but then to just "chiong" and hyper don't care if the group is with you, then suddnely turn ard and realise, eh? the group not hyper-ing with me. But! really, I think that's good actually, look at how you influenced Wi-5. It's really not easy to maintain that kind of spirit throughout even when you're alone. I'm not sure even if I can do it. Most ppl when they realize the group not with them like this will get pai seh or lose motivation, but you kept going. I really respect that. That really the spirit a leader should have, you'll make a good instructor one day. Guess instructor baoyun really influenced you alot!
I can see your willingness and how much you want to improve! you had THE LOOK in your eyes!, esp during debriefs. Jiayou! you can do it! Like you said, you also realised your problem le huh? read wad I left you in your reflections? dun be afriad to step out ya? (crap..was on the phone with baoyun, now break my flow...forgot what I wanted to say again...think think think...)
Oya...
If you know you're right, just step out and make it happen. You really have it in you. You just lack some confidence. And, don't be afraid to make mistakes. A leader don't need to be perfect.
Make responsible decesions. Ideas need to come only from you. You have your team, ideas can come form them. Your job: lead them in working together.
Be more confident.
Also, it about balance. Balance between when to be serious and when to be crazy. I can't tell you what's this balance becasue you need to discover for youself where is your balance.
Roaring Monkey believes in you!!!
Really respect you spirit....for that, I need to learn form you too. ^_^
(P.S.: wa lau...only write abt baoyun lo....then now I become dumb one....sad.. i know i act stupid la....but really dumb meh... anyway, u know y baoyun call me dumbo a not, cos all the other instructors call her bumbo, then dunno which joker decided that bimbo's partner = dumbo....-.- hmm.... anyway, jiayou ya? GO JESSLYN!!! SIAO CHAR BO!!!)

Yuting: hey cotton! I wake up le la...can see you really changed alot from camp huh! both you and claudia. ^_^
GO! keep it up and keep trying new things!! but, eh, remember got somethings cannot try hor...

Amanda:yoz. slept le...now back to work. haha.. hope u gain valuable wisdom and knowledge form the camp. pass it on. you got that leader blood in you too. haha... though you're the more quiet type, but can see thatwhen you speak, people listen.

Pokpok: LOL...u la... pokpok anyhow throw, later ppl area cleaning hard to do know.
Anyway, you showed your leading abilities during camp, bring what you learnt back to school, apply and pass it on.

Baoyun: thank you lo.... now i become the dumb one lo... sad....

Claudia: Hey paper! you and yuting really became v hyper huh. cute la. lol... yeah, will write abt the camp after this.

Back from camp!!

2008-06-13T05:14:00.002+08:00

HI~ all my little monkeys from so many diff schools.
and hi to other readers if any...
I'm BACK!
From my first full leadership training camp! and my greatest camp yet!
this camp just shows me why I love leadership training camps so much.
it's 5.16am in the morning now...-.-...
why am I wake....
well got waken up by my phone cos my friend kept calling me...
to play Dota..-.-....at 1 am..-.-...
anyway, just finished the game and came to take a look...and...
WA! my ROARING BOARD is flooded.... I LIKE!
LOL...
anyway...going back to sleep... :P
will reply the taggies and post about Xinmin Camp when I wake up again.
SHAG.

Will be going on another of my monkey escapades either when I wake up or on Sat to check out the kayaking spot at Pasir Ris like I told

I AM ROARING MONKEY!!!!
MONKEY!
NOT DUMBO!
DUMBO = ELEPHANT!

Anyway, to my crazy little monkeys from Wi-5(Xinmin), thanks for the great camp. You kept your promise and made the camp a BANG!
And thanks for the Quaker Bar and the little note! SO SWEET of you guys.
Hadn't had breakfast when you guys gave it to me because I was writing your reflection booklets. SO HUNGRY!
TOUCHED!
HAO!
I LIKE!
LOL
I LIKE!

k...back to sleep.
Nite.

To the Student Instructors of TPSS Sec 2 Camp, 2-4th June 2008

2008-06-08T12:52:00.003+08:00

(SIs please read and comment. Pass it ard such that all Power Ranger SIs get to read. Power Rangers, if your SIs dunno about this, tell them to come read. Thx)
Hey, sorry for the late post.
It's been great working with you guys. Hope we gave you the guidance you needed to become a better leader.
It's been a few days after that camp, hope you guys have already let you thoughts settle and have done some reflections.
You guys are welcome to post your reflections and thoughts both before and after reading this post in the "comments".
Generally, Zedong and I felt that you guys did quite a good job as we did not have to step in much to control and lead the group. *clapclapclap*
I'm sure all of you have experienced first hand the "pain" of a leader when trying to get the team to bond and work together; and also the pleasure and sense of accomplishment when you finally see the team bond and achieve something together.
Think I'll address you one by one.
Zedong will add on what ever I missed out in comments.

Syarm:
You were appointed the OIC of the group because you were the most active and outspoken from the start. Generally a good job done, even though you broke down half-way through the campfire prep. I totally understand how you felt, learn form the experience--what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." You were lucky to have a good team with you, remember you, even though you are the leader, you are not alone, remember how your group ICs continue to lead the group in the CFP?
Especially at your age, maybe this might be too heavy a load to rest on your shoulders, but there are people capable of it. Do you want to be one of them? Are you one of them?
Remember what I told you about what a leader should have? Persistance. At the most trying times, the leader has to fight on, fight on strong, your team needs you(in this case, your team of group ICs--the other 4 SIs). Imagine what happens if they broke down with you.
Maybe I'm sounding a bit harsh? I'm not scolding or saying that you're not good. We're all learning and trying to become better. So am I. Again, learn form our mistakes.

Safetypin:
You really excceeded my expectations. Good job. At first when I saw you I thought you were the very slack and unmotivated kind. LOLs... Sorry, cos you looked half asleep and had a frown all the time. But of course, I had to give you the benefit ofthe doubt and see how you perform first. I was thinking," If this guy is really what he looks like, I'll make sure he change." Thanks alot for proving me wrong! The persistance and patience you showed when leading the campfire prep was really impressive. Some instructors might not even have that kind of patience and determination. Keep it up.

Sebestian:
I need to really know what you felt about the camp and what was going through your mind during the camp. You did improve through the camp and became sligthly more outspoken, but as a leader, it's not enough. You need to be more proactive and outspoken. I'm not sure if the position of a SI in this camp was forced onto you since you do not have a CCA. But I sincerly hope you've learnt and improved from the camp. Share you though with us.

Hakim:
You were like the "silent-killer", didn't hear you addressing the group in front or hear you shouting at them much. But we can see that you were working. You lowered youselves to the camper's level and spoke to them individually and asked them to start doing things by doing it youselves. Leading by example is good, in fact it's what I always preach, but do be careful ofthe balance, leading by example doesn't mean you do everything and the team watch. Be a good leader, not a good worker. Don't worry, as far as what I have observed form this camp, you're handling the balance quite well.

Bobo:
Generally a good job done...but..
I need to see more of you! Haha...
I can see that you have been observing the group from the way you are able to debrief them during our nightly debrief. But play a more active role during the day. Like what you did during rafting?
I understand it's probably because there's already people like Safetypin and Syarm standing infront leading the group, but there are other things you can do. You're a team, when someone is talking, the others can help to ensure the campers are listening or somethign like that? You know what I mean right?
Or, you guys can always take turns to address the group. It's quite tiring for 1 person to lead all the way.

To end this off,
THANK YOU SIs for the help during the camp. Hope you've learnt form the camp and REMEMBER the lessons.
Remember what I've told you guys about the difference between an Effective Leader and a Good Leader.
No one likes to be shouted at all the time.
No one likes to live under a tyrant.
Leadership is all about balance.

Born Loser

2008-06-07T01:40:00.004+08:00

There was a western traveler who travel around the world to learn new things about different cultures. And as he travels around the world, he collects souvenirs along the way. One day he arrived at China. Now we all know that Chinese tattoos are really different from western tattoos. The traveler decided that he should get a Chinese tattoo as a souvenir.

He arrived at a tattoo shop of a wise old tattooist and waited for his turn.
When the big macho guy in front of him came out form the studio, the traveler realized something, he tattooed the words "BORN LOSER" on his arm.

The traveler was thought, "Why would anyone want to label themselves a born loser?"

Puzzled, he went in to ask the old tattooist, "Why did he tattoo "Born Loser" on his arm?"

Pointing to the to his arm, the old tattooist said, "Before you tattoo here,"
then pointing to his head, "you tattoo here."

The morale of the story:
It is important to have the right mindset.
The big macho guy in the story has already convinced himself that he's a born loser.
So no matter how big how macho he is, he is only what his mind tells him.

I've you do not have a positive mindset and from the start, you already convinced yourselves you'll fail. You are bound to fail. Because you've already given up from the start and you will not be putting in the effort to fight for what you want.

Believe in yourselves. Fight and work for what you desire. Fight hard, work hard.
Even if you fail in the end, you fail with no regrets because you know you did your best.
Aim for the sky, even if you fall, you'll fall on the clouds.

My Blog My World -- 5th June 2008 9.30 pm Channel U

2008-06-06T20:28:00.002+08:00

I missed the first 10 to 15 mins of this episode but guess I've still watched enough to be able to write something about it. Hope I don't miss anything....

Self-mutilation/self-torture.

Parents quarreling everyday....
Not doing well in school but cannot find the help she needs....
Not able to find friends to talk to....
Feeling that she's nobody and no one cares...
Boyfriend problem....

Some girls in her class have already started cutting themselves, they asked her to try it, saying, "it helps you know." Rachel rejected them initially.

As time passed, things got worst....
Father started staying out at nights....
Boyfriend's resentment in her and drifting away from her...

Desperate....Rachel finally turned to cutting herself...
For a moment, she felt relived...
As if the physical pain filled her empty heart and the bleeding bled away her pain....
Her classmates who were cutting themselves saw it and "took her in" as part of them...
She though she finally found friends.
Teachers saw her cuts and asked her what happened...
She thought, finally she's being noticed.
She finally felt there's a meaning in life.

The "happiness" was shot-lived as Rachel and her new found friends soon discovered.
Her friend's parents finally got divorced and she suddenly realized....cutting herself didn't change anything...
"everything is over...
but these scars, they'll never go away.
they are ugly...."

Rachel suddenly saw the cruel truth.
To make things worst, her boyfriends finally broke up with her.
Her world suddenly collapsed.
She broke down....clashed her wrist repeatedly....
"why is the pain still here....
make my pain go away..."
Cutting herself no longer helps....

Then her dad found out....
dressed her wounds....
talked to her...
she finally realised her dad does care...
she promised never to hurt herself again....

It's stupid to hurt yourselves.
It's not going to solve any problem.
For all readers our there, please please please do not resort to hurting yourselves.
I understand how it feels. I was a teen before too.
I too have felt as if the world was against me and no one cared before.
I, too have thought of hurting myself. Luckily I did not.
Like I've said in my post for the previous episode,
"when you're thinking that the world has built a wall around it to keep you out.
think again. have you built a wall around yourselves?"

If anyone of you readers out there have problem of your own and are thinking of hurting yourselves....or readers who are already hurting yourselves....
Please, there are better ways out...

Pray, for those who believe in the High Presence. Be it Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or any religion. You may not be religious but praying does help, talk to the Higher Presence.

Keep yourselves occupied. Play a sport. Sweat it out or indulge yourselves in music. People with active lives, playing sports or indulge in music or arts usually have less problem with managing emotions and sadness. Through these activities you can also make more friends and find more people to talk to.

You can even start blogging. It's a good way to express yourselves.

To my campers(my little monkeys) and all readers, if there really isn't any other way to express yourselves, you can leave a tag on the blog or a comment some where. I can't promise I'll be able to solve the problem for you. But I'll listen.

2nd-4th June 2008, Tampines Sec 2 Camp

2008-06-06T00:58:00.008+08:00

Ok...
Finally got the energy to finish this....
Seriously, it was STUPID to do camps when you're already sick.
BUT, I didn't regret doing this one.
This camp, unlike others I've done, has a special meaning, and it's flooded my instructors.
It's Chief Andrew's last camp. Everyone wanted to share these last moment with him.
I haven't know Andrew for very long and as a matter of fact, this is actually the first camp I'm doing under him. But because I know him and I've never done his camps before, this is my last chance. Even if I'm sick, even if 3 instructors will be sharing 2 pay. I had to do it. And I DON'T REGRET. This'll take a while to finish writing....to much mixed feelings....
And sorry...the post most probably going to be quite disorganised....I'm still a bit blur...
(need to get well soon...next camp on monday!)

The camp didn't start very smoothly actually, because there where so many instructors and so many people trying to give different instructions at the same time and so many different styles, there where some clashes. Clashes not as in disagreement between instructors, but clashing of instructions. This is a classic example of having too many leaders in a group--When too many people are trying to lead at the same time, the team cannot progress because they do not have a common direction. Time was wasted due to wrong instruction or to multiple change of instructions.
However, like we always tell campers, COMMUNICATE, we gathered to a few times address the problems. Learnt each others style and started adapting. After a not so smooth running Day 1, things went smoothly from Day 2 onwards.

Day 1:
Like many camps, many campers didn't start out very excited about the camp. Many were not very motivated and not very "high".
This camp, we were supposed to push the Student Instructors(SI) with our groups to take on the leadership position. Day 1 mostly involved briefing them of what's expected of them and giving them tips on leading.

Nature Rumble on the first day was changed to Rafting. Which, I really saw the group working together to complete the raft. The SI also went in to help to lead the campers to complete the raft. There were at least one or two campers who took up the active role of planning and building the raft. Maybe I'll see them next year as SIs? haha...And unlike some camps where many will do doing nothing while the rest of the the team built the raft, almost everyone in the team was doing something. Probably due to the small number of students in a group, but still very encouraging.

The night activity, Kidnapped, went on well too. I purposely picked Chong Teng out as the victim because he was one of the most active campers in Group 2 during Rafting. Wanted to make the team work without him, and tested the SIs' capabilities. They proved the could do it. Though we came back 2nd last, theteam did not give up and were really motivated to finish the race. Keep it up guys.

Day 2:
The first activity was Nature Rumble. I'd Like to call it, Mud Spa. Lol... Everything went ok even though the original route was blocked by a fallen tree....until, Zedong and I tried to clear the path and I suddenly got stung by Wasps. There was a Wasps nest on the fallen tree and it's now in the way. Luckily none of the campers got stung. It was painful for my ear though. (Think I'll have to recce a new route for Nature Rumble) Also, "pimples" started appearing on Zedong and some campers' legs hours after the trip. That the first time I'm seeing this.

Campfire prep, again like in many other camps, campers didn't feel the sense of urgency in the begining and did not cooperate with the SIs that where tasked to lead the campfire prep. Discussion did go on in a small group but many were just talking amongst themselves. As a result, by the end of our allocated CFP slot, we were still not done with the campfire item.
Despite all these, there's still something positive I've noted, many the group, especially those that are actively participating in the discussion, are not afraid to step out in front of the class to lead/ teach the group the dance steps. Luckily, at the end everyone finally felt the sense of urgency and start cooperating and we finally finished the campfire item on time. Power Rangers, I hope you guys learnt through this that there are times to be seriously about work and there are times to play. Though we manage to pull of the performance, in the end, but think about it, if we all started cooperating earlier, the dance might have been longer and better rehersed and the cheer could have been more solid. Right? Power Rangers, remember this lesson--Don't wait till the last minute then start panicing and rushing.

Day 3:
For Zedong and I, Power Rangers, you guys really impressed us the most on the last day during area cleaning. Both the girls and the guys, though there were a handful that started "slacking" outside the toilet after a while but you guys did help a bit(But hey, in future, HELP MORE! lol...make urself useful. I know there a lack of equipment but, IMPROVISE, I saw some girls sweeping out water with their slippers. haha...nice. Or at least ask me what to do.)
We really saw everyone working! All or more of you did not need us to keep pushing to finish the cleaning. Though the cleaning couldn't be finished on time and other instructors had to come to finish up the drying, but it was already a very good job by you guys(Don't worry, they finished drying up the toilet soon after you guys got seated in the hall). look at the condition of the toilet before and after your cleaning?
We've had toilets that are not that dirty at the beginning but instructors still had to stay behind to finish the cleaning.
The cleaning was just GREAT. What more can I say. GO GO POWER RANGERS!!

The feeling I had was quite weird by the end of the campfire. At first I didn't expect myself to have too much feeling for this camp. Both Zedong and I didn't want to step in too much to interfer as we wanted to SI to learn to lead on their own. Which in the end, they did.(SIs, think I'll write a seperate post for you guys since we din get to debrief you guys) At first, the performance of the campers were quite disappointing. Not cooperative and many, not motivated right till before campfire. But during the last minute campfire prep, the campfire and the working spirit we saw during area cleaning, suddenly we saw the change in the campers. Suddenly all the trouble we went through was worth it. All the sleepless nights, all the shouting and wrecking of brains to get you guys to bond and work together.....everything was worth it. SIs, I'm sure you guys feel the same. At the end of the campfire, I felt like crying too. There was an unexplain attachment...a feeling of sadness...but we all have to move on. Everythign is but a passing phase in life, we learn form each episode, keep memories with us, and then move on.

Power Rangers, I hope the camp have really helped you guys bond better, help you know yourselves and your friends more and help you guys become a better person.
Hope you guys had fun.
GO GO POWER RANGERS!

ROARS replied

2008-06-05T13:37:00.001+08:00

ruby: lol...play game ma...

marisa: Hi.

Ultraman: oops....sorry la... ur nick dun remind me of ultraman ma....

syarm: lol....no problem...

yu hua: i love my super MONKEY pose too...wonder who has the pohtos.... I WAN.

shihao: i write wrong meh? sorry la...5 am in the morning lay...never sleep write de...shag till blur liao.

zedong: start blogging too. lol..

shag can.....had to wake up early this morning to give tuition....just got home...
think i going to go nap again...
before going to pre-camp-brief for the next camp..

Back from camp!

2008-06-04T18:59:00.002+08:00

Finally back form camp!
Another tiered but meaning full camp...
SHAG....
haha...guess i'll post about the camp tonight...if i wake up...or tml...
too shag le....never sleep last night...

ok.... taggie replies....

Terrence: lol...really...hmm.... just tired ba... yap, i did.

Asyraf: oops...sorry, ur from with sch??? sorry, really bad with names.

Racy: lol.... izzit? I had lunch with the other instructors at bedok KFC just now lay. and, thanks. ^_^

Guo Wei: sorry la...that time i haven start blogging ma. look at when i started the blog...lol..

evelina: eh? sure abt wad? sorry, went camp, come back lost track of stuff le.

akmal: hi? lol.

Ruby: how can i forget u. lol...u slap my tight so hard. bit of the mark still there now.

Camp again tml!

2008-06-01T23:29:00.002+08:00

Woot...
Just got back from pre-camp brief and some slacking at Suntec City.
Heard from Alex, aka Instructor Potato that he was spotted by some netball girls form East Spring Sec while reading on the MRT. LOL....
Tml got came agian!
Need to reach Bedok by 7.30.
....I live in Choa Chu Kang....T_T
well....gotta go.
need sleep.

My Blog My World -- 29 may 2008 Channel U 9.30pm

2008-05-31T03:29:00.003+08:00

This episode was about two guys who got really obsessed in the cybergaming world.

One, let's call him "A" felt that he couldn't make friends in the real world because no one ever understands him and there's no one he can talk to. Not his parents, not his siblings, not his classmates. He though the computer was his only friend. He believes he only lives in the cyber world, only there he can talk and be friend people. If his parents didn't allow him to play in the day, he would wake up in the middle of the night to play. He has no motivation for anyhtign but cybergaming. When both his computers broke down at the same time, he even suffered from withdrawal symptoms like throwing things around. Eventually he got a new computer and continued living in his world of cybergaming. But later, the classmate "A" pays to do his homework saw him browsing through game guides and item list in class. She recently started playing the same game too and she suggested meeting online to playing together if "A" can give her any tips. "A" hesitated, but the girls said, " hey, don't look down on me because I'm a girl, my whole family plays games, Dota, counter-strike, you name it." That day after school, they met online to "trained" together. "A" made his first friend. Finally, because he found some connection and he didn't close the door to her this time.

Before you start assuming that the world built a wall around it to keep you out...
Think, is it you who have built a wall around yourselves to keep the world out?

The other, let's call him, "B", is an aspiring pro-basketballer. However due to a training injury, he will not be able to play for sometime. To kill time at home, he started cybergaming and before long, he got hooked. He was looking for something to help replace the adrenaline rush he gets from winning a match on the court. However, unable to win all the time in the cybergame, he got more and more obsessed in trying to win in the cybergame. Eventually he just played day and night, neglecting physiotherapy that help him recover faster to get back on the court, forgot his dreams of being a pro-basketballer, stop hanging out with friends and contacting them because he was busy gaming. He even resorted to sneaking out at night and spending 200 dollars to buy a high level character so that he can alwasy win in the cybergame. That night, his dad caught him. Worried for his safety as he is still on clutches and he shouldn't have went out at such a late hour hours. He had a big fight with his dad even though he knew his dad was just concerned about him. At that point, all he knew was he wanted to play. His father scolded him and said that was he needs is the adrenaline rush from victory. He also reminded him, what happened to his dream of becoming a pro-basketballer? Is cybergaming day and night going to help him achieve that? NO! B's dad asked if he needed help, whether it would help if he takes away his computer. "B" woke up and started working on his leg. Soon he was back on the court. It felt good.

Never get too obsessed in a game or anything, or you'll end up neglecting more important things.
When you have a dream, fight for it. Do not let a small obstacle like a minor injury get in your way. Fight hard, fight well, even if you fail, you know you did your best and you'll have no regrets. Parents are always there to help. All you need to do is ask. Communication is the key.

To East Coast Park and BACK! 70km! WOOT!

2008-05-31T03:12:00.004+08:00

I shall write about my cycling trip to East Coast Park. My FIRST time there on my bike!

Woot! 29 MAy 2008, Thursday, what a sunny day!
Met a fellow instructor, Jerome, at the junction infrom of 10 Mile Junction Shopping Centre. The trip was only comfirm the night before. Destination? As far as we can go! lols...
Because it's not very long after my knees surgery, only 8 or 9 months after op for my left knee and merely 4 months for my right knee! I wasn't confident of going all the way down to East Coast. But we made it! Need to get used to my cleats again too. Nearly fall and crash a few times during the trip. Lucky I'm still in one piece. ^_^

The route:
We went down Bukit Timah road(man, this is the hardest part of the route...lotsa up and down slopes), all the way pass HCI and NJC to Adams road then to Newton Circle(that junction was messy!). Took a short toilet break at a SPC petrol kisok and carried on down to bugis. Where we went to Blue Reef Scuba for a visit, I bumpped into a JC classmate from first 3 months, he was there for the recruitment into Trekkers. We stayed and chat with the senior trainers for a while before going off again. There's going to be a trip this August in the NPD week. Diving, trekking and abseil of NATURAL CLIFF!!! OMG! I WANT TO GO!!
Anyway, back to the cycling route....
We passed through Geylang(the traffic here is messy too...and Jerome that crazy guy kept leading me, weaving in and out of traffic.) where we had TAO-HUAY BREAK! LOL... the Tao-Huay was nice..
After that we contined all the way to East Coast Park. Found out that cycling on the over head bridge to cross over to East Coast Park from the park connector comes with a $1000 fine! OMG...Jerome's friend got it once before!
At East Coast Park we went to check out kayaking spots and rates. Only to realise that there's no longer kayak rental available at ECP. Sad. BUT, NO WORRIES! Those you won't get the beautiful view of the sea, there nearest play for people staying in the east would be Bedok Reserviour. There, like the old Kayak Kiosk at ECP, you od not need to be a member nor do you need at least 1 Star certification. Rental is open to everyone and it's open-deck kayak. So it's very safe, if you capsize, you'll just fall off the kayak. No worries of being trapped under.
Jerome ran into his campers from St. Patricks at ECP, they were blading there.
Was actually thinking of going over to Bedok Reseriour to check things out...but I'm TIRED! Already covered 30-40Km and we still have the return journey to consider. So, next time~

The Return journey:
We basically took the same route back, but didn't stop by Blue Reef Scuba again. Also didn't stop for toilet break! I wanted to try going all the way back to Choa Cku Kang without stopping. Haha... but still we stopped at a bike shop along Bukit Timah road to take a look. Cools bikes in there...
The tirp back was tiring! Especially the up slopes on Bukit Timah road(nearing CCK)! I was too tired to speed up after slowing down again, so I decided to speed all they way back to 10Mile Junction after I gained speed form a down slope. LOL...SHAG~
Finally got back to 10Mile Junction. I waited for Jerome, he didn't speed all the way back like I did.
Jerome got a 1.5 liter bottle of H2O at Seng Siong, we sat outside Seng Siong and shared the drink. Chat a bit. Then when home seperately. I still had 1 slope to go up at Teck Whye...T_T. But still manage to make it back home....
Now I have to clean and wax my bike....the spokes of my front rims are risky. zzzz.....
Cleaning was tedious! But the bike needs maintainance...haha....
The trip was tiring...BUT FUN! SHIOK!

Next target: Changi Village!

Any cyclist out there wanna cycle?? lol..

My Blog My World, Thursdays Channel U 9.30 pm

2008-05-29T22:08:00.004+08:00

My Blog My World is a new(ok...not so new also...debuted 15th may) TV program on Channel U, every Thursdays 9.30pm.

Synopsis(taken from MediaCorp Website): Love, school work, gangs, dreams ... Youths aged between 13 and 21. What are in their world? What are their thoughts? With the objective of giving the youths in Singapore an avenue to voice and represent themselves in their most naked truth, "My World My Blog" sets out to portray true youth’s stories through untainted glasses for a real life representation in the virtual world of television broadcasting. "My World My Blog" journeys with you into the world of these teenagers to understand their behavior, their thinking, their emotions, their needs and their wants.

It's a meaningful show I recommend teen readers, young adults, adults and parents out there to watch. It gives an insight on what's going through they youngsters heads today and through these stories, lessons can be learnt. It allows teens and young adults to take a step back and take a look at themselves and reflect on themselves. Are they like the main character of a particular episode? Have they done anything similar? Was it the right thing to do? What were they thinking? ...etc...
Also, it allows adults and parents to understand teenager and young adults today more.

I've been wanting to watch the show. But due to camps, I haven't had the time. The previous episode was the first one I watch. I shall try to watch every episode I can and write a review on the episode, including my views and lessons that can be learnt.

Again, like all my posts, comments and constructive criticism are most welcomed.

Roaring monkey looks at BGR

2008-05-29T20:30:00.008+08:00

hmmm...forgot y i wanted to post this...but nvm...
just post...lol....

Firstly, I'm not against BGR in sch...
well, i have no actual experience and wad i say is totally based on hear-say and what I've seen.

BGR can be good and bad.
Good: couple influencing each other in a positive way, like encourage each other to work harder, be it studies or work. Well, for student's case, studies.
Being in a relationship can make someone become a better person, become more responsible, more hard working, more organized, etc....
A friend told me, if he hadn't met his current girlfriend, he'd prob still the playful guy he was.
I saw the change in him too. He really did become more matured (not that he's not matured to begin with. know wad i mean?), more driven in life, and start to think about his future more seriously.

Having someone special with you,
well....someone to keep you company, someone to do things with, to chat...etc....but wad if they are too "sticky"? Resulting in too much time spent on him/her and no time for other stuff?? What about personal time???
Which brings me to the bad part of BGR....

A relationship is supposed to be happy and help to improve oneself, help one become a better person.
The most important thing, HAPPINESS. If not, what's the point?
When the relationship is affecting you in a negative way, then it's certainly uncalled for.
Depression due relationship problems, no mood to study/work, losing motivation to work....
One should understand that as a student, studies should come first, it's your future....
This is really cli`che, it's wad all the adults, parents, teachers...etc...are saying, but it's true.
Yes, there's bound to be ups and downs in a relationship but, what needs to be done must be done.
Don't cry over spilt milk, when everything is finally over and you realize you wasted so much time on that person and still have a bad relationship with him/her and u get bad result...parents unhappy....blablabla....
Weigh the benefit and the consequences, is it worth it? My point of view? No.
What needs to be done, must be done.
Yes, some might say, hey, don't talk big, it's just that you're a loser,ugly, no one likes you, so you never had a girlfriend. But seriously, after hearing all the complains my friends have, no time for this no time for that, girlfriend's unhappy, need hoaxing, girlfriend don't allow me to do this and that....
I guess besides the occasional loneliness, I'm really enjoying my single-hood. I have all the time I want to do wad I like...to play ball, to cycle, play guitar...piano...games...etc....

Next, especially for the girls, for goodness sake, please please please, learn to protect yourselves.
What I'm going to say here, I think some of the readers already know. Sex. This sounds preachy, but it's important.
"If you love me, you should give it to me." I say that's BULLSHIT. He loves your body more that he loves you.

Girls, NEVER, be pressured into it by your other half. If he loves you he should respect you.
More like, "If you love me, you should love me for me and respect me." On the news you see teens starting to do it earlier and earlier. There's even pregnant-cases in primary sch. What's the society coming to? The lack of stigma of losing one's virginity is becoming a problem. Ppl are really starting to view sex more and more lightly.
Shouldn't sex be a special something that you saved for that special someone?? Yes, and you say, at that time you really though he's the one. Hello? If you are 14-17 years old, how sure are you that he's going stay with you or you want to stay with him?!
Then after you did it you'll start thinking, I gave him my everything, I have to stay with him...

For people out there that thinks, Sex can strengthen the relationship, it is true, BUT only when the relationship has matured and both of you are now sure that he/she's the right one, more extreme way to put it, married or ready to get married...
Very often people jump in to a relationship to soon and in the heat of the moment, for the first time they did it. Soon after, they realised he/she's not the one and they start to regret...
But now, because they had sex, they cant just break up like any other couples....
The guy, being responsible will think: I did it with her, I took something very important from her, It's her first time. I cant just break up with her like that....
The girl: I gave him my all. I have to stay with him...
Sex, in this case, becomes what's keeping two separate individuals together in the relationship...
The guy, if he's responsible enough, will stay with the girl and really take care of her...
The girl, maybe she still loves the guy and clings to him afraid to lose him as she already gave him her all.
With responsible individuals, the relationship might be sustainable. But very likely it's not going to be full of love as it is being held together by a mistake--sex too early in the relationship. This is naggy. The rest of it, guess readers can imagine.

That's was the BEST CASE scenario, girls, what if the guy you meet is just a jerk who's toying you?

With the above, guys and girls, please think twice before doing it. Yes, girls are always on the losing end, but guys, same goes to you, a wrong decision and you have yourselves to answer to.

Agree? Disagree??? Anything to add??? Comments and criticism welcome.

Back from reading EV forms~

2008-05-29T19:27:00.005+08:00

went down to the office to read the EV form for my East Spring Sec 2 camp ytd...
wanted to post this ytd...but...TIRED!!
hmmm....wonder if anyone's going to read this...

Jonathan: Thanks for trying to explain to Chief Kent for me.... LOL...really din expect that.... touched..dun worry la...nth much happened in the end cos in the end the campfire turn out ok ma.
well....

Alexis: where got long never see..lol...

Jonathan/Alexis: i could have fed u all with a dance or something just to get the campfire performance over and done with. But i dun wan ma, i wan you all to learn to work together and produce something together so that the outcome would be more beneficial and u guys will have a better sense of accomplishment. hope u all learnt something of this experience of "last-min campfire preparation".
Sometime there are situation where ppl are forced to work will ppl they dun know or even ppl they dun like, but if we can only move on as a team, then we HAVE to work together. Hoped u all also learnt the importance of communication and cooperation. And that in a group, someone must be willign to step out and make responsible dissicions for the group, i could have been that guy, but i wan u guys to learn...well...Jonathan, i think u really changed during the camp ba? from the quiet guy that kept saying "i dun wan to be instructor", u really started to speak up and encourage the group. really gald to see that. JIA YOU!

Cassandra: Thanks. haha....but ur 2nd line, jia you in wad?? lol...

Norashiki:hey.....sorry....i accidentially deleted wad i wanted to say from my phone....i said thanks for the fun or soemthign liddat rite.....well.... glad u had fun...and very importantly, hope u learnt something.

Gek Peng:lol.... not all my events are in tampanies la...it can be anywhere. anywhere the is i'll go...just that the previous one i did was at tampanies.... heard that one was actually a family day event, anyone could have gone, just go there register can le...too bad u guys missed it...haha...btw...eh, kick the habit la...i knwo wad i mean rite?

Faheem: Glad u learn something. Yes, without communication, nothing can be achieved in a group. an idea will stay and idea if it's not communicated to everyone and brought into action.

Terrence: I v emo meh....

Huisi: thanks gal, ur welcome! ur the only one that left something for me in grp 8! lol....k lay...grp 8 only 2 person wrote something behind...

Someone help me out here? I'm a noob at blogging...

2008-05-27T22:57:00.003+08:00

hmm....
wad link me... wad relink...
tag me blog...
wad's all that sia....
and how do i add that shout out box thingy to my blog....
how to add pictures???
and those list of wadeva....
>.<
can anyone help me???
i wanna add stuff to my blog!!!!

btw, evelina, u ask me to read ur blog...but i went and i dunno how to navigate ard sia....

ROAR!!! The barber spoilt my TAIWAN-CUT hair...T_T

2008-05-27T16:58:00.005+08:00

ROAR!!! T_T....my hair is cui now.... my taiwan-cut hair...
ok...lame...not like i am some yandao... i'm ugly anyway....
haha...but still sad...
went to cut cos it's getting too long to style....but now...
well done, too long and thin to style....
zzz....
but at least this hair cut can last me sometime be i need to cut again....
maybe i should try cutting my hair myself again...lol....

btw, Rambanana's how come most of ur blogs i've read cannot comment one... like cassandra's huisi...racy....only read this 3 actually....who else blogs?? hmm...is cannot coment cos comments off or cos i noob dunno how to??>.<>.<)only bearly made out the first one...2nd one cmi...but hmm...all i can say to u is, let time heal ur wounds ba...do stuff to cheer up urself...or like go sweat it out like i alwasy do when i feel down. go for a ball game! go for some outdoor activites...to the rest in RABANANAS too...feeling down? then go sweat it out... u guys live so clsoe to east coast park....so good.... unlike me....choa chu kang....omg....
o and....racy....i cant find ur blog...wad relink sia....i'm noob.

23rd-25th May 2008, East Spring Sec 2 camp.

2008-05-25T20:51:00.003+08:00

My first back-to-back camp. Man was it tiring...haha...but still it was fun.
The atmosphere of the camp was kinda weird in the beginning, cos the campers were too.... too... quiet and guai...how should I out it...they are really responsive when trainers they to rah-rah them...but when the trainer stops, they stop too...like...they dun get high???
but luckily in the end during the camp fire things went great and they finally got "high"!
Was a bit hard in the beginning to work with my mirror instructor, Instructor Adha, cos we had totally different stlyes in leading i should say and the coordination was not there....but after some discussion on the first night, things went ok after that.

Day 1: Haven wake up b4 the CRC cos still "recovering" from the previuos camp. But luckily after CRC I perspired and woke up. LOL...Kidnap was great too, all they kids ran together...guess they are my lucky star...this is the first time i got my first key on the 3rd try. Usually I'l; always have to try like at least 7 times before I get it...BANANAS, ur my LUCKY STAR!!!
Then debrief actaully ended at 12 plus...but sad thing is my sentry duty is at 4.30...slept at 2 plus...cos was talking to Potato and some other trainers... then so lazy to wake up for sentry...but the campers on the left of the camp woke up at 4 plus and where so noisy i was forced to wake up and do somethign about it....ROAR!!! I WANTED TO SLEEP....

Day 2: The day started with Land experdition where I taught the kids some skills on orientering and also stressed that need to look out for each other so that the group does not get seperated during the trip. The trip went ok too, hope they learnt that planning important from the trip, we were the last to set off but not the last to come back cos we planned. BANANAS, REMEMBER THIS!!! PLAN!!! As always kayaking is the highlight of the camp. Finally saw Hui Si from group 8 excited and jumping ard...haha... haiz.....but sadly....they kayaking session had to end early cos of bad weather.....y I always so suay....sorry RAMBANANAS...T_T...
After kayaking wad Campfir Prep....first time my group cannot finish my Campfire item by the final campfire prep.....so so stressed out, din even have time for dinner....but luckily we still manage to prepare soemthing and pull it off during the campfire, Fad, the breakdance part even though it was less than perfect but at least there's entertainment value and your courage and willingness to do it for the group is really RESPECTABLE, with that attitdue I'm sure some day you'll be somebody, RAMBANANAS, learn form his spirit!...also lucky you guys were loud enough for the cheers part....wahaha....cheers is my forte...cos i'm ROARING MONKEY!!!...lol....
Anyway, RAMBANANAS, if anyone of you get to read this, i hope you've learn the importance of cooperation, punctuality and that there's a time for fun and there's a time to be serious. Sorry to let u all see evil monkey aka Mojo jojo during campfire prep...was really stressed cos last min le still cannot get you ppl to work together....

Day 3: Really a pity I had to leave early today...really wanted to stay with you guys a bit longer, but had something on at home....to those who gave me you camp booklets the night b4, hope you'll read and learn from the messages I've left you....to those who did not...hope you'll be able to see this....hmm...need to think of how to let you guys see this cos there are some points I left out in my debrief...
Oya...for those who didn't catch what I said about how to do activites like abseiling, rock climbing and kayaking outside, abseiling and rock climbing courses can be signed up at SAFRA. Or you can wait for me get my abseiling instructor lisence by end of this year hopefully and i'll conduct the course for you...lol.... Rock climbing can also be done at palces like Climb Asia and Climb Advanture....just google for them....
As for kayaking, you can either go to Water Venture(google for it) or if you just wan to have fun but lazy to go for certification, you can go to East Coast Park, there's a kayak kiosk there that allows poeple to kayak even if they do not have 1 star.

Last but definately not the least, I hope everyone learn something form the camp and you all had FUN!!!

20th-22nd May 2008, Unity Sec 1 camp

2008-05-25T20:02:00.001+08:00

I shall start my first camp journal with the 20th-22nd May 2008 Unity Secondary Sec 1 camp.
Yes, it's already 25th but i'm writing about it only now cos I just ended my back-to-back camp today...
It's my first back-to-back camp experience. Got back home on the 22nd night at slightly pass midnight, shower, pack my bag, a short sleep of 5 hours and off I go for my next camp with East Spring Secondary....that I'll talk about in my next entry...
Unity Sec 1 camp....GREAT CAMP, GREAT CAMPERS!

Day 1: The camp was tiring, especially the first day, cos I was the Kayaking instructor(my first time)+powerboat.....yes...powerboat...I had to manually drag the "lost-sheeps" back together and do rescue for the capsized kayaks WITHOUT a powerboat helping me....
Man, I was so happy I'll finally get to kayak the whole day....turns out, it's the full day swimming session for me...Though tiring, but it was a fulfilling day, I've learnt lessons myself on how to conduct Kayaking session more efficiently too....things like...always watch your back, dun drift too near to the kelongs...it's just a night-mare...my 2nd class played "capsize" near the kelong...8 or more kayaks capsized and took me nearly an hour to get everyone back to the shore...
Rafting up is better done near the shore where I'm still able to tought the seabed sicne objective can still be met and rescue of capsized kayaks can be done more easily.
1 life-vest was missing in the end....dunnno wad happened man....how can a bright orange life vest go missing just like that...zz....might need to pay...

Day 2: I was Abseiling instructor, another highlight of the camp. Was really lucky to be station IC for both the highlights of the camp. Abseiling when on really smoothly except for sometimes when campers where scared and did not dare to go down....just needed to encourge them more but eventually they all made it down. Especially my group, there were 3 of them, but they too made it down in the end. Learnt that for campers that are scared, I should hook them up fast and get them to step-off the ledge asap, do not allow time for them to think as the more they think they more afraid they get. If any campers are reading this, this applies ot hurdles and obsacales on life too, if you dwell on it too much, keep thinking, "wad if i fail", "wad if i fall", you'll just get more and more afraid too try and may even break down unable to try eventually.
In times like these, when there somethign u must do, just do it first, very often, after you take the first step out, you'll realized it's actually not that bad....you may even turn-out to enjoy it!

Day 3: I was station IC for the first 2 days and was still thinking I may not be able to bond too well with the group for the hike on the last day. But turns out we bonded really well. The hike when on really well(except for the part where they keep askign my for my address and contact...kinda irritating....lol....jkjk...), saw many of them starting to work together and started looking out for each other and we got the highest scored for the hike!! Some other trainers like Kristlyn was teasing me saying that my group won cos I "bang-chance" cos I did the recce for the hike.
but....ROAR!!!! I DID NOT!!! I never lead the group at all, they lead themselves and lead themselves, it was their own effort. Every member played a part in it. It wasn't a case of 1 person leading all the way. love them.

In all, the camp was great. Was really lucky to have such a nice group! Just pure luck...haha....
All the best to everyone!!!!

My first entry...

2008-05-25T19:46:00.001+08:00

After Alex aka Potato (yes, it's Instructor Potato of Instructorpotato.blogspot.com) told me about his blogging experience about camps, and campers from recent camps asking if I have a blog. I've decided to start one myself.
Since it's company policy in both Trekkers and Camp High Achievers that trainers are not allow to retail contacts of campers and also not allowed to give out contacts to campers, I think it excludes blogging...rite? Since it's not real time chat or something?? Plus, blogging allows me to keep journals of my camps.
Also it might in some way allow me to continue to reach out to and help campers???
....and maybe even earn a little extra pocket money like Potato if i get enough hits???
LOL....