050: Primers Handover Parade

Primers Handover Parade: 14 April 2012

(Author’s Note: One is strongly advised to listen to this while reading the post: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohXI3po8hK0 XD 

If you start at 0.29 and read this post aloud, it should fit nicely. If you read slowly then maybe this one is better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdG8FJbJq28&feature=fvst)

I had always expected that day to be preceded with more pomp and emotion. I thought I’d be soulfully polishing my boots the night before; heart-wrenchingly stabbing the rusty pin of my name tag through the cloth of my shirt; stoically treading up that old ramp with thoughts of a hundred parades past swirling through my mind.

None of that happened, though. In many ways I was in good spirits as I entered the spaceframe. Maybe it’s because I’m a cold, heartless creature.

Or maybe because, God be praised, the past year has been filled with countless blessings. Maybe because we leave the Company in safe hands, with juniors, both Year 3 and Year 5, who are ready to lead the Company in our absence. Maybe because, for myself personally but also as a cohort I believe, our season has well-completed its course and our Master has in store for us other exciting paths to tread. Maybe.

 Just another parade...?

And so, despite the Midsummer Night’s Dream rushing around us due to OM, the parade started none too abnormally. We had fall-in, and then drill, during which Gloke led us through the sequence for the Handover Ceremony. It contained some nifty stuff, but after a few tries everyone pretty much got it.

With that, we headed off to see the Year 3s. There was a sweet little time of sharings, and it was a time of much thanksgiving. Quite adorably, the kids even made us little wristbands, inscribed with “ + 12^th(I) Primers ’11 - ’12 … <3 Admin ’12 - ‘13”  Quite cute ^^

The kids eventually headed off though, after which we had a time of thanks and encouragement as a cohort, led by Soph, who formulated an exciting little plan of attaching sheets of paper on everyone’s backs, and then giving everyone a marker to write little messages on each other’s paper! Haha it was really quite fun, even in spite of some logistical hiccups on my part >< , but really meaningful as well.

Eventually, however, we regrouped as a Company back in the Old LT for Worship. Good stuff – a real reminder for me to really thank God for all that He’s done in my life through BB, but also to commit the kids and the rest of the Company to Him. The lyrics of that old song, Find Us Faithful, came to mind.

Worship led by Head Primer Noel Cheong!

This was followed by some meaningfully entertaining presentations. Kudos to…
1)      Aaron and QYJ, for an amazing video/photo compilation! ^^
2)      Mike, for laboriously designing the shirts for the officers and heading all the way to Little India by himself the evening before Handover.
3)      Chee, Carissa and Alex, for possum acsplosion skillz =P
4)      Kiat. Just coz’

Presentation of customized shirts to Year 6 Officers! :D

 Song presentation 'Viva La Vida - Love Story mix' to Ho Jun Kiat 

by Joshua Chee, Carissa and Alex

Mister Yi Wei Ballz also gave a very touching message to us, and it was really a very sweet way to end the morning, in my opinion. With that, presentations and speeches all wrapped up, we sang the beloved Company Theme Song, then headed out for the ceremony.

 Outgoing Steering Committee

 Incoming Steering Committee

It’s quite hard to describe the Handover Ceremony. The significance behind it and all makes it quite hard to really put into words. For me, at least, it brought back memories of the Handover Parade last year, when we were the ones being prayed for and all, what with all the thoughts and struggles I had or anticipated at the time.

Praying for our successors

All too soon, though, time was up. We saluted the officers, and did the long-awaited march into the sunset.

Outgoing

6th Primers Council - Primers 11/12

Incoming Head Primer CLT/5 Jonathan Lee Yong Zheng

Incoming

7th Primers Council - Primer12/13

(There was phototaking with the kids and all after that of course, but quite anti-climatic to end with that so pretend it didn’t exist =X  Special mention to amazingly funky pens/pencils from the officers though!)

And well, I suppose that wraps things up. It’s been a great, great journey, and I truly thank God for each and every Primer He gave me the opportunity to know and love over the past year. You all have been amazing brothers and sisters. If I haven’t yet thanked you personally, I’ll do it soon! But yeah, for now… 感谢你 ^^

*Glances around*

I’m not sure what will be the case of this blog now that we’ve ROD-ed. Haha shall let Nic decide that. Will be putting up updates of, like, Bible Study and all on the Facebook group I think, until we think of a funkier way to do it =) Everyone’s invited!

But yeah, I do hope and pray that we all continue to love and support one another over the months and years ahead ^^  Would strongly encourage everyone to come down every Saturday, for Bible Study or for soccer or for both, though I understand that everyone will have their own commitments.

Whatever it is, though, hope to see you all around in school! God be with you all =)

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Love... In Perfect Unity

~Written by:

SCL/6 Noel Cheong

Hebrews 6:19

"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast..."

049: Pre-Handover Stay Over

Pre-Handover Stay Over: 14 April 2012

The Primer’s Stayover at Audrey’s-Grandma’s-House took place the night before our ROD, as we spent a time of fellowship feeling extremely emotional about leaving Primers and the 12^th. Leaving on a high after the awesome time of worship/OICtalk/intense other stuff like prayer, we spent most of dinner at Wah Chee sitting in stoic silence, reflecting on the past and thinking of the future, as we watched the young punks of 1213 prance around playing Frisbee, so filled with the energy and vigour of youth. Except maybe not really because we ended up playing Frisbee after dinner as well but just pretend.

Following the classique Wah Chee dinner, the group of us then embarked upon the quest to find Audrey’s-Grandma’s-House. Stocking up on supplies such as the all-important bags of chips, the bottles and bottles of sweet drinks and other…items… *cough brian*, the venture into the unknown began! Trooping down Holland Village like a bunch of homeless vagabonds, chatting loudly and singing songs with our very own Nick the Bard, we eventually arrived at Audrey’s-Grandma’s-House, which simply put, was nothing short of massive. Like kids in a playground with no rules and a curiousity that knew no bounds, we excitedly entered the house, only to be greeted by a host of Audrey’s-Grandma’s-Friends!

 Adi. The Adi.

Noel, Chan Keen, Sebastian and Joshua Chee grrrrooooving to the beat

 Wonder Boys :3

Audrey’s-Grandma insisted we enjoy ourselves, and she herself got the party started the ball rolling by challenging Mike and Audrey to a dance-off in Just Dance! The rest of the night went by quickly, as we found our different ways to work off the anxiety building within us. Some of us talked it off with intense HTHTs, some of us sang our hearts out (or listened to someone sing his heart out anyway), and some of us gambled our life savings (of muscle energy) working out beside the pool. Our very own champion Aaron Chong accepted the challenge of doing over a thousand pushups before the night ended, a valiant attempt that eventually failed ^^

 Check out those mooooooves

Nic wins at Ke$ha's Tik Tok!

The stayover eventually ended when, well, we woke up and stopped staying over. Sleep deprived and bleary eyed, but full of energy to make our last parade count, we donned our Primer’s uniform proudly for the very last time and left the house in an epic convoy of cars, got stuck in a traffic jam outside school, arrived just on time and pinned on our Raymond Lam nametags and 125 badges, ready to face whatever challenges that lay ahead! It was time to game on.

 Just keep swimmming...

The girls + extra

PS. We should do it again someday.

~Written by:

SCL/6 Ho Chan Keen

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

048: Pre-Handover Retreat

Pre-Handover Retreat: 13 April 2012

On the 13th of April, the Year 5 and Year 6 Primers gathered for a pre-handover retreat, an afternoon dedicated to prepare the Year 5s for their term ahead, and to bring closure to the term of the Year 6s.

The retreat began with a simple time of worship and thanksgiving, to remind everyone of God’s grace and perfect timing in every season. The Year 5s and 6s then split into smaller groups, primarily by their committees. In these smaller groups, the Year 6s were able to share more personally about their experiences gained and lessons learnt in their past year of service. The Year 5s had an opportunity to ask any questions or doubts they had about their positions and roles in their year. The two cohorts also had the chance to pray for one another :)

Following which, the Year 6s received wise words of encouragement and guidance from our special OIC of 2011, otherwise known as Papa Lebby (as reflected on his special shirt!), regarding our friendships and responsibilities after ROD. He flew specially back to attend our ROD, and having such a dedicated officer who moulded and cared for us from the very start reminded us of how much we had all grown in our journey through Primers in the past year.

The Year 6s ended the pre-handover retreat with a special foot-washing and prayer activity, to remind everyone of the humble attitude of Christ in service. It was a meaningful time for the Year 6s to reflect on their service and friendships with one another and pray for their cohort mates whom they had grown in one year of service in Primers with.

In conclusion, the pre-handover retreat, the last time the Year6 primers were all officially gathered together before handover parade, was a blessed time of encouragement and empowerment, which humbled many to remember the grace and faithfulness of God through our Primers term.

Let’s not forget to continue encouraging our dear juniors, the Year 5 Primers, in words, deeds and prayer as they run their own race in Primers to serve the very same God who carried us through our term J As our primers journey comes to an end, let’s praise the Lord for His indescribable grace and faithfulness and give Him all glory. May we continue to pray and care for one another, grow in love and joy of Him and be sure and steadfast at His feet :D

~Written by:
SCL/6 Sophia Ng

Colossians 3:14
"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

047: Enrolment Parade 2012

Enrolment Parade 2012: 8 April 2012

Enrolment Parade 2012!

(Left) SCL Brian Wong with the Brigade Colours

(Left) Head Primer and Parade Commander SCL/6 Noel Cheong saluting the Guest of Honour

The 58^th Enrolment Parade and Service of the Twelfth Singapore Company of the Boys’ Brigade was hosted at our campus this year, and it was really nice to have the whole Twelfth Coy gathered together in one space! As it is, 12^th (I) is already quite large, with six cohorts! When we added in the 12^th(Br) and 12^th(J) companies, the parade square was flooded with boys (and primers) and it felt nice to be part of this family!

 Pasokan Pasokan

Kawalan Kehormatan

(Left) The band led by the band major during the march past

Mark Choo and Dominic with the band

Guard of Honour Commander - SCL Ho Jun Kiat

Primers Contingent Commanders - SCL Nicholas Lim and SCL Chua Jian Rong

The morning started with some final run-throughs of the proceedings of the parade and service, and everyone put in their best efforts to make sure that the parade and service would run smoothly! It didn’t matter whether we were marching, being photographers or being ushers! It was terribly heartwarming to see each and every member of the twelfth put in so much effort to make this enrolment parade and service a memorable one! Finally after one last run-through, the parade began at around 9:55 a.m.! Despite the scorching heat, we kept our spirits up and held our heads high as we marched and I noticed that many parents were taking pictures of us! That was really encouraging, and it made all those long hours of rehearsal worth it! :D For the Year 6 girls, this was our first time putting our drill skillz to the test! And I think we did a great job too! :3 

 Year 5s CLT Samual Tan and CLT Jonathan Lee

March past led by Parade Commander SCL Noel Cheong! 

Guard of Honour March past

 Primers Contingent March Past

The parade went smoothly (yay everyone and especially props to the contingent commanders and Noel for being an awsmz parade commander) and we all then proceeded to the CPA for the service section of the day’s program! Singing the company theme song together as one FULL company was great too hurhur! The Year 6s were sitting in the upper gallery of the CPA and during the company theme song, we looked down and saw so many guests with their iPads/iPhones/iDevices whipped out video-ing our enthusiastic jumping about and slightly-breathless singing! I think for guests who aren’t familiar with the spirit of twelfth coy, this was an eye-opening experience for them, to see the unity that binds us together as one company! (:

(Top left) ACS (I) Principal Mr Winston Hodge's introductory speech 

(Right) Marching in of colours

(Top left) Presentation of long service awards

(Bottom left) 12th (I) Captain Dr Andrew Yong with Guest of Honour

(Right) Officers singing during worship

Company Theme Song:

One in Vision, One in Christ

All in all, enrolment was a really awesome experience for me, and it was especially poignant since it’s the Year 6s’ second-last parade! What a way to let our term as primers draw to a close~ Celebrating so many years of God’s faithfulness to our company together with all the other ACS schools!

~Written by:
SCL/6 Dorothy Loo

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

046: Primers Photoshoot, Primers Council, Enrolment Parade Rehearsal

Primers Photoshoot, Primers Council, Enrolment Parade Rehearsal: 31st Mar 2012

Primers 11/12

Last Saturday marked the third last parade, beginning with our photoshoot, followed by Primers’ council, and lastly enrolment parade rehearsal.

 Steering Committee 

 Christian Education Committee

 Drill and Discipline Committee

Service and Relations Committee

 Year 3 Programs Committee

 
It was raining so the photoshoot had to be held indoors inside the department room, which could barely contain the excitement. With us all brandishing nerf guns, sunglasses, rabbit ears, swathes of bandages and other props, the camwhoring session could finally commence. It was all rather surreal and slightly bizarre! The boys however were clearly in their element.

 Steeco

 Rangers

The Boys

SRShip

 Gru and his minions

Following the high-energy chaos of the photoshoot we had Primers’ council! This was, in contrast, very proper and (relatively) serious. Each committee head gave an overview of what the committee did in their term. It was a good recap of the events of the past year and it allowed us to reflect on what God has brought us through as a cohort and what we are passing on to our juniors.

 SR Guyz :)

Nicholas and the Taiwanese Liu Hsu Ying! <3

 Primers 11/12 Girls

(with a capital G!!)

After that we readily got on our feet for enrolment parade rehearsal. Fortunately the rain had stopped and the weather was mercifully cool. A good day for some marching, yippee! Running through the parade repeatedly was slightly tedious, especially as the afternoon wore on and the weather got warmer and shoes started to pinch. However I gradually felt more secure and comfortable with the commands and the sequence of events. There were also many other distractions, like the twirling baton (slightly hypnotic), and the tassels on the bugles to our right (so pretty), and also the little boys behind our contingent (so cute asdkaj), which collectively presented a slight challenge to marching straight and paying attention. It was with considerable effort that I managed to overcome these challenges.

Worship led by the Year 3s

Service segment briefing led by Mr Jonas Chow

Barker Boys and Primer

Band Major from 12th (Barker Road)

Informal time spent with officers

As a contingent we managed to overcome our difficulties as well, improving spectacularly from eye-shifting, area-sensing and general flailing around to being more or less accurate and confident in our marching (though probably less for me). It felt incredible marching off the very last time for the day into the symbolical sunset that was the ACS boarding hall; as if we had accomplished some great feat of mankind or bested some arduous trial of human suffering. Our going through it together was quite heart-warming and poignant AND TO THINK THIS WAS ONLY THE REHEARSAL.

 (Right) JIA HUI DRILL CAN LAUGH IS IT?!

(Bottom right) David Teh being a sea lion. 

(Top Left) Emcee Audrey Tan

Shaun Low: One does not simply break Rule #2

Taking a break during the Parade Rehearsal

12th (I) Primers!

So it was a long and tiring but fun day, involving moderate-level physical activity and varying degrees of sunburn. However, WE MAAAADE IT (heh soph)! I am pretty excited to be marching this year (even though being a flowerpot last year was exciting too) and I am looking forward to our marching together as Primers this coming enrolment parade.

~Written by:
SCL/6 Carissa Lim

Leviticus 11:44a
"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."