Sec. 3 Leadership Camp

I’ve finally returned to my Home Sweet Home from the Sec. 3 Leadership Camp (partially Torture Camp, I should say). Despite the unearthly date and time the Pastoral Care Department had set for the camp, it turned out to be better than I expected.

I’ve been allocated to Group 1, the 1st group on the list. My two facilitators, namely Susan and James, are rather friendly and helpful. They kindly allowed my group to sit under the shade after tent pitching, unlike some other groups who had to sit under the intense heat of the sunlight. Oh yar, I have to mention that the National Cadet Corps who taught us how to pitch a tent were rather inexperienced and (sorry to say) useless, especially this particular guy named James from 3 BN. He even has the cheek to state that he isn’t very familiar with tent pitching.

We headed for Shatec for the Social Graces and Western Dining Etiquette Workshop straight after dismantling the tents. It was the best component of the camp so far. The only problem is that the area got far too crowded and noisy when we exited the Shatec building. Lady Luck was smiling at me as I was in Group 1, the 1st group to board an air-conditioned bus, away from the heat and crowd. The evil side of me surfaced as I grinned gleefully at the rest of the students (who were still seated on the warm ground in the crowd and heat) when the bus drove past.

The ice breaker games could be considered challenging. Besides that, we had to come up with a group name and a group cheer. My group had not come up with a name when we entered LT 1. The facilitator-in-charge was kind enough to allow us extra time to think of a cheer, so he did not start from the norm when the groups supposed to share their cheers with the rest of the students.

Well, Johnathan came up with the group name ‘10 cents’ after he was inspired by the group ‘5 cents’. Our cheer? It goes like this : 10 cents, 10 cents, TWICE 5 cents. 5 cents, 5 cents, half 10 cents. 10 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents. This is just our common sense. That was just the primary version of the cheer. I’ll be posting the full version later on. The facilitator-in-charge ‘agreed’ to treat us to Starbucks if we managed to cheer the loudest. I remembered he promised the whole of group 1 a genuine Starbucks treat. We even made our orders e.g. Ice Blended, Cappuccino, Mocha, Latte, Espresso et cetera, but it turned out that every student who attended the camp had a ‘Starbucks’ treat - Hot Milo and some crackers.

I managed to clock in around 3 hours of sleep that night. It’s so uncomfortable sleeping on hard surfaces, unlike my comfy bed at home. The poncho I laid on the table didn’t help much either. To make matters worse, the air was still and humid. (If I were to compare my air-conditioned room to the classroom, one would be like heaven and the other would be hell respectively.) I would prefer to sleep in a more ventilated area.

Everyone had to wake up early as usual the next day. Breakfast was not that appetising , but it’s still edible though. I wouldn’t wish for better food, as this is the quality one should expect when camping. The day then started with Team Building games. Some of them were rather challenging, but overall, they’re pretty all right. I enjoyed the game at the 8th station (the scissors, paper, stone game) best. At least I have some integrity when playing the games, unlike some people who actually cheated and were boasting about it. Group 1 sure thrashed Group 2 at the 5th station (making of egg-protector). Group 2 had to perform the penalty specified by Group 1.

We had drained most of our energy by the time the Team Building games ended. A SWAT session was held thereafter. Lunch was served next. It was not appetising as usual, but I did finish my share. A sports water bottle was given as a souvenir for this camp. We were then told to fill up our bottles and assemble at the concourse as soon as possible.

The event that most people didn’t look forward to was next on the list - Survival Cooking. Our venue was at the Basketball Court! Very, very interesting, huh?! Each group had missing items in their boxes and the rule of the game is to barter trade. Since my group had an abundant amount of solid fuel and an extra stove, we decided to use these items to trade. Since solid fuel is a necessity for survival cooking, and we had two extra boxes of it, we ‘abused our authority’. One group offered us 1 can of sardines, with the trade of solid fuel. We agreed to some extent, made our specifications, which was 1 can of sardines, to ONE PIECE of solid fuel. Of course, without doubt, they declined our offer. From my analysis, even if they were to offer us 1 can of sardines, I don’t think it’s worth it to trade that with 1 full box of solid fuel. Subsequently, they had no choice but to offer us 2 canned food with the trade of 1 box of solid fuel.

The can-opener, listed as the most sacred item during this survival cooking, was what my group didn’t have. The ‘traders’ at the trading post wanted a 5 min performance from the group who wanted the can-opener. In the end, group 5, a.k.a Polar Bear, won the traders’ hearts with a silly performance of “She Bangs”. Thereafter, the shameless, petty and attention-grabbing facilitator of group 5, whose name is Louisa, came bouncing and running around the basketball court, holding the can-opener and chanting, “Wanna borrow the can-opener? You have to trade with us! Want the can-opener, give us a 5 min performance decided by us…” It’s totally outrageous, but it such a pity for that attention-grabbing Louisa as none of the other groups paid attention nor wanted to trade with her (Hahaha, my toes are laughing! Serves her right!). The traders offer my group the can-opener willingly without any performances nor trade. They were so impressed by my group’s determination and survival skills of opening the can with the use of a sharp blade. This shows that determination makes you a winner, not shameless, despicable acts.

Teik-ling and Hui Ting sure did a marvellous job explaining to the judges about the nutrition values of our survival meal. I could hear all that talk about carbohydrates, proteins, essential fats, dietary fibre, calcium, Omega 3 et cetera. It’s a job well done for both of them!

Hot, sticky and dirty after all that activities, we were given a 1 hour shower plus rehearsal break. After my shower, I returned to class and rehearsed for our performance. Our dinner only lasted around 15 min, but I managed to get a ‘full course’ meal, complete with a drink and dessert. We had to assemble at the concourse in our classes after dinner.

The Girl Guides led us to the respective places around the campfire. There were performances by most of the classes, and a simple little ‘contest’ named “Are you Hot?” Some of the contestants are the jokers of our level, with my emphasis of the two best friends, Chiaw Sang and Zhi Hao. Their answers to the questions were obviously FAKE! They, as usual, were being lame.

Prize giving was the last event before the campfire ended. Hooray, my group won the ‘Best Cheer‘. Now, to my group members: 10 ¢ , we‘re DEBEST!

My father drove Lin Hui to Eunos MRT Station that night before sending me home. This camp had been a new experience for me.

Last but not least, this is the full version of Group 1’s cheer:

10 cents, 10 cents, TWICE 5 cents. 5 cents, 5 cents, half 10 cents. 10 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents. This is just our common sense.

Aye! 一毛一毛一极棒 aye, ai yi ya yo!
五分不够上厕所 aye, ai yi ya yo!
五分那么 WEAK, 怎能和咱们比较 aye!

PS: For members or acquaintances of 5 ¢ , please understand that this cheer is not created by me. Any cases of related incidents, stories or characters, whether alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

PSS: To view the full version of the cheer, you may need to switch to Chinese Simplified (GB18030).