Boys' Brigade - part 1.

I was suppose to post my short review on my Samsung Omnia that I got last week but I haven't really try all the functions yet. Therefore, I decided to post it next time. Well, today I saw one of my friends posted some pictures on facebook. It was quite nostalgic for me because most of the pictures are the pictures he took when I was still in Boys Brigade.

Let me recall my memory. I joined Boys Brigade in 1995 when I was still standard 5 in primary school. The reason I joined is because my brother is in as well..haha...can't remember whether my brother is the one who drag me into it..lol. Well, I never regretted to join this uniform group because it really give me a lot of opportunities to learn a lot of things. I was initially enrolled into junior section which is mainly for primary school boys. By the way, Boys' Brigade is a Christian movements and at that time they only accept boys. However, nowadays they have girls...good for the boys..haha. I remember there are several other primary school boys joined as well but not from my primary school (SRK Jalan Peel). From there, I get to know couple of new friends. There is a company section which is mainly for secondary school boys (13-18 years), and my brother is in the company section that time. I remember he is already a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) and his rank is Corporal or Sergeant...em not really remember but he is definitely a sergeant in 1996.

Let me explain the hierarchy system in Boys' Brigade. It is actually same with British military system since BB was found by Sir William Alexander Smith at Glasgow in 1883. The path are from Private -> Lans-Corporal -> Corporal -> Sergeant -> Staff-Sergeant -> Warrant Officer ->
Lieutenant ->Captain. This is the system for company section while there are no ranking system for junior section. Basically, NCO are from Lance Corporal to Sergeant and Staff-Sergeant above are officers.

After i joined for a while I really enjoyed it because I can play games, singing, bible study and etc. Later on I joined woodwind section and learn to play marching flute. This was the first time I get interested in music. Frankly speaking, I really have no interest in music and I always got C or D in the music test in primary school. Apart from that, I also learned foot drill and my group joined a foot drill competition and won first-runner up. It was a very good experiences back then. Imagine when you are 12 years old and have to be very discipline in the competition with few hundred of eyes looking at you. I can tell you I am very nervous. Ohya, I think some of you might know that I have joined the University officer traning corr before. It is part of British army. From the foot drill experiences I gained from BB, I actually got praised by a Sergeant (a real army) because I did well in foot drill..haha.

After spending 2 years and couple of months in the junior section, I moved to the company section when I entered secondary school. Well, of course I start as a Private.I met more new members (I think is about 60 people). It was a very big company and there are so many names to remember..haha. My squad leader was very helpful and nice. That time I think my brother is sergeant and he is in-charge of another platoon. There are platoon A and B. Each platoon has 3 squads. In company section, we have to wear full uniform everyweek. The badges, buckle belt and boots has to be polished and maintained for the whole day. I remember I wake up at 6.30am every Saturday to polish these stuffs. It is very troublesome but fun. We always compete who has the best polished belt or boots. If we didn't polish good enough we will get punishments from the officers. Forgot how many time I have been punished, bet it is a lot...haha.

Well, I think that's all for this time. I think I will post more tomorrow. I guess it has about 5 parts..haha..all talks about my life in Boys Brigade. Until next time...cya.