Speech for enrolment service on 25 March 2007
Good morning, Rev Michael, Mrs Charles, officers, parents of bb boys and boys, I am SGT Aaron Chua. I am very honoured to share my testimony with all of you. I have a history with the Boys Brigade. Starting from the juniors section, I have joined BB from primary 3 to primary 6. And I continued my loyalty to BB in the senior section, from secondary 1 till today.
In primary 3, I decided to join BB with no knowledge of it at all. I didn’t know what to expect, what the uniform was, etc. Even my parents were concerned for me. But I am very glad that my parents let me choose. In the juniors section, then, BB only lasted for 2 hours, once per week. I learnt a lot of useful stuff such as first aid, drill, etc.
And with joining all the annual Bible Quiz National competitions in the Junior section, I have learnt a lot about the Bible. I specifically remember that in 2002, we studied about the life of Joseph and about his ill-treatment from his brothers and how his trust in God has risen him to the right-hand man of the Pharaoh. Preparing for the whole Bible Quiz was a challenge and thanks be to God, our team got the 4th position in the whole of
In the senior section, everything was different. It was more of physical conditioning. During sec 1, I was first introduced what a push-up was. I was not used to the 4-hour parades. During RTC, I went through a lot so after a while, I planned to quit BB. I sought for a change of CCA. However, I decided to stay on as I felt that it was cowardly to quit halfway. I'm glad that I stayed on.
Last year, I was appointed Quarter Master (2), meaning being in charge of the storeroom. My family was quite disturbed about this, thinking that the QM does all the dirty jobs. But by doing the dirty jobs I gave me a sense of ownership of things that did not belonge to me and I learnt to be responsible.
Similarly, I also joined the 2 annual Bible Quiz Competitions so far and our team obtaine the 10th position in the year 2005. Trainings was always held after the parades once a week. From the Bible Quizzes I have joined in the Bible Quiz so far, I have learnt that the values that are in the Bible are still very practical in our daily context.
This year, I decided to try something new. I joined the Adventure Quest which requires a commitment of 2 days per week, each lasting for at least 2 hours. It was unusual competition for me to join considering my figure, but when I discussed this with my parents, they gave me their full support. I don’t know if they will be there next Saturday for the actual competition. From this competition training, I lost 1.5kg, from 70kg to 68.5kg. We did a lot of physical training and learnt some hard skills such as rock-climbing.But just the thought of the actual day still scares me.
To end off, I would like to say that I had a lot of fun being in this great company and I am pleased to see that the sec 1s had come back after RTC. I got to know some sec 1s from the recent 70km overnight cycling. I hope that they would continue to come for BB parades regularly and come back serve the BB someday.
Thank You.
Yesterday was the aq. i misled the team that i was in to a protected area, surrounding the singtel company, risking ourselves to snakes and wasting 1 hour and becoming last in that leg. Because of this, my company relay team could get top 3. The other 2 legs were top 5 i think. Really such a disappointment at myself. Although my dad tried to convince me that it wasnt my fault cos the leader makes the final decision. Zhi Xiang.
If and only if i had to make a speech on this, i would say that i think my team was pretty strong. Zhi Xiang was pushing me, Darius pushing Leon. I felt that Leon was actually the dark horse as if we listened to him, we wouldnt have lost this aq. ok, let me explain. we went to cp5 and then went to cp 4. the officers (mr matthew ang and mr john cheong) at cp 5 told us to go back to him after completing cp 4. but darius, zhi xiang, and me thot was impractical cos it was pretty far. leon suggested to us to go back, but didnt listen. and plus i felt that leon was kinda of the inspiration-er cos he was pushing himself so hard. he was faster than me most of the time. when going back to school, we were walking cos we were so so so demoralised. so sad.