Winning entry #3 by Ashley

Being the first time that I participated in the SGB, I had no idea what to expect. Being paired up with the CSM on the first day meant that I had quite a bit of expectations to fill which made it a bit stressful.

Surprisingly, it was relatively easy to manage. I enjoyed my time there and even learnt new things such as the CSM's nicer side and how to make 'plastic ketupats'. Throughout the day, we received all sorts of donations, from food to clothes and even mock exam papers. I wondered to myself, if they mistook us for rubbish collectors, taking in any type of stuff even though we wanted mostly food items. The afternoon was rather boring and I spent the time either watching the same scene from Terminator:Salvation at the video shop or day dreaming. At the end of the day, I went home tired but happy that we helped the poor.

The second shift surprise me the most as I was the only who came! I thought that I had come to the wrong place but when Instructor Chee Kit came, I knew that I was at the right place. I thought to myself "How am I going to mend the booth alone?" Thankfully, Instructor Chee Kit called for help and 3 more people came: Randall, Chengyou and Marcus. Now with 5 people, the booth became rather busy. This moment was most memorable to me as I understood how my seniors would sacrifice time to help out their juniors.

Overall, I have learnt a lot more about SGB. Previously I thought it would be easy to do it, just like on television. However, it was harder and more tiring. Also, I discovered that people would still be willing to help even during a recession. I was pleasantly surprised by this as I thought people would be more selfish. I hope people will continue to donate generously.

Ashley Tan

Winning entry #2 by Ian

"Ecstatic" was the word that could describe my feelings during the 2 days of SGB. It was indeed an unforgettable experience during the hours and hours of tending to the counter at Hougang Mall. Most importantly, I not only learnt the true meaning of giving willingly, but also how blessed we are to have a family and parents who can easily provide for us. Needless to say, the event which I will definitely remember the most vividly, occurred during the evening of 1st December, when a woman donated a trolley case full of 5kg bags of rice that was in its original box.

Initially I was kinda astounded at the generosity of her actions - the donations was approximately 180 bags of rice. Then I thought of myself, that if I was in a situation, would I be selfless enough to do such an act of kindness? It dawned upon me that I would not be willing enough to do so yet, I felt a sense of gratitude in my heart because she ultimately taught me a life lesson - which is I believe, that we must cherish our present as today is a gift and tomorrow's mystery, hence we should contribute and bless others what God has given to us. Furthermore, when we can share with others what God has given to us, we would feel a sense of pride and joy in blessing others with whatever we have.

Personally, I am thankful that the people who donated to our cause share the same view as us. They rendered their help unconditionally to us by purchasing the items, like the elderly who would approach us in the morning to hand us some daily essentials for the needy. Additionally, it was heart-warming to know that although some could not donate just yet, they would ask us for more information on our later collection dates.

I felt that my seniors really helped me in carrying the heavier items such as ricebags. My seniors, Jeremy, Daniel and Randall, have given me valuable advice as to how to make more space for more food stuff and where to put the plastic bags of food. Apart from that, I enjoyed conversing and understanding them more during those 10 hours at the stall. I feel that I can now hand this advice to my juniors and lead by example.

Ian

Winning entry #1 by Daniel

During my first day on duty, I arrived 15 minutes early, only to be greeted by the sight of 2 full cages in the storage room. I soon found out that the movers had failed to come to collect the goods for 2 days and the NTUC manager demanded that I ask the movers to collect them since their stock was arriving that evening. After obtaining an extra trolley for our collections, Ivan and I carried the super heavy donation box out together. I felt kinda cheated as the box last year had wheels. While at the booth, we kept trying to call the BBSGB hotline, but no one answered and when they did, they merely gave us empty promises. The following day was no better as the collections kept flowing in and without more cages, we had to use their trolleys.

One memorable incident was when a young boy walked towards us with a dollar in his hand. However, instead of donating it, he ran back to his mother, pointed towards "Jian Yan" (Jeremiah) and shouted scared in Chinese. It was an interesting an hilarious experience as he was really scared of one of us. Perhaps it was just our uniforms which made us look like a policeman which was somewhat scary to him.

On another occasion, when it was around 9pm, my senior wanted to buy sushi since it was half price after 9. He dragged me and my platoon mate with him since we had all agreed to buy together. However, we did not realise that by doing so, we had left our sec1 junior by himself at the booth. I feel that we should not have done so as it was irresponsible and selfish. As seniors, we should put our juniors before ourselves.

Through this SGB, I have learnt to be more responsible and selfless. I now realise how important it is to put my juniors before myself. I have also leant that that to lead by example is much more effective than to just issue instructions. I have realise that my juniors will carry out the task better if I take the first step. On the whole, I enjoyed the SGB experience and I look forward to next year's experience.. ;)

Daniel Ling

SGB attendance

Hi Boys

I realized that this is the 1st post for 2010. hehe :)

1st and foremost...a warm welcome to 2010. I am sure all of your are 1 year older...and you should be more responsible.

I have attached a copy of the SGB attendance. Please look through and vet your attendance.

Those who did not come for at least 1 session will be deemed to have failed the Community Service badge even if there is any MC or parents letters.

For those who have missed the Captain's address. The slides can be found here.

Mr Bay

Note: The SGB attendance file and a copy of my address can be found in the box.net widget.

SGB Reflections

heyall please download the SGB reflections.doc as seen in da box on your right...

EVERYONE has to complete it, even those who did not turn up for duty...

Please follow the instructions as indicated in the document and please hand up to me or your NCO council by 16 JAN...

Top 3 posts would be given a small prize and their posts would be uploaded here onto our very own blog ;)

cheers and enjoy ya school people!!!!!
and to those planning CCA bazzar, all the best and hope that we would be able to get more Sec1s than ever !!!!

cheekit ;)