Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008 - Part 1

3oth Nov - The Opening Ceremony was held at Wasan Vocational School Auditorium at 2pm. The Guest of Honour was Datin Paduka Dayang Apsah binti Abdul Majid, Permanent Secretary of Brunei MOE. The ceremony marked the launching of the camp as well as the theme song, which was sung by the Singapore-Brunei Adventure Camp 2007 campers. They also greeted the Singaporean campers at the Brunei International Airport an hour before.

The Bruneian campers performed the 'Ramayana' drama-dance stage performance. I must say, I was proud of them!! It only took them 3 full days of practice and they performed so well like experts!! Thanks to our dance teachers Zimin and Didi. They were so good!! The Singaporeans, on the other hand, performed 4 dances that represent their four ethnic groups: Malay, Indian, Chinese, and foreign (the ballads).

After the ceremony, all campers and chaperons headed to the hostel where the Ice Breaking Session was done. Among the activities were matching group colours: green, blue, yellow and red, which was assisted by none other than the senior campers. Next, they'd to arrange themselves according to the first letter of their nick name, followed with their month of birthdays, and lastly, their height in ascending order. This way, campers from both Brunei and Singapore interacted with one another well. Before leaving for Maghrib Prayer, each group was required to name their group and compose their own identity cheers. All thanks to the SBC campers for showing the juniors what cheers were :) The group names were: The Red Flamers, Blues Clues, Killer Bees and G-cube. Cute huh!

After Maghrib Prayer, the campers gathered at the canteen for dinner. We made it a culture for a volunteered group to serve the other 3 groups. It was awesome when all the 4 groups screamed to volunteer. The canteen shook as I announced, "Who scream the loudest wins!" :P The Red Flamers won and served the rest. Other BSC cultures that we introduced were: not to eat until all campers had their plates; to serve the chaperons on a separate table; thanking the serving group; and of course, reading the prayer before meals. I must say the MOE officers were impressed with our BSC cultures :) We have a good team anyway!!

After dinner, we had the SBC 2007 hosting the activities, starting off with the Sharing Session led by Hardinie, Din, Zirah and Kinah. The other seniors who helped were Hassanal, Hanis, Jalila, Ain, Alex and Azwan. SBC ... Did I miss anyone?? Sowwieee :P I must say, the campers loved the SBC!! The night was wild and the session ended with a 'hiccup'. I asked the seniors to create a slogan call and they came up with this: "CAMPERS HEY!!" and the campers should reply, "APPADAAA!!". Cute huh!! ;)

The chaperons took over at 8.30pm, giving the groups story lines of the 4 folktales from both Brunei and Singapore: Sultan Bolkiah, Nakhoda Manis, Sang Nila Utama and The Swordfish Attack on Singapura. The skits were supposed to be performed onstage during the closing ceremony. The session lasted at 10pm, which was also the time the campers had to go to bed.

A long fun day for them all but this day, I was exhausted as I was supposed to be on leave due to my condition. Alhamdulillah, I was needed there and most welcomed to help though my colleagues were worried sick about me. Sorry guys! Can't help it! ;)