ECE FOC 1-3 April ’09

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Let me recounted some ups and downs of this camp. Ups and downs, ups come first, so let’s begin with ups. This was the first time we have a real camp fire. The atmosphere was really great when you compared it with a camp fire created by torch lights. The cheers were solid, so solid that I was prepared to receive complaints from the residents. There were variety in the performance and skit. There singing, dancing and acting. This is in contrast to the previous years where students perform mainly hip hop.

As we walked around, it really gratify our hearts to see so many talents among the students:
They showed their enthusiasm and passion in their cheers.
They showed their assertiveness and their creativity when they prepare for the skits.
They showed their endurance and patience when the meals were late.

This was also our first time we used Camp David. We only managed to secure the camp and the trainers quite late. By the time we realized that participants must wear track pants, we have already sent out the welcome letters to the freshmen. We did the next best thing which was to call them up. Unfortunately, the information passed down was also distorted. The message became ‘to bring track pants in case it was cold at night’.

Vulgarity
Throughout the camp, I heard only one expletive and it was uttered when one student mess-up a scene in a skit. The whole camp jeered at the offending student and he apologized promptly. I was very happy with that because it showed that such behavior was not acceptable.

OTOT
We needed to work on the OTOT. I learnt this abbreviation from Wei Hao. It means ‘On Time On Target’. Our timing control was not very good: the camp fire was supposed to start at 9pm but we didn’t get going until 10pm. When Nancy complaint to me about the timing, I told her it was 9 pm, Indonesian time.

Mass Dance
All the campers were invited to perform the mass dance on ECE Induction Day. I looked forward to hearing their cheers again and the Tai Ge Wu (a kind of modern Taiwanese dance). This is once in a life time chance to perform in front of such a large audience of about 700. In all my years in NP, I got to speak to such a large crowd only once when I was the chairman for FOP two years ago. It did not last more than 5 minutes but it was very memorable. I hope the students will feel this way too.

Camp Leadership
I am particularly pleased with the composition of the leadership team which was incredibly diverse and yet able to rally together.