Written by Bryan Quan, Edited by Chey Jedd
On 27 August 2022, our Cub Scouts, Scouts and Ventures participated in the South Area Orienteering Competition at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This was the first Area Competition since the pandemic struck and they were determined to come in with a bang. With 400 youths taking part from across the Cub Scout, Scout, and Venture Scout Units, it was certainly not easy, but our teams did not disappoint.
Achievements
Our Cub Scouts came in with one gold, two silvers, and three bronzes; CHS Cub Scout Team 6 (Gold) came in first for Cub Scouts! Our Scouts also did not disappoint, with four golds and one silver; Scout Team 4 (Gold) came in 3rd for Scout. Our Ventures came in with one silver and two bronzes; CHS Venture Team 1 (Silver) and Team 3 (Bronze) clinched 2nd and 3rd place for the Ventures respectively.
Congratulations to all our members, they had brought glory to our Troop! We would also like to thank the organisers for hosting this exciting event.
Below is the list of our teams with their respective award:
Cub Scouts
Team 6- Gold
Team 1- Silver
Team 5- Silver
Team 4- Bronze
Team 2- Bronze
Team 3- Bronze
Scouts
Team 1- Gold
Team 2- Gold
Team 4- Gold
Team 5- Gold
Team 3- Silver
Ventures
Team 1- Silver
Team 2- Bronze
Team 3- Bronze
Be Prepared
Of course, this did not happen because of luck. Preparations started weeks earlier, beginning with Scouts familiarising themselves with the main roads that could bring them around the park in the shortest time possible, to recces done by our Scouts and even our own orienteering training at the Botanic Gardens the week before to allow them to familiarise themselves with the competition site. They were also fortunate enough to have our Rovers' expertise come in, helping them improve their orienteering skills as well as organising the orienteering training.
However, this did not guarantee a straightforward win. Of course, our teams faced their own set of problems. As said in this short reflection by our ASPL Bryan Quan:
'My team had unknowingly gone to the wrong area in the park in search of checkpoints, and we only realized it after 15 minutes. This pretty much took our win away, but the only people we could blame were ourselves. We had been overconfident and did not bother to check the map. However, we did not let this mistake hinder us, pushing on and still managing to clinch the gold award. There was a lesson for us to learn: no matter how confident or prepared we are, it doesn't hurt to be cautious and double-check. I would certainly take this lesson to heart and use it in the future to prevent such avoidable mistakes from occurring again'
This competition was an interesting one for our Troop as it was the first actual scouting competition we took part in since the pandemic. Some mistakes were made in the process, but they will help our members grow and improve. We are proud of our Cub Scouts, Scouts and Ventures for their hard work and the success that they have brought back. However, our thirst to clinch 1st place will never falter, and our Troop will train harder to perform even better in future competitions.