Camporee Reflection by Mervyn

I had the biggest shock of my life when my Scout Master, Mr Lee, told me one afternoon that I had been chosen with a team of Scouts, to represent our School and The Singapore Scouts Association at the 3rd Cubs Goodwill Camporee in Perth, Western Australia, from 22nd to 27th November 2007. The shock feeling soon turn into joy and a deep sense of pride overcame me. What an honour!

The trip was an eye-opener for me as I soon realize how scouting can build strong camaraderie and provide me with a chance to learn lots of things. Also, I appreciated the time and effort put in by the organizers, volunteers and teachers for making this event memorable and successful. The places we visited and the activities we participated in, both amongst our own Singapore scouts contingent and with the Australian scouts contingent, made me feel like we are one big happy family on this planet. The conservation activity also made me realize how important it is for us to play our part and help to preserve the earth left to us by our forefathers, so that the future generations may get to ‘enjoy’ earth too. Just as enjoyable was also our day trip to Fremantle, where I saw a submarine for the first time in my life and took a guided tour of the local prison.

One of the best things that happened to me during the trip was that I overcame my fear of heights. I have had phobia of heights since I was young. At the airport send-off in Singapore, I remembered sharing with my mother about my fear of doing any height-related activities whilst in Perth and her parting encouragement to me was....”The only way to overcome fear, is to confront it.” At the campsite, after much deliberation and with jittery nerves, I finally gathered enough courage to do the aerial runway, which involved being hooked to a safety cable and jumping off the platform of a hill, and sliding about 500 metres to the platform of another hill. A heart-stopping activity but at the end of the day, I am really glad that I conquered my fear and was surprised that it was not as scary as I thought it would be.

During the flight home, I decided that I will continue to volunteer and work with the Scouts for as long as I can, so that in future, I may have opportunities to organize such events for Scouts from all over the world to meet. The people I have met and the things I have seen and experienced during this trip will be remembered and treasured for the rest of my life. Most of all, I count my blessings for having supportive parents, who constantly remind me that the only failure in life is when we do not participate a hundred percent.

Mervyn Pon Wei Chen
Patrol Leader, Tiger Patrol
Temasek Cub Scouts
4 December 2007