SCOUTING HAS GIVEN ME MUCH JOY AND EDUCATION
One of the comments that I have received is that I smile often. Smiling has given me and those I smile to much happiness. It certainly makes the world a happier place.
Smiling comes naturally and spontaneously to me. I believe it is because by nature I am a happy person. Scout law number eight definitely endorses and encourages this joyful habit.
I learned this scout law even before going to Penang Free School. I was a pupil in Hutching’s School, which actually was the same building which housed the Penang Free School in the past before the latter moved to its new and present building.
I was a wolf cub and later a boy scout in Hutchings’ School. I remember there was a long notice board at Hutching’s School near the school office, and the Ten Scout Laws were cleared stated. I was impressed with the Scout Laws, like the first law which states that a scout’s honour is to be trusted, and the last one which mentions that a scout is clean in thoughts, words and deeds.
I remember that during a scout meeting in Penang Free School where we scouts sat in the open air under shady trees in the school ground, our group scout master, Mr Ch’ng Eng Kee, whom we called “Skip”, a short form for “skipper” or the caption of a ship, explained the meaning of the first scout law.
“A scout’s honour is to be trusted means that we scouts honour what we say,” explained our skip. “If we say we shall do certain things, we shall do them, even when the situations may be difficult. We do not need any force or laws to ensure our promise. We honour the trust given to us because we are scouts.”
I also remember that when I was in Hutching’s School, sitting in a shade at a side of the school compound with lovely bamboo trees, a younger scouter from Kelantan, which is a state in northeastern Peninsula Malaysia by the South China Sea, visited our scout troop and gave us a test on scout laws. We answered his questions on a piece of paper. A young boy, obviously not knowing an answer, looked at his friend’s paper, and soon other boys followed his example, some even openly and daringly copied the answers from their friends. But the young scouter did not interfere. He seemed to condone their action.
The climax came at the end of the test. The scouter collected our answers but told us that he would not look at our paper. He then gave us a memorable lesson on Scout Law Number 1, that a scout’s honour is to be trusted.
Some of the happiest moments in life were spent in scouting. Of course I also learned a lot of lessons – not formal lessons like how to tie a particular knot, or how to tell the width of a river by means of a nearby tree and jogging along the river bank, or how to render first aid in an accident, but informal lessons which I was unaware at the time but much later proved to be extremely useful in living a joyful and meaningful life.
For example, when I was a boy scout in Hutching’s School, even before attending Penang Free School, we scouts were invited to a camp fire in another school. The other school was quite far away, and it was not feasible for me to attend. A scouter, Mr O’ Cliff, told me that he would bring me to the camp fire in his car and also to bring me home. On hindsight, I realized that it must be out of his way. He purposely came a long way to fetch me. But what impressed me most was that he was cheerful all the way and happy to do the service which he did not need to do.
I was supposed to bring a piece of firewood to the camp fire, but I did not have any firewood. So Mr O’ Cliff and I drove to a sundry shop and bought a piece. At the camp fire there was a lot of firewood, more firewood than needed for the camp fire. No one would bother whether any scout would contribute a piece of firewood, but a scout’s honour was to be trusted.
I could not remember the camp fire, but I could remember these two events very well, even after more than 60 years. A scout smiled under any circumstances -- even when the scouter did not need to go out of his way to fetch me -- and a scout’s honour was to be trusted – bringing a piece of firewood because we were told to do so even when no one would know.
I remember that when I myself was a scouter, an assistant scout master though I was still in school, the Penang Free School, we camp by the sea at Jubilee Camp in Teluk Bahang, a fishing village many miles from the City of Penang. Recalling an interesting “night stunt” I had a few years earlier when I was a senior scout when we senior scouts went out at night to complete a mission with secret codes, I woke up boy scouts under my care who were soundly sleeping in their tents that Indonesians had arrived in their boats and were about to attack us.
At that time, there were talks about forming Malaysia, and Indonesia was against this idea. The arrivals of the Indonesians was of course just a trick, the main reason was for the “night stunt”. But my description was so realistic that some boy scouts taught it was real. The night stunt was successful and the boy scouts enjoyed it, though most of them were very tired after the game.
Later when our group scout master, Mr Ch’ng Eng Kee, knew about our night stunt, he told me, in a very nice way, that I should not have attempted it in the middle of the night, that the boys needed to sleep as they would have many things to do in the day time. On hindsight, it was a good lesson. I learned that if I knew beforehand that an event even with good intention would cause much difficulty, in this case it denied the boy scouts their much needed sleep, I should not have attempted it.
We often had to wear our scout uniform in some functions. Normally scouts would wear their ordinary cloths and bring their uniform to change.
One day, my father said to me, “Son, aren’t you proud to be a scout?”
“Yes, father, very proud, and very happy.”
“Then you should not bring your uniform to change. Wear your scout uniform to school or to any function. If you are not proud and happy of what you do, don’t do it. If you are proud and happy, don’t be afraid of what other people may say.”
That was indeed very good advice. Since then I always wore my scout uniform to school or to any function.
Even now, more than half a century after learning the advice, you can find me wearing my kungfu dress when I go to teach kungfu or chi kung, because I am proud and happy teaching kungfu and chi kung. You can also find me wearing my kungfu dress in restaurants, hotels or in the street. I have an added compliment. People often say how beautiful my kungfu dress is.
On one occasion my good friend, Hoe Choon, and I were wearing our scout uniform to school. On the way there was a motor accident. Quickly I came down from my bicycle and directed the congested traffic, followed by Hoe Choon. The traffic then moved smoothly.
When passing us, a motorist shouted in his car, “Well done, scouts!”
It did not matter to us what his comment was, though it added to our encouragement, because we were proud and happy of what we were doing.
I remember that on another occasion in Bendigo in Australia, I walked down a very busy street in my kungfu dress with a Guan Dao, or a classical kungfu weapon with a long handle and a blade attached to it, in my hands, because a well-known company had invited me to give a public demonstration. Some passers-bye, I believe, might wonder what an actor in his costume was doing. What surprised passers-bye feel did not matter much to me as I was proud and happy of what I was doing.
I was very lucky to be in a famous and well-trained scout group. In my later years as a school teacher, I found out that other scouts were not as lucky. Scouting has given me much joy and education to lead a rich, meaningful life. I am happy that now as a chi kung and kungfuI teacher, I give health and happiness to people all over the world.
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