How do I define SP. Primers’ Primer?

Before I go into the point that I was to share, I thought it is nice to give a rough history of how am I related to SP.Primers.

I was a proud BB Boy from 32nd BB Coy from Damai Secondary School. I entered SP as a Chemical Engineering student and I generally spend my 1st and 2nd year of SP traveling thri and fro Dover MRT and Bedok MRT just to serve in 32nd Coy then. I was a Primer then and that time, Primer was merely a extension of my time serving in 32nd. It was fun serving in 32nd of which I find it exceptionally comfortable mingle with my juniors and imparting knowledge and I really enjoy the mad rush every Friday that I need to perform every Friday from FC2 to Dover MRT to Bedok MRT and finally walked all the way from the MRT to Damai Secondary (because I don’t have bus concession). I was a Primer, doing what I have being doing since Secondary 4, training my juniors.

Then, when SP.Primers comes into the picture for me when I was in year 3, a different type of Primers Programs was exposed to me. Firstly, there were hardly any more uniformed drill sessions. In fact, there isn’t any drill sessions. But I told myself, since I am studying in SP, why not support the Primers activities over there. Even though SP.Primers did not have any events for me to participate in my Poly Year 1 and 2, when there is an event called AGM, I went there. Strangely as it seems, I entered the EXCO as the Administration Head and the size of the EXCO (Officers included) was the size of the club. Hard to imagine that now, we have such a healthy strength of 8 EXCO and 70+ regulars of which we known each one of them as Primers. Then after graduating from SP, I entered Army, come out of NS and returned as an officer of SP.Primers.

So, what is a Primer in SP.Primers and how does it differs from a Primer elsewhere?
As a SP.Primer, you would bear some of these noticeable traits.

1) You have high tolerance to phone calls, especially when your designated caller calls you for attendance for upcoming events.
2) You are exceptionally patience with fellow Primers especially to those whom are running the events even if it caused you to wait real long.
3) You tend to dance and act well enough to perform to fellow Primers especially during Camps and just to mention a few dances SP. Primers have come out since 2005; “YOUMEWEOUS” “Captain Planet” “We all in these together” “Nobody but you” etc. (And do I need to mention the creative skits Primers produces?)
4) You tend to visit Primers Room real often especially during your free time and often, you will find people you already know waiting over there for you.
5) Your common pet phrase will be “加油!” especially during MSTs and Semester Exams.

Sounds familiar? Then you are a proud SP.Primer! SP.Primers taught me how to care, share and wait for one another, not by speech alone but also through actions. In my first event (SGB@SP 05), I was cared for so much by Primers that I may have the motivation to carry on even thought there were much difficulties for an inexperienced me. In my days in the Army, SP.Primers shares with me their feelings, thoughts, joy and worries as I visited them in their events no matter whether they know for a long time or short. In the days before I was release from my National Service, She waited patiently for my return and welcomed me back with open arms. Thus, I can testify that SP.Primers is a truly a Family that cares, shares and wait for one another.
So, is this enough to differentiate between a normal Primer and SP.Primer? I do hope you have a picture of what I am trying to paint. There is no need for one’s blood to be blue (meaning: You need not have a lot of Boys’ Brigade background) to be a SP.Primer. All it takes is for you to indentify is to take a peek and observe at that someone and look out for the qualities that I have mentioned. I wouldn’t be surprised if you can identify a SP.Primer straight away from a bunch of SP Students.

With this, I leave you with one question to ponder. “So, am I a SP.Primer?”
Leong Hoong Sheng

Taking life with a pinch of salt

Suddenly i felt very inspired in life, so I decided to share something wise with all of you for the first time. Maybe you have seen this before,nevertheless I still feel the need to spread the marvel of God! :D

If you are too lazy to watch the whole thing, I would suggest skipping to the time of 3:55 in the video. What I find most worth to think about is the part when they say "Isnt it funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workspace? " I find it rather ironic and sad for the greatness of God is not spoken as much as the obscene scandals of celebrities online.

To prevent from being hypocrite, I admit that I am part of these community every now and then. Therefore i shall repent for now and attempt to spread the love of God, starting from here.

You have 2 choices, laugh this off and continue going online OR spread this message to your loved ones. Do the right thing :D

Ronald Choo

Food for Thought : Life after SGB

Now that the big hoo-hah of SGB has ended, I feel a little lost. It is as if i am at a crossroad, not knowing what to do from here. However, upon thinking of the families who benefited from our work, I am glad that our efforts are not to waste.

During the period of SGB, I can see that everyone has put in their maximum effort in every aspect. I felt really touched that all of them were willing to work so hard for an event which did not benefit them. This was especially on the day of collection, when we had to bring the food packs back to school from different blocks. It was a tedious task but there were no complaints or grumbles. This was because they know their sacrifices are for the greater good of the event. Combining our hearts as one, there is nothing we cannot overcome. I really hope to have more of such meaningful events, events where we can actually contribute for the greater good of the unfortunate ones.

My First Food Pack!

Monday 23 Nov was the Opening of SGB 2009 in SP. Although I was not able to attend, I could feel the excitement through the facebook status updates and tweets of some of you Primers.

Not willing to be left out of the action, I shared with my students about SGB and how they can raise a food pack as a class. I wrote to my colleagues in TOUCH and my cell mates to rally their support. I went to NTUC to check out the prices, and in my excitement I bought my first food pack!

My Tweet: Bought my 1st food pack! Fingers breaking. Pray for an empty 147. $55 poorer, but million dollars happier! :)

Checking out the price means find the cheapest alternative available, the value of food pack amounts to about $40-45.

Although I had in mind to prove that you can get a food pack at $40, the outcome is vastly different.

I started to consider, what flavour of instant noodles would the family like? My personal favourite is CQYD sesame oil. I bought that and a Myojo Abalone flavoured one. Oil was priced lowest at $5.95, but Knife (branded oil ok!) had an offer. Lee Kum Kee Oyster sauce comes FREE with $7.90 Knife Brand. I think the family will be thrilled to have OYSTER sauce for their cooking! So I took that instead.

Between a pack of 15 sachets instant milo $6 vs 1.4kg tin Milo $12. A tin of milo would surely last a whole month? That is 15 servings vs 50 servings of milo drink! So milo tin it is…

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself thinking for the anonymous families. I know that we choose to give because the beneficiaries need the food items. But I learnt that I NEED TO give because I NEED the warmth in heart that comes when I give. I guess that keeps me a human. =)

In the end, it is no longer about fulfilling a food pack, but the PEOPLE behind the food pack that matters.

=cand=