BEST DEAL IN TOWN!!!

Where can you find a 2day/night, overseas (Pulau Ubin) camp for just 10buck?! All your 4 meals provided and make new friend?

RIO (rough it out) CAMP

Although it wasn’t a much roughed out experience for me personally. I realized that this isn’t a one man’s camp. Whereas, everyone gotta take care of one another and rough it out together, as a Primers Family.

This camp gave me an opportunity to share openly to my new family, allowing them to have a clearer understanding of me and also letting me know them better. Just like other camp, we have games, cheers, etc… But these were made secondary in the whole aim of this camp.

It is good, because it made me less competitive and allowing my mind to not be stressed up, instead, this camp to me was to just basically bond with my new family members.

An important value in Primers which I experienced is the, “nobody gets left behind attitude” aka “we will always wait”. What do I mean? On the first night, at Changi Ferry Terminal, we waited till everyone was there then we set of. It gets me a little irritated at first cause I’m not a very patient person.

It is through meals and activities that I realize the importance of that value. I personally am not a punctual person, but nevertheless, they waited. 1 or 2 times may be seen as bo bian (no choice) but it’s the every single time of waiting that made me know that this is truly from the love that is in Primers itself.

SO… isn’t this the best deal in town?

THANK YOU small FOR MAKING THIS A MEMORABLE CAMP

Euvin Aw
Cluster A

Once is Never Enough

This year's RIO camp was the second year for me. I'm hoping for a different experience and I certainly felt it.

Last year in 2007 as a freshie, I remembered that we're well fed by those seniors. They cooked the meals for us; give us ideas and lots more. However this year, as a year 2 for me, I tend to be more initiative. I get the feeling of what it is like to be a year 2 leading my juniors in year 1.

This year RIO camp was a memorable experience to me! By not knowing anyone in the group, I made friends with all of them after the 3 days. Credits to our group leader Wei qiang and senior Hui Shan who guided us throughout the 3 days.

They're the ones who are always there when we needed them and to pull the strings together. Not forgetting that our group is cooperative too! We never for once leave
each other on their own. If help is needed, we'll be there to provide help. That shows the bonding within our group.

If given another chance, I’ll gladly go to Palau Ubin again the next year. It's the same place every year, but I believe the experience differs each time. Well done primers!!!

Wei Jie
Cluster B

Transformation

Primers’ RIO camp 2008 was indeed a memorable one! It is very different from the POC camp as this is more about roughing out mentally than physically.

Why?

There is not much game played as compared to POC but it had more sharing time sessions which not many camps have. During that period, many personal matters are shared among the circle and it stay within it forever. No one else gets to know, in this way, we learnt to respect each other by keeping the secret.

It makes me feel like I am part of the primers’ family.

Also this camp has been a great experience for me, I get to sleep in a hut with 80+ people. It feels quite scary at the start as it seems kind of unstable but after the first night I began to love that place.
That was the first time I am using drinking mug to scope up water from a tank to bathe. All these things may sound simple and ordinary but sad to say it is no longer or rather seen in today’s modern world.

Through this camp, I have learned to appreciate things even more, not to take things for granted.

The station games were fun too especially the part that we need to tie our legs up and walk as a group. It requires us to coordinate well as a team.

Moreover, the seniors are super good, super caring, hilarious and influential, and it is fun to be with them. They do not order you around in fact they ask you nicely whenever they need help. It makes me realized what primers really are. I love primers:D

Lastly…7美 4帅 1妖怪 is the bestxD

Ying Duan, cluster C

Breakfast at McDonald’s

This is a good story and is true, read it all the way through until the end!

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology.

My last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning.

It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was ‘smiling’.

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, ‘Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend.

I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss’ because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

Publicity Team

What's Happening on 25th July?

Hey guys check this out...

Too quick to judge?

Don't Judge Too Quickly... We Won't. - video powered by Metacafe

I laughed out loud when I watched this video because I personally have experienced both sides of the story. In my journey in Primers, I have both mistaken someone's well intention act to be an lackadaisical character flaw and even I have been mistaken as someone who has been doing certain things without much care and concern. For that I have tried to change my personality and my communication skills.

Far more often nowadays, I have been at the end of a misunderstanding that I simply do not care. And I realised most of such misunderstandings were due to my inability to communicate better. Or that maybe people just cannot accept me as who I am. I will try my best to better as time goes by. Ha!

So in my journey of communicating and trying to understand others better, I always have a standing rule, I will reserve my perception of the person till much later, specifically one year later! Not that I will just take my time to get to know people, but I realised for me and my personality I need time to observe how friends around and the people I meet really are. This is also my piece of advice I give to anyone who really are seeking meaningful relationships. Time is the biggest factor in really knowing someone inside out.

So remember take time out to understand each other as that's one of our values in primers...waiting for one another. Whether it be giving the person time to grow and mature, or waiting for the person to open up to you so that he/she will be comfortable with you! Don't be so quick to judge rather always be open to the surprises of life!

Kenny Foo

Reflection for Night cycling

I consider Night Cycling as one of the most enjoyable events in Primers so far. To me, I really enjoy cycling and especially at night. People don’t usually have the chance to go all the way to Pasir Ris for just to cycle. I find it really amazing that the Leaders in charge are able to handle such a big group in the middle of the night. Of course, without their hard work to plan this event, it might not be as successful as it was.

There were some ups and downs during our group’s journey which we manage to overcome. Many of us were feeling sleeping when we just started our journey from Pasir Ris Park. Our excuse to our leader was that, “We studied very hard in school that’s why so tired!” Well, but we manage to get back into the track soon after we had some games at the track point. Although there were many other things I would like to share with you guys during the journey but to keep it short, we manage to arrive at our destination and everyone was happy!

The supper was just what we needed to fill our stomach for our trip back to Pasir Ris Park. We had Nasi Lemak. YUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMM! On our way back, our butt were hurting a lot and most of us couldn’t stand the pain. But we still persevered and reach our destination safe and sound.

I feel that this event was nicely done by our leaders. They did a great job. The participants had also put in much effort to complete the whole journey with much perseverance. Finally, we have to thank the people who took the double bike, ‘Couple Bike’ What made this trip successful too was them. Knowing that their teammates could not cycle, they volunteered to rent a double bike so that their teammates are able to participate in this event.

BTW, thank you Huishan for being such a wonderful leader! Don’t have to thank me. (=


Leon Tan
Cluster. B

Preview to RIO Camp 08

This is what you will get in RIO CAMP!

Rough It Out Camp 08

Hi everyone, it is the camp of the year again, RIO camp.

Camp Details

Date: 25th-27th July 2008
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Pulau Ubin (meeting venue at Changi Jetty)


See YOU There!

Night Cycling Reflections 4

Night cycling for me was the first event I took up in primers. For me it was consider an achievement because throughout the whole process of planning I learnt a lot of things. Seeing the effort put up by all of the committee member made me have the edge to run this event even better. Although it was a long journey of cycling especially at the change connector but I can see that every group manage to cycle and complete the whole route for the night cycling. The effort they put in and the teamwork between them pushing one another to cycle was totally excellent.

I hope that those who make their way down for night cycling will find that this event was a wonderful one and maybe a memorable one for each and everyone. Especially all the committee members, you guys really did a good job in everything you done. =D

Kelly
Event IC

Night Cycling Reflections 3

This was the first time i took part in night cycling.
To describe it, I would say that it was indeed tough.

During the event, it was quite depressing to realise an upsetting truth. I realised that I may be a burden to the group. In the begining, my mates had told me to cycle in front of them. However, I felt quite stress to cycle in front of them. This was because when I could not balance well enough to avoid crashing onto someone else bike, the instant message from my brain was "Braked!" And when I braked, mates behind would have to stop. They will then tell me not to brake that often. I really wanted to tell them, I really would not stop if I can. But the problem is, I cannot. I cannot balance well.

However, no matter how many times i had braked. My mates still did not give up on me and had encouraged me to move on. This make me felt blessed and i'm thankful for what they did.

I'm glad that I had participated throughout the journey and did not give up half way through.

To others, night cycling may not be as tough. But as a cyclist for only the second time, the effort needed to put in was definitely double of others and therefore, my sense of achievement was thus so much more than you can imagine.


Cluster A; Ng Huiqi.



The idea of having a night cycling event did not appeal much to me when my POC gl first told me of cycling is more of a torture then a fun casual activity. However, I was soon proved wrong when I arrived at the allocated location

While waiting for our fellow group members to arrive, we played ice breaking games, from chucky all the way to the concentration game. This broke the invisible barrier between people I do not know and allowed us to engross ourselves in lively conversations

The cycling part went out smother them what I had initially imagined and the only girl of the group, Stef led the front, motivating other members of the group to do their best and making us dub her “Energizer” for the amount of power and energy she has.

When we came to the mid-point of the course, we settled down for nasi lemak and this is energized everybody for the return trip. At this point of time, we shared personal stories on why we entered poly or primers as well as our personal goals and interests, this further bonded us together and have some conversations while cycling back to the starting point.

Overall I felt that this event is a great success and the GLs/AGLs/GMs and organizers have done a great job in organizing this event and this has changed several views of certain events and made me look forward towards to the next upcoming Primers! Event

Cheers

H. Teo Jun Xi

What you thought about life?

This is a very good presentation of what life is all about, and funnily as I was younger with my angst, I felt that life SUCKS, but as the years go by I am excited about every day's challenges! I am also grateful for the past years with all the many blessings that I have received. For me LIFE IS GREAT!
Watch this video, it is fun!
Kenny Foo

Night Cycling Reflections 2

Can't believe the journey planning Night Cycling is over so quickly, it seem only like yesterday that we started planning and looking back at it was a pleasant experience left lingering in my mind. The planning process might be tough, but looking at the enthusiasm on everyone’s faces during the start of the event and the sense of satisfaction that was felt by everyone made everything that the Night Cycling committee had done worth while.

I would like to thank the committee, officers and friends who walked with me these past few weeks of planning without your encouragement, contributions and help nothing would have come out it. To all the GLs and AGLs who had guided the freshies thank you for your effort. Finally, to all freshies that had turned up for the event thanks for your participation which made this event a successful one. We hope you have enjoyed the night cycling experience and continue to come join us for future events.

Till then, take care and see you all for the next event or outing.


The Most Dominant Diva signing off,
Jeffery

Food Junction Thoughts 3

As the first rays of sunlight kiss the surface of the dirt filled roads that brings together the famous Geylang, endless streams of poly students in blue T-shirt flowed out of the Aljunied MRT station like raging waters.

Swinging from coffee shops to coffee shops, we set out on merciless quest, in search of food. One by one, wandering eyes fix themselves, in curiosity; nonetheless, we pushed on, accomplishing task after task.

Upon completion, we rushed back to our starting point to prepare an extra special concoction to welcome back the last team. Accompanied with a slice of bread, they savored our blend of herbs and spices!

All in all, it was an event not for the faint hearted, there was plenty of dirt, plenty of brains and burl in action, and plenty of tears; both out of joy and disappointment. But ultimately the point was to have fun, which we did, in fact loads of it!


Unknown

Night Cycling Reflections

The night cycling event is the first night cycling I went to. It was quite a memorable experience for me as this is the first time I cycled in a group for such a long time and long distance. It was quite a challenge for me as I can’t cycle well and I stop quite a few times on the way. Initially, I thought that there would be many games on the way for us to play, something like ‘amazing race’ but actually there’s not as much games as I expected. But along the way, our group enjoyed together and helped each other which enable us to know each other more. Personally, I think the best part of the event is during supper as everyone seems full of energy at the sight of food. The GL and AGLs also put in their best effort to motivate us to cycle to the end and they are also very helpful and caring. Overall, I feel that the night cycling event is an enjoyable and memorable event for me and that I will not mind joining again.


Nick




Night Cycling 08 from East Coast Park to Changi and back was totally a brand new experience for me. Even thought there was time being delayed because there was number of people whom went for the night cycling causing jam in track, it was still an enjoyable one. Games played at certain part of the route make it more memorable rather than just cycling. The never-ending path along the airport was a challenge to me, it was long but I did not give up. Helmet was told to be wore dampen the mood of everyone, but for safety issue everyone still wore it. & the height of my seat was adjusted till I could hardly touch the ground with my foot caused me to complain all the way, but the reason for that was to avoid legs cramp. Lastly, GL & AGL was friendly and caring, thank you! (: A round of applause to all! ((:


Xiaomin (:

Food Junction Thoughts 2

Food junction is a very interesting event. It can bond the various individual groups together and also test the knowledge and creativity of the members about food. I personally enjoy the event because I am able to know members from other members of primers and learn how to work and have fun together.

Alan

Food Junction Thoughts

The word ‘skeptical’ should best describe the feeling I have upon arriving at eunos MRT station for the ‘food junction’ on that day. This is due to the fact that I seriously doubt what good food I can get in this activity where losing would actually spell disaster for the losing team. Well, my guess was much to my expectations: the food we ate certain could NOT be defined as laudable. Anyway, we did have a lot of fun sweating it out under the hot weather and exploring ‘Geylang’- the notorious red light district in Singapore. We got to see what really lies in geylang other than the good food and durian…. BUT! I shall not digress as this is not part of the activity. In fact I can’t help but accede to the fact that the mini-games we played were filled with gaiety to a certain extent, the bean counting game was annoyingly long and tedious but still fun as we got to flaunt our skills at bean counting and estimation!
We also got to think of the most peculiar names for some food in order to progress in the game, which was transcendent indeed. There was definitely great teamwork involved.

I feel that our group managed to get first position not only because of our teamwork, but also under the great leadership of our GL! Yay! Kudos to our great gl. I got to know my teammates better, and I must really say we enjoyed it! Of course I must say luck is undoubtedly involved too.

A round of applause for the organizers, and all the personnel who were involved in making this event bring so much fun memories to me. And THANK YOU!

GOGO PRIMERS FTW!

Reflection done by:

Low Yang You
Cluster A

This is Night Cycling teaser 2! Enjoy

Final Posting of Wisdom Words

In this story the boy really showcases well the commitment and the spirit in every of the seniors and the generation before that was building up the family in the initial starting years. So freshies do read on and hopefully you will understand what it really mean to be a Primer in SP.Primers.

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will save
her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed
next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing
the color returning to her cheek. Then his face
grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away'.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Photos From Food Junction

Night Cycling 08

Yos, Everyone here's a little teaser for the Night Cycling Event! Aren't you all excited and geared up for it!



Date: 4-5 July 2008 (Fri-Sat)

Time: 2100hrs till 0730

Venue: East Coast Park Mcdonalds

Fee: $11

Attire:
Yellow or Orange T-Shirt
Covered Shoes (No sandals or slippers)
Shorts (Try not to wear jeans )

Indemnity Form: Yes! (To be submitted on Wednesday)
Below is the link for the indemnity form
Indemnity Form

Wisdom Words #4

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve
our condition.