Written by Justin Cheng of 1st Sibu Coy
A night of thanksgiving
Written by Justin Cheng of 1st Sibu Coy
On the first day of the year 2007, 1st of January, 1st Sibu Company organized its very first New Year Thanksgiving and Parents' Night. This occasion was held at Regalia Hall, Kingwood Hotel, Sibu, which is a four-star-hotel. That night, almost all the officers and members of the 1st Sibu Company attended the dinner and of course the members' parents and relatives also turned up during for the dinner. Our purpose in holding this event is to let parents or relatives of our members to recognize and understand what their kids are actually doing in the Boys' Brigade. We hope that through such an event, the parents and relatives can totally understand the activities that we have in the Boys' Brigade and will support us as the Boys' Brigade trains and guides their kids to be future leaders.
That night, about 500 persons turned up. Our company also invited a few VIPs, such as the schools' principals, the trainers for our various classes or badges and the helpers of our company. During the occasion, besides having dinner, our company also presented some “dishes” to the parents and relatives. The “dishes” include a slide show, dances, bible recital and band performance, which was the highlight of the night's occasion. Other than that, there was sharing by a second-year member, a sixth-year NCO and one of the parents who attended the dinner. Besides that, we also have some special awards or badges presentation to some of our members, such as the Scholastic awards and the Long Year Service awards.
At 7 o'clock sharp, we started our dinner. But before we proceed, as usual, we will have singspiration, then only the food was served. Between the courses, we will slip in some “dishes” or shows. First on the list was the slide show prepared by some of our officers. Through the slide show, we introduce the Boys' Brigade to the parents and let them know what we are doing during every meeting. The slide show includes our company annual activities, our achievements in various competitions, such as in our BB Pesta 2006 in Kuala Lumpur .
Next, some of the members of our company's Junior Section presented a bible recital. They took the first chapter from the bible, Genesis Chapter 1, to be recited to the parents and the guests. As the junior members are still new in ‘show business', some of them sounded a little bit nervous when they did their rectal.
After that it was time for some of the members of our Primers' Section to perform their dance entitled “The Stone is Singing”(a direct translation from Chinese). Their performance managed to entertain the audience.
Then, 20 members from the Senior Section performed a dance. The group put up an excellent show after numerous hard practices on the dance. They earned a loud applause from the crowd, some of them even clapped along with the beat of the song to ‘heat up' the atmosphere.
Besides that, another exciting item, which was presented during that night, was a song with dancing prepared by several of our company's Senior Section members. The song is entitled “You're The One”, which was also the theme of the night's event. The “you” in the title was referring to the parents, which has given so much support to the Boys' Brigade. This song was originally composed and written by Cpl Alvin Hung. This song and dance capture the attention of the audience and received a loud applause.
Last but not least, the ‘highlight' of the show, our company's thrilling band presentation. The band presentation, conducted by one of our officers, Lt. Hu, consists of six songs to be played by 77 band members, including four 1st Sibu Girls' Brigade members. The songs played were “Bugle Command”, “Mull of Kintyre”, “Can you Feel The Love Tonight”, “Steadfast”, “Highlandladie” and “The Lord of The Rings”. All these songs were learned by the members during our company's annual ‘Music Camp', which was held just a few days before the New Year Thanksgiving and Parents' Night.
After the wonderful band performance, we came to the end of the dinner at about half past nine at night. All the guests left the ballroom while some of our members left behind for some short moments to snap some photos as memories of this meaningful event.
