Nothing To Lose

Mata Mata

In secondary schools, choosing CCA was really a big task. The orientation day was the day for us to "shop" for our CCA. The uniform groups were the ones who really put in a lot of effort to set up booths and tried to convince us that their uniform group was better than others. My first choice was National Cadet Corps (Air). However, my eyesight was an issue. So I decided to join the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC). If training for cross-country race was God's way of developing my mental strength, joining NPCC was probably God's way of developing my leadership quality.

It did not take long for me to realize what uniform group was all about. One word, Discipline. As juniors, we were really taught what compliance meant. When we were told to fall-in (gather) at 7.oo a.m., we better fall-in at 6.45 a.m. When we fall-in, we better not move even if the whole sky were to collapse on us. If not, we'll be punished by doing push-ups. Our uniform must be ironed and boots polished till they reflect light like a mirror. If not, we'll get to do more push-ups during inspection. We went through rigorous physical training every Saturday morning before we changed into our uniform for our parade and foot drill practice. We would then have other training like camp craft before we were dismissed.

It sounded torturous right? Well, remember Nil Sine Labore? Actually, I felt a sense of pride whenever I put on my blue uniform. Although our seniors were really harsh during training, they were really nice outside training. They always tried to instill the sense of unity in us, so much so that we realized we were always together. We gathered before school to discuss school work and play soccer. We would always help out one another whenever someone faced any problem. We were really like brothers.

I remembered seeing my Sec 4 seniors wearing their white ceremonial uniform when I was still a Sec 1 cadet. We were told that our school had won the Best Unit Award and they were going to be the Guard-of-Honor in the NPCC Day parade at Police Academy. I was so inspired and I told myself I would like to be in that ceremonial uniform one day.

My chance came when I was in Sec 4. No, we did not clinch the Best Unit Award. In fact, we did not even qualify for the preliminary round for whatever reason. To be honest, I was quite disappointed that year because of that. From Best Unit, to Bronze award, to eventually not even in the 2nd round of the competition, it was a bitter pill to swallow. However, I got my wish of wearing the ceremonial uniform in school as the NPCC Unit was chosen to be the Guard-of-Honor for the parade segment in the school's Speech Day. That somehow made the year a little better.

We had a separate prize giving ceremony at the end of the year to honor the graduating cohort who had contributed to the school through outstanding CCA performance. Initially, I thought I would only be receiving the usual service award for NPCC. To my pleasant surprise, I also received the NPCC Best Unit Cadet Award! This award was only given to one NPCC cadet in the school per year. Happy to get it? Of course I was! However, I was also very upset. Receiving the highest accolade and knowing my school did not even qualify for the Best Unit Competition. In my heart, I felt lousy as the leader who failed the school. Even though I was graduating, I told myself I need to payback to the school.

Ok, let's fast forward a little again. After graduation, I signed up for the NPCC Cadet Inspector Course. I was then appointed the Cadet Inspector for Victoria School. With that, I continued to serve the school's NPCC Unit for an additional 3 years. I only had one wish and that was to help the school clinch the NPCC Best Unit (Gold) at least once in my 3 years extension. Well, the school did not clinch the NPCC Best Unit (Gold) once...... the school clinched the NPCC Gold Award (Gold) for all the 3 years!

I must disclaim that I'm not trying to show how good I was as a leader and that the school should thank me. In fact, I should be thanking the school for nurturing me into a leader in preparation for the world out there. In sharing my long NPCC experience, I hope to remind all of us about two very important values, Gratitude and Loyalty. Do not always ask how good your school is. It can only be as good as how much each and everyone of us want it to be. Remember to give back to the school what you have received from it.