Annual Campfire, 20th January 2018

Written by: Joanne Koong, Sixer & Scribe Leader

“Campfire’s burning, campfire’s burning.

  Draw nearer, draw nearer…”

This marked the commencement of our Annual Campfire. This year’s event was special in more ways than one. Firstly, we had our new principal, Mr Martin Koh, as the guest-of-honour. Secondly, our friends from Girls Brigade and Brownies joined us! Welcome!

The downpour in the late afternoon threatened to spoil our fun but our adult leaders out-smarted the bad weather. We had an environmentally friendly campfire – the “fire” was a light bulb placed inside neatly stacked firewood!

The sixers, including me, led the songs which the whole pack sang at the top of their voices. The Bee song was clearly the favourite. After every few songs, we did action songs such as Peace by the River, My Bonnie, Father Abraham and YMCA. Everyone did the actions enthusiastically, including the parents and the principal!

Soon, it was time for the sixers’ skit – the Left Hand Shake. The main focus was to show why we scouts shake with our left hand but not the right hand. The sixers were split into two tribes. When one tribe had trespassed the other tribe’s island, fighting ensued. Most of the tribesmen were seriously injured or tragically killed. Finally, one chief (Hafiz) realised that the war was not meaningful and decided to make peace. He dropped his shield and offered his left hand, the hand closer to his heart, to shake hands with the other chief (me). Seeing that he was sincere, I accepted his handshake and so the left hand shake was born. We had a lot of fun and laughter preparing the skit in the afternoon and the real thing was even more fun. Or, hilarious, should I say!

We sang a couple more songs after which the Girls’ Brigade performed their cheer followed by the Brownies performed their cheer as well. Interestingly, the Brownies ended their cheer with a dab. After that, we played the Bomb game. I had played this game before but in smaller groups. I found it more fun playing in a huge group. The funniest part was when we bombed Baloo, and he had to do the chicken dance. We then had the Limbo Rock. Unfortunately, as there were too many people playing there was no winner.

Before long, the campfire came to an end. This campfire had been the most fun campfire I had ever been to in my four years of scouting life. It will always be a sweet memory etched in my mind.