My first BB Asia Academy

I attended the BB Asia Academy which was held in Cameron Highlands from the 10-14th November 2006. BB officers and members from all over Asia attended.. the Phillipines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and or course - Malaysia, with members from 1st JB, 1st Sibu, 1st Bukit Mertajam, 6th KL, 12th KL and 3rd. This event was organized by Mr. Lawrence, who is also the BB Asia Executive Secretary, together with help from the staff from BBM HQ. I have to admit that initially the thought of attending this academy never crossed my mind and when they my other officers asked me to go I was a little relunctant at first. But, boy.. thank God for persuasive people.

Day 1

We gathered in BBHQ at about 12pm. We were having lunch at Mr. Peter Yap's place before that. We left HQ after some final adjustments, seeked the Lords protection and took off north towards Ipoh. Two vehicles were used, Mr. Terence drove his Myvi and HQ rented a van with Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Eric in it. We had a stop for gas at the Sungai Buloh rest stop, when a slight problem occured. It seemed like petrol was leaking from the rented van and all the situation begun to look really gream. Fortunately it was just an overflow and we were on our way again. I was pretty much the operator and hands free kit for Mr. Terence who had incoming calls throughout the journey. Of course we had a fun time talking about all sorts of things. Other than the stop in Sungai Buloh, we had only one additional stop for a toilet break, and it's all the way up to Chefoo.

Cameron Highlands wasn't really a nice place for sight seeing.. at least the town isn't. The countryside is still pretty good.. and the air and coolness is similar to that of Genting and Frasers.. being at a high altitude. Cameron's is at the turnoff from Tapah, which is about 2 hours from KL. It takes another hour to navigate the whindy roads to Cameron's. It was an uneventful drive and we reached Chefoo Methodist Center at around 4.30pm.

We begun unloading and setting up the moment we arrived. The other officers were busy making arrangements for the delegates through registration and other matters while I was busy setting up the PA in the hall where all the classes will be held.

Only a handful of people arrived before us from Bukit Mertajam and Singapore. 1st JB was the first to arrive after us. Once they've checked in their NCO's, who were on worship duty that night, begun assisting me with the PA and other technicalities. I have to say that they were highly efficient and dispelled whatever stereotypes and impressions I had of the company before this event.

As preparations were still being carried out into the night, more delegates started to arrive, particular the ones from overseas. One of the flights were delayed and as a result a whole batch of attendees were an behind time. Most of them arrived after dinner. Later on they revealed to us another reason why they were delayed.

Worship was led by the 1st JB members who sang a mixture of Indonesian and English songs. It was indeed a great joy to see so many people of different nationalities praising God. It was a good effort by the two 1st JB sergeants as well, both girls. You can tell that at least one of them was very nervous. Thank God everything went smoothly. We also prayed for those who were still on their way up to Camerons, it was raining heavily and the roads were more dangerous to drive on.

After worship, all of us were introduced to the organizers of this event. The principal of the BB Asia Academy was Mr. Lim K. Tham, the former Executive Secretary for BB Singapore. He briefed us of what to expect from the course and that maintaining a positive attitude is the key to making this event successful. Following Mr. K. Tham's briefing, he briefly introduced Mr. Lawrence, who is the BB Asia full-time-to-be executive secretary.

The session was concluded by Reverend Richrard Tok, who came straight from the bus without enough time even to check in, gave a message and vesper. He then revealed to the rest of us that the bus was delayed due to a series of landslides which occured on the way up to Camerons.

After vesper, supper was prepared for all.. and it was bed time for most of us. The HQ staff were still awake late into the night preparing for the Academy's launch the next day. I had my share of sleeplessness as well.. as I was up fixing up the PA.. which never seemed to work well due to the PA's setup in the hall. Once that was done, it was a nice hot shower and lights out for a satisfying first day. I haven't met any solid new friends yet, except Cpl. Chung Wee and Sgt. Christopher from 1st JB, but I'm sure I'll get a chance in the next 4 days.

Day 2

As usual, I had a slight problem waking up in the morning, but it was better than most occasions. I really thank Joseph Loy from BB Singapore for giving me a wake up call.. if not I would've late to open up the hall for the worship team to practice. Since I was by default responsible for the equipment in the hall. So after a quite teeth brushing I was off to the hall.

Breafast was a plain continental set.. one of my favourites. We had our day cut out for us, with opening cermony right after worship. I changed into my uniform early.. which my red jacket as the second layer. It was aircond cold up in Cameron's. To launch this year's BB Asia Academy, we have Dr. M. Kayvaes, a minister in the Prime Ministers department and a former BB member from 4th KL.

After a photo session, a short tea break, the academy begun. Mr. Robinson did a session on programme idea. Later on Mr. Lim K. Tham did another session on BB Philosophy, Culture and Traditions. He basically talked about BB Asia and what the goals of the BB ministries of the world have in common.. which is to commit to the BB Object, something which is also emphasised by Mr. Robinson earlier on. The goal of BB should be focused on 2 parts and for us as BB officers have two callings. The first is an evangelical calling, where we're called to bring forth the Good News through the BB movement to those whom do not know Him. The other is the basically the development of character.

Most of us were looking forward to the programme at night.. which was a visit to the Cameron's pasar malam down in town. Unfortunately, during dinner.. there was a moderate shower which spoiled the plan.. as we were supposed to walk down to town. So, instead of the night market Mr. Lawrence conducted a games session for us. After vesper and sharing it was the end of Day 2.

Day 3

The next day started pretty much the same way like the second.. except for breakfast. It was to be sunrise service out in the open... unfortunately for some reason we decided to have it indoors instead. Reverend Raymond Sim led the morning's sunrise service, spoke of Taming the Tongue and emphasised how all of us in the Brigade ministry should learn to work togther and not criticize each others differences.

Most of the days sessions are conducted by Mr. Timothy Tan, a former 2nd Penang Boy. He speicializes in training leaders in well known corporations and MNCs, where work sometimes takes him overseas for training. I remember him mentioning he did a session for MYOB.. that big Australian Accounting IT Software company... wow.

I guess the what made his sessions interesting was how relevant he was towards the current trends. He was not afraid to speak his mind.. sometimes using "semi-foul" words for effect.. but never failing to apologize when he realizes he's crossed the line.

Usually, I'll be quite reluctant to participate in an ice-breaker or a game.. However, his approace made it quite enjoyable.

There was this game, which was basically "one, two, juice".. but with an additional twist to it. Initially, everyone starts as an egg. Those who win the first round will move on to become a chicken while the loser remains an egg. Only characters with a similar character can challenge one another. So, in the next level.. after a chicken-chicken duel, the victor will move on to become a dinosour.. while the loser is demoted back to an egg. The same process then continues.. dino versus dino. The victor will become an Immortal, while the loser will be demoted back to a chicken. Ultimately, as it turns out, there can be only one egg, one chicken, one dino.. while everyone else would end up as immortals.

It was quite a scene seeing so many adults playing a game like this.. and right from the start i had a bad feeling where I would end up. I had a 10 time loosing streak.. and the furtherest i got to was a dino.. just a step away from being normal. As the game progress... more and more ppl were left standing in their immortal poses while I was stuck at the other various lower levelled positions. And guess what... I was the EGG! The lowest of the lot.... arghhh... how embarassing.. =.=". But the game was fun, and I got a big bar of kitkat for it which on one else had (other than the chicken and dino).

Remaining days:

Well, we basically had a wonderful time of fellowship. I'm glad I came and got to know many friends from all over, particularly Joseph Loy from 30th Singapore and members from 1st Johor Bahru (Chung Wee, Christopher, Siau Wen, Slyvia, Hellen, Peih Ling, Michelle and others who were friendly enough to approach a weirdo guy like me =P. I'm sure our friendship will last as long as we have the Anchor as part of our souls.