Monday, August 30, 2010

Footdrill Re-accreds for Sec 2s

Hi Sec 2s.

The following are the people who need to come down for the Footdrill re-accreds this Friday.

Taking FD(Bronze) Practical and Theory
(bring full Red Cross uniform)
Lionel
Kenneth
Ryan Tia

Taking FD(Bronze) Theory only
Chong Ching

Taking FD(Silver) Practical and Theory
Jia Ming
Li Peng

Taking FD(Silver) Practical only
Ching Wai

Taking FD(Silver) Theory only
Kavin

Please remember, the re-accreds are this Friday, 3rd September. Meet us at S.R. Block Foyer at 1:15 pm. All the best!! =D

RIFA(B) Results

Hey everyone!!

Here are the results of today's RIFA(B).

(As you all know, there are three components for RIFA(B) Accreds - Theory, Practical 1 and Practical 2.)

Full Pass
Yi Min
Yi Cheng
Sean

those who need to retake 1 practical only
Amos
Zijun

those who need to retake Theory and 1 Practical only
Joash
Vikaesh
Vijay
Kian Guang
David

those who need to retake Theory and both Practicals
Chong Ching
Jeremiah
Jian Xing
Nirmeet
Brendon
Yue Howe
Allan
Heathav


Top scorers(0verall) : Yimin and Yi Cheng (Epsilon : + 50 x 2)

Congrats to the top scorers as well as the rest who have tried hard!! =)

Those of you who did not pass, don't be disheartened/stressed up. Your re-tests have been shifted back to Term 4(after EOYs) so you guys have more time to prepare for the re-tests. :D

Sunday, August 29, 2010

A Blast from the Past II (2008)

Hi guys, here's another blast from the past :)

The video on this page shows some random stuff happening in the 2008 June camp. And in case you're wondering, the water's coming from a hose upstairs xD

http://picasaweb.google.com/rircbatch57/CanopusJuneCamp
08#5304719176972824978

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Stuff to bring on Monday's Training

Hi all!

Sec 1s and 2s, do bring 2 triangular bandages each on Monday's training. Sec 1s for RIFA (B) accreds, and sec 2s for RIFA (S) lesson.

Do mug hard for the accreds! Revising and practising together will definitely prepare you better than just doing it alone, so go form a group within your platoon or within the batch!

Good Luck!

Dover Park Hospice SUNday Walk

Hi guys,

Those who have registered for the Dover Park Hospice SUNday Walk (i.e. Ching Wai, Justin, Wei Yang, Kai Yen, and Ryan Chiong), please note that the consent forms will be given out on Monday.

More details will be given in the consent form, but the meeting place is confirmed to be HarbourFront Bus Interchange at 2.30pm on 5 September, where buses will be provided by Dover Park Hospice. A coupon will be issued to allow you to take the bus for free. On the day itself, please bring the coupon, or else you will have to pay $3 to take the bus.

I will be giving out this coupon and the shirts tentatively on Thursday, depending on when I can collect them from DPH. Consent forms will also be collected on Thursday.

Thanks!

Attendance records

Dear all,

Please click here to access your attendance records, and ensure that all excuses for your absence from trainings/CAC are submitted as soon as possible, with the Training Excuse Forms. If you have no excuse for a certain training, be honest with us.

If you are denied access to the link, refresh the page and it will work.

Please take this as a chance to clarify all your attendances for this year, since it will affect your promotions, as detailed in your Development Portfolios. There is no need to label and ostracize your batch mates as ponners; instead you can help them by making sure they come for training, for example. The list is not a "public shaming" of ponners, but a reminder to submit your excuses for the trainings you have missed.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Inter-Unit Activity

Hey all!
Some of you might remember, there was a post quite a while ago which had all the dates of upcoming events.
And those of you might have caught something that was supposed to happen tomorrow.
28 August (Week 9 Saturday) - Inter-unit activity
Now I'm here to inform you all that the activity has been postponed to a later date (to after the EOYs).
Make use of the free Saturday to prepare yourselves for the major exams ahead!
Work hard now, play hard later :)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Accreds dates and Syllabus Checklist

Hey guys!!

Hope you've had a good rest after the Inter-UG Games Day.

Here's a reminder of the upcoming accreds and re-accreds dates.

RIFA(B) re-accred for Sec2s: Friday,27th august (tomorrow) 3:15 pm. Those who are required to take this retest, meet at the FACom room, the empty classroom opposite 2C.

RIFA(B) accred for Sec1s: Monday, 30th august during training time.

RIFA(B) re-accred for Sec1s(IF there're any failures): Friday, 3rd Sept. Timing to be confirmed later.

FD(S) re-accred for Sec2s(both theory and practical) : Friday, 3rd Sept. 1:15pm. meet at S.R. Block Foyer.

All the best for your accreds and re-accreds,everyone. =)

Also, just a reminder that the deadline for completing your syllabus checklist is tomorrow, 2200 hrs. If you're still unsure,
HERE is the link to the checklist.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

New Photos

Hi guys,

The photos from CAC and PN are now up!!!

Take a look:

Hi guys,

Don't feel disheartened if you didn't manage to play well or get the results that you wanted today. Knowing that you did your best and having fun is what matters :D

By the way, here's an interesting video of the India Pakistan Border closing ceremony. Their FD is really quite cool XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ0ue-XGl9c

Have fun, and remember to study for your EOYs!

IUG-GD

Hello Everybody,

This might not sound like me and I'm sorry if I betrayed my portrayal of being a super sadistic, radical and bad guy. But I would really like to congratulate all for your effort today. Note again, not results. Effort. I trust that everyone did their best for the games today. The results can't be helped and I personally apologize for that 5 goal let in by Scouts 01. (But they were damn gay ok) Everyone put in effort whether be it participating, cheering or being in FA duty. Thank you everyone.

Of course, there will be skeptics questioning me do I really feel this way? Do results seriously don't matter? Well I know that posts on this blog are supposed to be for the unit, but here are my two cents worth. Other UG members hit the minimum quota of sec1s and sec2s and then, fill the rest up with secondary threes. I admit for floorball we got soe lwin and hansheng later and so might really contradict what we want for all cadets to participate.

Basically, what we hope to attain is to allow as many cadets as possible to at least participate in the sports and move away from the elitist mindset. Which is why you noticed basketball had only Colin in it for upper secondary.

However I [and note I do not stand for my batch] feel that this is of course impractical and unrealistic for us to get last every year (btw good job for 4th for soccer ) in most sports for most cadets to participate. Do note however, despite the fact that I am against this practice, my congratulations and thanks to all of you are sincere as I really saw most of you put in your utmost effort for this IUG games.

Therefore, to end off this post, I would like to ask all of you and seek your feedback. Would you rather we do proper screening tests and allocate people who are particularly good to go before filling the remaining empty slots with people who wish to go? Or do you wish for us to try and put as many people who wish to go for the sport as possible disregarding proficiency? I hope for your honest feedback. Please feedback on the tagboard and I will be monitoring it for your responses. If no feedback is given we will just continue with this practice of moving away from elitism then. Thank you very much for listening to my rambling xD

Best Regards,
Jee Kinn

Monday, August 23, 2010

RIFA (B) Post-Mortem

Hey all,

I was grading the FA(B) accreds for the Sec2s today, and as you can see from the results below, they weren't exactly very good.

Sec1s, you'll be taking the very same accred next Monday, so now you might be wondering - if so few Sec2s pass, what hope do I have?

Well read on to find out how you can pass these accreds [and all subsequent ones].

So where did everyone go wrong?
Theory: could have been a lot better. Why? A lack of practice. The syllabus for FA(B) can be found in your development portfolio, so make sure you're confident of every single point in the syllabus before coming for the accred on Monday. Learn your acronyms, the injuries listed - how to recognise and treat them, the uses of the various bandages and items in a first-aid kit and you should do fine.
Go seek out the Sec3s or the Sec2s for clarifications if necessary - we're all here to help you.

Practical: again it was due to a lack of practice. Most of the Sec2s today could tie all the bandages required correctly, just that either 1. they took way too much time because they were not confident and weren't quite sure of how to tie them and/or 2. the bandaging was so messy that they ended up being marked down.

These 2 problems are very easily solved - with practice! Get yourselves familiar with all the bandages listed in the syllabus, and practice tying them quickly and well. If you can get that then the practical component should be a piece of cake too.
Practice by yourself, or as a platoon, or as a batch or even with the Sec2s or 3s - and you'll find yourself a lot more confident when Monday comes around - and you'll do well.

So Sec1s really there's no reason why you ought to be worrying about Monday's accreds. Just put in some effort [about an hour's worth of revision should cut it, if you've been coming for trainings and paying attention], don't freak out during the test and you'll be alright.

The paper isn't easy, but it is very doable - if you're prepared for it, that is.

All the best for Monday!

Syllabus Checklist

Hi RIRC!

As I've mentioned during training just now, you guys need to complete the syllabus checklist. This is to find out what each of you have already learnt or not learnt.

Click hereto access to the checklist.

I believe everything is kind of self-explanatory. Please tick everything lesson and stuff that you've gone through/learnt, it doesn't matter if you're not very proficient in those areas, you must still tick them as long as you've gone through them.

If you have any queries, approach any of the Sec 3s - call us/find us in school or drop a message on the tagboard.

Remember, complete this by this Friday, 27th August, 2200 hrs. We do not expect to see any late submissions.

RIFA Bronze Accred Results

Hey Sec 2s!

Here are the RIFA(B) results.

Full pass

Ryan Lim
Wei Yang
Li Peng
Ching Wai
George
Darryl

Those who need to retake Theory only

Jia Ming

Those who need to retake Practical only

Gabriel
Kai Yen

Those who need to retake both Theory and Practical

Qi Jing
Kavin
Sean
Ryan Chiong
Chong Ching


Top Scorer : Wei Yang (Iota + 50 pts)
Top in theory : Wei Yang (Iota + 20 pts)
Top in practical : Li Peng (Omega + 20 pts)

Congrats to all those who passed and the top scorers!! :D

Those who need to retake, please don't be discouraged. You guys can do it! =)

Once again, the reaccreds of RIFA(B) will be this coming Friday, 27th August. So please keep that day free.

We will personally inform those who need to go for extra lesson on this Thursday, so do look out for more updates.
If any of you guys need help or need to clarify anything, you guys can actually drop by the class opposite 2C, on Tuesday and Thursday, to approach the Sec 3s and Sec2s FACommers to clear your doubts. :D

Sunday, August 22, 2010

A gift from God, Literally?

Hi sec1s,

Y'all running about with watermelons worrying about your RIFA B?
Fear not, this ppt from god includes causes treatment and symptoms of various burns.
I know you're asking.. Why burns? It's cos god is kind! :D (And you had a FA lesson on it last Wed..) ~ Which was not delved into with godlike detail, thus this godlike ppt provides the burny essentials!

http://www.4shared.com/document/_tRKnzlo/Burns.html


P.S. I am not god.
P.P.S When gods pee, it turns into Golden Eggs from Cowland! Ain't that kewl 0.o

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Blast From the Past (RCGT)

Hi guys,

It is almost nearing the end of term 3. So here is a blast from the past:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoyagoW99jU

PS. FACom is coming up (remember, its 4th September). So pls support your fellow FACommers!!!!

Footdrill Accreds Review

Hey all Sec 2s,

I know that most of you have passed your FD(S)/(B) yesterday, but I would still like to go through some mistakes that we noticed during the accreds, so that those who failed can know where they went wrong and improve on yourselves before your re-accreds.

Practical

Knowledge - some of you are still unsure of some commands, (e.g. which foot is the command given on? is "xxxyyy* a valid command to be given?"). Since you don't know the basic stuff, it will affect your execution(i.e. lagging, doing wrong commands) and lead to losing of marks.

Confidence - We noticed that some of you are hesitating when a command is given. This will make you lag behind, and marks got penalised. Always be confident of what you're doing, do not hesitate. This is also affected by the issue that i mentioned, knowledge. Know your stuff well, be confident and look smart when executing. Footdrill is all about being confident and looking smart.

Posture - This is an important point to take note of, because it affects your overall impression. Some of you, when executing your commands, are still not having the proper posture during your accreds (e.g. people slouching while marching, arms not locked even while executing static drills, turning around to talk to people). Remember one of the very basics of footdrill - look up,look smart. what do we mean by look up,look smart? Show the rest of the people who are watching you that you are confident of what you're doing. When you're at ease/attention, always remember to maintain the stomach in, chest out posture and when you're marching, always keep your body upright, do not slouch (it looks ugly :X) Do not turn your heads to check dressing etc. when your're doing footdrill. look straight, tilt your head up a little bit. You must always take note of these small little things.

Commanding

Knowledge and confidence - Some of you, even those who passed, scored very low for commanding. Some common problems that were: 1) having difficulty translating from English to Malay 2) not sure of which is the correct leg to give on 3) hesitating (e.g.stuttering ) while commanding. Again, this is a problem with your knowledge of the footdrill commands. You still have problems remembering the English translations of the commands that we use.
As for confidence, it's either because of your insufficient knowledge - you don't know the translation of the command given to you, so you start panicking and don't know what to do, or you are just not confident of yourself- i.e. you're still not confident enough when you're up on the podium in front of your batchmates and you start getting nervous and stammering etc. So, the moral of the story is : Know all the commands well and don't be shy,have confidence.

Loudness - The other problem with commanding is the loudness of your voice. The problem is simple,some of you are still too soft when you're commanding. Why do we emphasize on the loudness? Let's imagine you're the commander commanding a big parade(e.g. morning assembly) or a squad which is far away from you. The big parade/your squad is all listening to you and waiting for the instruction from your command to carry on. If you're too soft, the people that are depending on you wouldn't clearly get the instructions that you're giving them and they might even get the wrong instructions, and this will just cause you to repeat your commands over and over again. So, be loud when you're commanding. Project your voice from your diaphragm, not from the throat. it is much easier.

Theory

For theory, the reason why some of you failed is mainly because you guys did not study/revise your commands properly. For example, the first section , it is just pure theory. if you studied well, there's no way you can't get full marks. As for the other sections, I understand the the questions may be quite tricky, but its all just application question - just like your science/maths exam questions. They require you to use your knowledge in footdrill to apply it on the real parade ground situations(like FDCom). So, for this, you need a little "visualizing skills" addition to your knowledge.

In short, the main cause of why some of you failed certain sections is your knowledge. You guys do not know your basics well/did not revise enough so it caused you to get penalized here and there. Don't be discouraged. Just take note of the suggestions that I've mentioned above, revise your basics, practice more and you will be able to pass. :DD

Even for those who passed, I still want you guys to take note of what I've mentioned and beware of how and where you can go wrong.

On the side note, platoon points will be awarded for the top scorers, in recognition of their effort they've put into preparing. *clap clap clap*

Epsilon : + 50 for top overall scorer, + (20 x 2) for Top in theory and Top in practical
Omega: + 20 for top in practical

Friday's here, YAY!! xD and have a good rest!!

RIFA Bronze and Accreditations

Hi all,

I'm here to inform you guys about some important accreds coming up for both the Sec1s and Sec2s over the next two weeks. Please take note of them.

Secondary 1s

RIFA bronze : Week 10 Monday (30th August)

Secondary 2s

RIFA Bronze : Week 9 Monday (23rd August)

RIFA Silver has been postponed to Term 4 to give you guys more time to prepare.

Note: RIFA Bronze is just like SFA, in fact, it's even easier than SFA because it covers less things. So, we believe that you guys have all been well trained and prepared for this test. and a few tips, Go through what's covered for this syllabus, practice your bandages, and go through your old notes again. Do approach us if you need to clarify anything. =D

All the best to everyone!! =D

FD Silver and Bronze Results

Hi Sec 2s,

I can see that some of you are so excited to know your FD(S)/FD(B) results and they're here finally!! :D

FD Bronze

Pass:
Qi Jing
Sean
Ryan Chiong (need to redo UI)

Failed theory:
Chong Ching (need to redo UI as well)

FD Silver

Full Pass:
Darryl
Wei Yang
George
Gabriel
Justin
Kai Yen
Ryan Lim

Failed practical only:
Ching Wai

Failed theory only:
Kavin

Failed practical and theory:
Jia Ming
Li Peng


Top scorer for FD(S) overall : Ryan Lim
Top scorer for practical : Ryan Lim and George
Top scorer for theory: Darryl

Congrats to all those who passed and the top scorers!! =)

Those who did not pass, do not be disheartened. Learn from what you did wrong and do not do the same mistakes that you did. You guys just need to work a little harder. :D If you're still have anything that you're unsure of, feel free to approach any of the sec3s and sec4s. We're all here to help you guys.

The re-test for FD Silver will be on Week 10 Friday (3rd September). We'll give you more info about it on a later date.

Once again, congrats and good job to all of you!! =D

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

FD Silver

Hi all,

Please be reminded that the Footdrill Silver Accreds will be held tomorrow during training. Please remember to prepare your uniforms! Also, all the best for passing the test! (:

Thanks!

Greetings!

Hihi!

For those who are not sure, lets lay the rule out:

When greeting your sec 3s/4s, you are allowed to say Hi sir or Hello IC.

To us, what's important is respect to another person/friend. You see your friend, you say hi right? (Only a few nutty idiots who have no self-respect will bash up their friends when they meet them)

Same works here, and if you say hi and any sec3/4/VI dao you, complain to your Platoon Mentor or the chairperson, or put it on the tagboard. Coz that senior clearly shows that either he didn't hear, or he doesn't respect you as his unitmate. Then that person gotta wake up.

Of course, we will also greet you guys, no worries :)

Then some say "why need to address you as sirs?"

The real truth is, this being a UG, the rank system is there to showcase the effort that you have put into the unit, and the character/personality that is being recognized by the officers (your teachers and past Sec4 chairperson/vice chairperson. As you go up, from Private (Sec 1s) to Sergeant (Sec 3s) to Warrant officers (Some sec 4s), you're actually showing that the rank you wear on your shoulder is earned by your efforts, your experience and maturity in this unit.

So when you're addressing your seniors, that sir actually means that you're acknowledging the very effort that they have put in since they were at your age, and getting that Sergeant rank is definitely not easy (ask your sec 3s, or wait till you're one :D)

So when we say disrespect when you never say "sir", it simply means that you don't care about what that person has done for the unit and the people in the unit, such as yourselves, that you do not care about how he is doing his best to ensure that we still can maintain our achievements and at the same time ensure the development of you guys during your stay in this CCA.

Its the least that you can do to acknowledge what he has done for the past years. You'll find out one day, when you get to that Sergeant stage, and have sec 1s under you.

Hope that you guys understand. Ah, and wait till you start going for national HQ events. Can you imagine yourself being to used to just saying hi without the rank, and then going for an event with people who have 3 golden diamonds on their rank and you say hi to them casually?
:S

Oh, FYI, In UGs like NCC or NPCC, they call their seniors by rank. So you can hear something like: "Is that clear?"

"Yes Sergeant!" or
"Yes Staff!" (Staff Sergeant) or
"Yes Enchik" (Warrant Officers)

We've made things easier with ICs or Sirs. ICs for those who are not in the committee, and sirs for those who are. So you'll be calling your sec 3s "Sirs" right after POC.

Oh yea, something to wonder:

Qn: Why can't we say "Hi Jeremy! Here's my Excuse form for training last Monday"?
Ans: Why not say this to your mum, "Hi Melissa! Can you pick me up?" "Sorry Janet, I'm playing soccer now. Will be home soon."

Monday, August 16, 2010

SANA Course

Hello guys!!

I've got some good news here, so please take note. The long-awaited SANA Course is finally here!! =)

For those of you who are wondering what is SANA, it stands for Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association, which is basically an anti-drug association.
During SANA course, you will be going through talks about anti-drugs,drug abuse etc. and there will also be some activities for you guys to engage in.

So, why attend this course? You will learn more about the disadvantages of drugs, drug abuse etc. and what's more? You can earn yourself the SANA badge(a national badge), that you can pin up on your RC uniform, upon completing the course!! Sounds cool, right? =D

And the course is open to everyone in RIRC, all(Sec1s,Sec2s,Sec3s,Sec4s) are welcome to sign up for this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some details about the course:

Date : 8 September 2010 (Wednesday) (during the Sept. holidays)

Time : 8:30 am to 5:30 pm (lunch not provided)

Venue : 2 Sengkang Square #05-01, Singapore 545025 (Beside Compass point Shopping Centre, near Sengkang MRT station)

Attire : Mufti

Things to bring : Stationary
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

However, since there are limited slots, registration will be on first come first serve basis.

If you are interested to participate in this course, do inform us(the Sec 3s) during this Wednesday's training. More details will be provided on a later date.

On a side note, all the best with your preparation for the upcoming accreds. =D

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Food for thought

Hi guys,

I read some book I stumbled upon and just wanted to share some parts of it with all of you. One of the stories inside was called the 99 club.

So the story goes like this:

There was once this king in this faraway kingdom. He also felt grumpy, and did not know how to become happy again, as he was when he was a prince. Then one day, he saw this servant, who was humming away happily while cleaning the palace.

Curious, the king asked the servant : "Why are you always so happy?"

The servant replied: "Sire, I am happy because I am satisfied with whatever I own now. I have a roof over my head, my stomach is full, and I have a great caring family."

But the king did not believe that a person could be so happy just because of such simple reasons. He asked his most trusted advisor why the servant was so happy.

The advisor replied : "He is so happy now because he is not a member of the 99 club."

The king, now curious about the 99 club, asked his advisor what it was about. The advisor told him that to truly know what The 99 club is, Your Majesty, you need to place 99 gold coins in a bag and leave it at the servant's doorstep.

Later, when the servant found the bad of coins, he let out a great shout of joy and started to counted the coins. He was not convinced that someone would leave 99 coins, and wondered where the 100th gold coin was. Unable to find it after several days, he decided that he was going to work extra hard to earn the final coin to complete his collection.

From then on, the overworked man became horribly grumpy, and he criticized his family severely for not helping him earn that last coin. He even stopped humming when working.

Noticing the transformation, the advisor told the king: " Your Majesty, the servant has officially joined The 99 Club.

The 99 Club is given to a group of people who have enough to be happy but are never content, because they always strive for something extra, telling themselves, " if I get that, I will be happy for life".

Thanks for bearing with the long story. xD Hope you guys understand the story. See you tmr at training! Remember to wear your unit tees!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Random Stuff

Hello!

Since we asked you guys to liven up your blogs, I guess we have to do so to :)

I don't really have much interesting stuff to share with all of you right now, but I shall post sth that I stumbled upon while surfing.

Some annoying orange! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C41IBSKGF4w&feature=fvhr

Don't know abt what you guys think, but that fruit is really..................

...
annoying.

lol. Have a great weekend! Hope to see all of you at training on Monday!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

FD revision

Hi all,

Please take note that FD revision for sec 2s will be conducted tomorrow after school at 2.30 pm. It is compulsory for the following people: Sean, Qi Jing, Jia Ming, Chong Ching, Lionel, Kenneth, Ryan Chiong and Ryan Tia.
Sec 1s, please do not come.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Platoon Blogs

Hi All!

I hope you guys remember about your platoon blogs ._.

I just went to have a look at all 3 of them, and Iota's one is dead, while Omega's and Epsilon's are well maintained. Good job to both platoons!

As such, both Omega and Epsilon are awarded 20 points!

Platoon blogs are platforms to share views about red cross or just any random interesting thing, and I hope to see everyone posting at least once by the end of this year. Of course, the first platoon to do so will receive some points, so do aim for it!

We hope that you guys maintain the blog not because of the points, but because of the joy of sharing things with your platoon! I hope that the next time any of the Sec 3s check the blogs, they will be updated with the latest stuffies!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

CCA Records Mistakes: CIP Hours

Hi all,

if anyone of you have mistakes in CIP hours recorded in the CCA records (ie. some events not in the list), please bring the records down and meet Mrs Maas on your own in your free time.

Thanks!

CCA Points

Dear RIRC,

Having graduated from RIRC in 2005, I dare say I've seen the world more than all of you.

And trust me, CCA points are not everything in the world. Last time, this was how it works:

- every rank you get, you +1
- 1 competition you join and win, you +2
- good attendance for every year, +1

A1 is 10 points. and thats the max you can go..you can't get 11.

So I got Warrant Officer (+5), good attendance for 4 years (+4), won CAC (+2) = 10 (11 reduce to 10)

Oh so how much does my slacker friend get?
He got Staff Sergeant (+4) (YOs approved), good attendance since its 75% and above (+4) and won a competition from another CCA (+2) = 10

Hooray, I put in a lot more effort than him and yet he got the same points as me! Wonderful.

So how should I feel about that? Start slacking like him? Stop putting in effort in everything that I do, hoping that I can get good grades like any hard-working soul will?

Seriously guys, do you really wish to live your life by points?

As much as how the CCA point system has changed to LEAPS (25 points for A1) and made it seem "better", considering that it covers "more" areas such as leadership and service, do they truly reflect what you have done? Of course they don't, as some of you have noticed. The CCA Point system is still flawed. It does not deserve to be the method of recognizing what you have done. So why still sulk about it?

I swear to you, when you get out of RI, people don't care how many points you get. You go to NS, uni and the working world (which includes NS actually), try boasting to everyone, "Hey I got 30 CCA points ok! Shows I'm pro!" Seriously, they don't bother at all. What they really care is how you behave and face real life situational problems, and how much effort you really put in at that moment of time.

And the fact is, as much as A1 is great to aim for by the end of your Sec 4 life in RI, bosses look more at what you do in your uni/NS/JC.

So now you start questioning: "If CCA points aren't that necessary, I might as well slack in RI, and do a better job n JC onwards."

And how do you suppose you can surpass people who have been really working hard in RI and have gained 4 MORE years of experience in leadership than you?

The purpose of a CCA is to provide you with a LOT of opportunities for you to learn about yourself, learn what you can't learn in a normal classroom, find your true potential, find and boost your strengths, sharpen your weaknesses, shape your character and leadership skills, find your talents and learn how to properly socialize with the people around you and make the best out of every single opportunity given to you.

For you to gain experience. For you to learn. Where we ALLOW you to make mistakes, and learn from there. Where we are still here to guide you to the right methods of doing things.

Before you get to the working world, where one wrong move and poof there you go. fired.

CCA points are meant to be a guide, not a way to recognize what people have done. Its the same thing that I mention to the sec 3s. The positions in the new committee are NOT the way we recognize what they have done in the past 3 years.

Apart from that, CCA points are really not as great compared to the real experience that you go through via the opportunities given to you throughout the year in RIRC. Comparing CCA points to what you've done for the unit totally undermines the true meaning of self learning and development.

If recognition is what you ask for, here's how we do it:

Materialistically, we show recognition through the rank system, your testimonial in Sec 4 where you write down every event which consists of you leading the project, and treats like training offs.

Apart from that, knowing that we've always been observing you guys since you entered this CCA, we will definitely give more opportunities for those who have been putting in effort to so that these people can grow more. After all, they are the ones who have been working hard so far.

And if you think that "more opportunities" = not worth it / more work load = sux, may I suggest that you read the purpose of a CCA once more. Perhaps you might not understand now, but once you reach sec 3, you will understand the true meaning of this blog post.

At the end of the day, do ask yourself: Why are you putting in more effort than others?

- Coz you want to help out your batch/unit?
- Coz you want to improve yourself further?
- Coz you just want to volunteer?
- Or coz you're doing it for the sake of points?

Think about it.

By the way, (I'm not bragging here)
ever since I entered Sec 1, I couldn't be bothered about CCA points, and merely put in a lot of effort in whatever that was given to me.. volunteering to do stuff, go for HQ events and becoming IC for camps and events...simply coz its fun, and coz I just want to do my best to help my batchmates out.

I only realized that I got A1 when I reach sec 4.

See, the points still come when you're just having fun and putting in your best in CCA. :D

------

Oh yea, I don't get points by being a VI..and I've been a VI for the past 5 years. No recognition no whatsoever.

I get much more important things than points and testimonials:

1. An awesome unit that has totally transformed compared to the day I step into RIRC in 2002
2. Exceptionally Great & Fun Learning Experience
3. Developed my leadership skills to a level which you rarely get anywhere else

Most importantly?

I get Great Friends. :)

Yours Truly,
Hadi

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Dates

Hey all,
Please be informed of the dates of future accreditations and events once again.
Take note of the change in dates for accreds / events in red and bold.

4 August (tomorrow) - RCV (B) reaccreds
6 August (this friday) - Evac (B) and OA (B) reaccreds
12 August (week 7 thursday) - FD (B) and (S) revision for both sec 1s and 2s
14 August (week 7 saturday) - Epsilon CIP (1st session)
17 August (week 8 tuesday) - Iota and Omega CIP (1st session)
18 August (week 8 wednesday) - FD (S) accreds for sec 2s
19 August (week 8 thursday) - Iota and Omega CIP (2nd session)
21 August (week 8 saturday) - Epsilon CIP (2nd session)
25 August (week 9 wednesday) - RIFA (B) accreds for sec 1s and 2s
26 August (week 9 thursday) - Epsilon CIP (3rd session)
27 August (week 9 friday) - Iota and Omega CIP (3rd session)
28 August (week 9 saturday) - Combined unit activity
30 August (week 10 monday) - RIFA (S) for sec 2s
4 September - First Aid Competition 2010
17 September - Passing out Parade / Passing out Ceremony 2010

Notice that the Iota and Omega CIP dates have been added.
Also, sec 1s will be taking their footdrill bronze in term 4. Week 9 Wednesday will be RIFA bronze accreds for both sec 1s and 2s and week 10 monday will be RIFA silver accreds for sec 2s.

Hope this gives everyone a larger picture of what is / will be happening and will help you guys to study ahead of the accreditations! Remember, if you need help, you are never alone XD

Video of the Week

Honda Cog: Interesting advertisement made by Honda, showing the car parts interacting with each other like a Rube Goldberg Machine (the one you find on the cover of "Physics for You").

Enjoy!

Bronze Accreditations

Those who haven't passed your bronzes, please take note.

RCV (B) - Arun, Jeremiah, Ryan Chiong and Ryan Tia
Please be reminded that the Red Cross Values Bronze Reaccreditations will be held this Wednesday's training (4 August).
OA (B) - Yue Howe, Brendon, Nirmeet, Jeremiah, Lionel, Ryan Tia
Outdoor Activities Bronze Reaccreditations will be held this Friday (6 August).
Evac (B) -Yue Howe, Rayner, Hethav, Vijay, Daniel, Nirmeet, Samuel, Arun, Jeremiah, Ryan Chiong and Ryan Tia
Casualty Evacuation Bronze Accreditations for the practical component will be held this Friday (6 August).

Without your Bronzes, you would not be able to attain your Silvers. Practise hard, study hard, ask us on the tagboard if you require any help and we're sure you can do it!

Speaking of practising, Hadi sir is holding a dance class this Thursday, 2pm outside the Albert Hong Hall. This invitation is open to EVERYONE, whether you think you can dance or not, so whoever wants to give it a shot, you know what to do :)

Sunday, August 1, 2010

HQ Gold Accreds

Congratulations to the following Sec 3 Batch 59 RIRC members who passed their Gold accreds yesterday!

Evacuation
Soe Lwin
Zheng Wei
Jee Kinn
Hui Jun

RCV (pending)
Colin
Brendan
Han Sheng

OA (pending)
Deodatus

Sec 2s and 3s who intend to go for the Gold Modular Accreditations this October, do look out for your unitmates if you want to prepare yourselves for them!

Also, for those of us who are going for SJPhO this Wednesday, please remember to submit your excuses to your PMs Vatsal/Deodatus/Han Sheng, or any other Sec 3 RIRC Member.

Hope the weekend has been fruitful for you!

Bring Bandages

Hi all,

All Sec 1s and 2s, please bring 2 triangular bandages per person during both trainings next week. We will be needing them for the FA lessons. Additionally, it will be useful if you guys can revise your First Aid before coming for the lessons.

Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!