School Based NDP 2011 Preparation (Term 3)

Today, every Uniformed Group in HCI, sent at least one contingent for the school-based National Day Parade, held a day before the actual National Day itself. Scouts and St John's Ambulance Brigade (SJAB) each sent a supporting contingent, while both the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) and the National Cadet Corps (NCC) sent one supporting contingent and one Guard Of Honour (GOH) contingent each.

I was fortunate enough to be selected for the NPCC GOH contingent, which is usually made up of cadets from the Secondary 3 squad. However, they made allowances for a few Secondary 2s who were rather proficient in rifle drills. Even with my rather poor standards, I still managed to make it.

During few weeks before the actual parade, everyone trained hard in order to make the parade a success. We should thank all the UGs for trying hard to listen and follow the parade procedures, while maintaining their drill standards. We should also thank the teachers who came down to help out, especially Mr Yong and Mr Tan, and also the MediaTech people, as well as the seniors. It was after all, a rare chance to show off the prowess of the UGs, and we did not want to lose it.

However, an unfortunate piece of news befell us just before the parade. NEA predicted rain at the time and date of the parade. Still, we were lucky that the prediction turned out to be untrue, otherwise all our efforts would have gone down the drain.