Something to ponder on..

Dear Scouts of SJI, seeing that the blog seems rather dry with only posts of weekly meeting details, I wish to discuss with you a matter that carries no urgency, but yet I believe has a valuable lesson that all can take away from. And this matter arises from an anecdote my own experience from the past 3 years in this Unit.

When I first entered Pelandok as a young fellow with plenty to learn, I vividly remember asking my then Secondary two patrol mate, Matthias, (who would go on to become my Patrol Leader),

“Why does the Den have an old computer monitor?”

To which he had no idea. Years flew by, and this past week, I noticed an old familiar site, and I asked myself,

“Why does the Den have an old computer monitor?”

Thanks to Ms. Leong, we finally disposed it in the school recycling bin. Nonetheless, I posted this interesting tale on Facebook and got a few responses which got me thinking. Were our scouts simply too lazy to get it cleared? Were they too ill-mannered to think that someone someday will do that job? Or do they plainly put, just don’t care? I am convinced that Pelandok Scouts are better than that. And therein lies the rub.

It worries me to even look at how not just scouts in this unit, but the people all around us are so blissfully oblivious about the changes that need to be made.
The stores? We can just ignore them. The den? Looks fine to me. Community service? How many CIP hours for me. Check the blog? Don’t waste my time. Weekly Meetings? Oh fine I’ll come.

So where does it end? Such cynicism is cheap. Apathy is so simple – it’s always someone else’s role, someone else’s fault, somebody else’s business. Some just don’t want too much involvement. After all, there’ll always be someone at the top who will fix the problems.

Things are and will never be perfect. There will always be things needed to be accomplished in this 87 year old establishment. What I do hope, is that by the time each of you end your time in this Scout Unit, you realize that anyone, can make a change. It doesn’t matter your age, size, patrol. Anyone, can start that spark, and I hope, influence more to join in a blazing trail of improving our organization and strive for something greater.

That is what the Patrol system aims to achieve. It gives everyone a shared responsibility. No one individual can single handedly give rise to success in a Patrol. That patrol, makes up a part of our organization, that welcomes any scout who wants to help improve it.

Think the stores can be tidier? Do something about it. Think the Den could be more decorated? Do something about it. Think your patrol could use a blog/file/log? Do something about it. Until we truly understand how we got to this stage after 87 long years, we cannot move forward.

So let’s hope, that just like the ancient computer monitor that laid in the Den for years, the problems of our Unit are never everlasting. All it takes is for one of us, to identify that hitch, challenge the process and inspire change. I challenge you; start the change you want to see.