Unit Newsletter

2016

An Annual Publication by

Presbyterian High School

NPCC Unit

National Police Cadet Corps

resbyterian High School

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In this Issue

Content Page 1 Welcome Message from OC Unit 3

2 Run away from drugs! 4

3 OEV Brunei 4

4 I can be a cid too 5

5 Becoming Ip-Man 6

6 Peek into National Camp 7

7 Playing a part in sg secure 7

8 Adventure and survival Training camp 8

9 .22 Revolver Shooting Competition 10

10 National Youth Achievement Award 11

11 Npcc beyond your secondary school years 12

12 Celebrating achievements 14

Newsletter Editorial Team

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Welcome Message from OC Unit

Unit H

ierarchy 2

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OC Unit A/ASP (NPCC) Muhammad Khairy

Dy OC Unit INSP (NPCC) Aaron Phua

ASP (NPCC) Joyce Yeo

INSP (NPCC) Alex Toh

INSP (NPCC) Seah Li Ping

Ms Renukha Teacher Officers

H/INSP (NPCC) Lee Hui Ling

H/INSP (NPCC) Jason Neo

H/INSP (NPCC) Ho Sheng Chuan

SCI (NPCC) Nur Syafiqah

SCI (NPCC) Bruce Lee

SCI (NPCC) Jeremy Koh

CI (NPCC) Desmond Ng

CI (NPCC) Ashleigh Chye

Instructors

SI (NPCC) May Soh

SI (NPCC) Linette Tan

SI (NPCC) Bon Lainell Ong

Sec 4 & 5 Squad Sec 3 Squad Cadet Leaders

Sec 2 Squad Sec 1 Squad Cadets

Dear Officers and Cadets,

I would like to start by giving due appreciation to our previous OC Unit, Mrs Joyce Yeo, for all the contributions she has made to the unit and the corps. Having assumed responsibilities as the new OC Unit of PHS NPCC, I hope to pick up from what has already been laid out and continue to move forward, with a focus on intangible products of character building.

I would also like to take the opportunity to welcome Ms Seah Li Ping, Ms Renukha and Mr Ho Sheng Chuan into our unit. Together with the support of the existing officers, cadet instructors and cadet leaders, let us work towards meaningful weekly trainings and activities that will teach us valuable lessons to carry through life. Everyone has a part to play in this unit and with such great tasks ahead of us, we must be ready to embrace the inevitable. .changes as we go along. After all, what sets a man apart is the distance he is prepared to

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The National Council for Drug Abuse and Central Narcotic Bureau (CNB) jointly organised an Anti-Drug Escape Game in June this year, held at Suntec City as part of the Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign 2016. The specially crafted game was aimed at illustrating the dangers of drug consumption and its aftereffects. The game had a total of four zones that we had to “survive” and “escape” within 60 minutes by using our wits and skills to complete mind-boggling puzzles before moving on to the next zone. Our unit sent two groups of eight cadets from secondary one to three and this gave us an opportunity to work closely across the different squads to solve the challenging questions and in turn, know more about each other, which is a big takeaway besides the knowledge of drug abuse. Although we did not manage to “survive” and “escape” within the stipulated time limit, we enjoyed this game very much and were glad to be given this opportunity to learn about drug abuse in a fun way, and at the same time support the movement of our fellow Home Team organization.

Run away from Drugs!

It was a fun-filled experience that allowed me to live the lives of Bruneians. The Brunei Royal Police Officers, officials from Brunei’s Ministry of Education, as well as Officers and cadets of the Pasukan Kadet Polis Di Raja Brunei (PKPDB), which is Brunei’s version of NPCC, received us when we arrive. We had the chance to travel around in their police van which was interesting, given that we do not even get to travel in our own police cars in Singapore! One of the trip’s highlights was learning about Brunei Police Force whilst visiting their various departments, such as the Marine Police Coast Guard, and the Central Police Station (the biggest police station in Brunei). We also visited the Traffic Control & Investigation Department where we learnt the traffic policing duties of their royal escorts for his Royal Highness, the King. Besides visiting the Police establishments, we also visited various cultural sites and places of interest, such as the Gallery Museum on the boat and the water school bus. Back at our hostel, we played many games with the PKPDB and lots of laughter replaced the once silent hall. I definitely encourage my juniors to take part in this event as you would experience a myriad of new knowledge which is unique in NPCC. New friendships were also forged. It has been an extremely unforgettable and hard to get experience.

OEV Brunei

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I can be a CID too!

Crime Scene

1The Scene: Outline of a dead person, some alphabets, weapons, 2 cups filled with water.

Tools for Investigation: Equipment for the fingerprint dusting, UV torchlight, and chemicals to test if the water in both cups is poisonous.

Findings: CID Joyce “The investigation process was really fun! We did not use such equipment before.” CID Izzah “The moment I stepped into the room, I was scared as I thought I saw a real dead body. Luckily it was just a fake body. It was really tough to complete the task.”

The Scene: 2 chairs, one with piece of torn paper under it and the other with a hammer covered with blood and hair. Witnesses of the crime scene were there for questioning

Tools for Investigation: Notebook, clues

Findings: CID Joyce “We also need to know what kind of questions to ask witnesses and suspects so that their answers would be able to help us in the investigation of the crime scene.” CID Izzah “To find the murderer, we had to interview the three witness outside the classroom. It was a frightening experience as their faces were creepy and scary. However, I went ahead to ask them but unfortunately we were given limited questions and time”

Crime Scene

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Crime Scene

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The Scene: A box with a lock that contained a time bomb. In order for us to defuse the bomb, we had to solve riddles to get the code for the lock.

Tools for Investigation: Envelopes containing riddles that we had to solve

Findings: CID Izzah “This station was much tougher than the earlier two as the clues were lying around.” CID Joyce “I learnt from this crime scene that we need to think out of the box, focus and apply what we learnt to be able to solve the crime.”

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Becoming Ip-Man

What is Wing Chun?

Key Moves and Techniques

First, in order to defend yourself, we will first need to have situational awareness so that we have faster reaction time to defend ourselves from others who may want to harm us physically. This is also applied in our daily lives where we should be more attentive of your surroundings. Wing Chun is a skill that take years to master. As such, I’ve learned perseverance from this session, to always put in our best to achieve our goals rather than to give up due to obstacles that stands in our way. This also include good time management for one to master the skill amidst the other commitments we may have. I am glad to experience Wing-chun at least once in my life. Although Singapore is relatively safe and we may not need to be on our toes to defend ourselves, this is still a good skill to learn and understand.

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Peek into National Camp

Playing a Part in SG Secure

In times of threat

Improvising First Aid

Singapore is facing our highest terror threat level ever, with attacks occurring closer and closer to our shores. SG Secure is a national movement to sensitise, train and mobilise everybody to play a part to prevent and deal with terrorist attacks. As a nation, we have to stay alert against security threats, stay united to show solidarity in times of crisis, and be prepared by knowing what to do during an emergency. With this new initiative, a mobile application has also been developed by the Singapore Police Force to increase safety awareness of the public to keep Singapore safe, and even save lives in times of emergency. Through our Unit’s participation in the SG Secure initiative, I have learned to be alert of tell-tale indicators of potential threats especially in crowded places where many different activities takes place at the same time. I was also given the opportunity to learn how to apply “RUN, HIDE, TELL” in times of threat and improvise basic first aid through “PRESS, TIE, TELL”

The National Camp is held once every 2 years, bringing together Cadets from all the different Uniformed Groups (UG) in Singapore. Despite being from different UGs, the Facilitators, made up of Instructors from the different UGs, took really great care of us! It was an extremely fun and interesting experience as we learnt about each UG’s special activities, such as NCC (Land)’s High Rope Challenge, sleeping in bashas which were the smaller version of our NPCC tentages, holding only 2 person and we had to pitch it without guidance from the facilitators. Overall, it was an enjoyable camp which gave us very fond memories and new friends whom I bonded well with over the camp.

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Adventure & Survival Training Camp

Mode of Transportation:

Bumboat from Changi Jetty to Pulau Ubin Jetty

Your trusty legs from Pulau Ubin Jetty to Camp Resilience!

Check in procedure:

Please remember to bring along your pegs and tent sheets

Loss of pegs and tent sheets may result in a treasure hunt for the lost items! Be accountable to your belongings!

(… and breakfast, lunch and dinner for the remaining days)

Discussion on Group Name, Group Flag and Campfire Performance

It was a good experience to do as I’m not good at rock climbing. During the activity, we cheered for our group mates and

gave them our support as the rock wall was really high and it was difficult to climb it. I felt really nervous for my turn! Despite only completing half the wall, I was satisfied with my performance.

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We headed out as a group and went to different checkpoints on the island. At each checkpoint, the Instructors shared with us many interesting facts about the island and we managed to see many wildlife that we do usually see on mainland Singapore. Although it was a really long walk, it taught us perseverance and bonded our group as we encouraged each other along the way by singing our exhaustion away during the trek!

Menu

Appetiser – Biscuits

Mains – Instant Noodles

(Chicken flavour); Tuna

Desserts – Longan, Energy drink

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I was really excited for kayaking despite the worries my partner has of capsizing. I shared my enthusiasm and motivated him throughout the activity. With coordination and cooperation, we were soon kayaking smoothly out in the sea. It was really an eye-opener when the instructors shared with us all the places that we seen as I did not know that Pulau Ubin had such a big place

This was a highlight of the camp that caught everyone’s attention – be it of excitement or fear. Regardless how confident you were at the bottom of the tower, everyone was shaking with fear at the top of the tower! This was definitely a thrilling experience, and a unique one as this is the second tallest flying fox in Singapore. The high rope elements also posed to be a very good challenge for us and enable us to build our teamwork and further our bond with our squadmates and the Area 4 cadets.

This camp played huge part in my NPCC life for me as it exposed me to new experience and knowing others from Area 4 and learning from them, such as their strong

sense of initiative. This camp honed me to be more responsible and independent, and definitely

improved all our leadership skills!

During that 3 days camp, I learnt to have sense of urgency as this was

basic discipline in a Uniformed Group. Everyone should attend the ATC as it will help them to improve themselves not only as a Cadet in

NPCC, but help overcome their weakness as well.

I have made many new friends whom I still keep in contact with! I also gained

valuable experiences which would help in weekly trainings. For instance, I learned

from the lead of another cadet that when we notice something wrong, we should

step up to rectify the situation even when others are not doing the same.

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The .22 competition gave us the opportunity to spend time with each other. Personally, this was very important to me as we are graduating from NPCC next year to focus on our ‘O’ and ‘N’ Levels, and we do not have much time left to spend with our squad mates. One lesson that I learnt, and a valuable one, was Humility. During my Classification Shoot, I achieved good result and this made me complacent prior to the competition. It was not until the competition itself that I started to feel the pressure and did not perform as well as I previously did. I would encourage everyone to take all your dry practices in school and HTA seriously as they are rare occasions that you get to practice your shooting techniques. Opportunity will be given to you if you do well in your Live and Classification shoot to join this competition.

.22 Revolver Shooting Competition!

Despite our team emerging 6th in the competition, what many did not know was that our team almost faced disqualification on the day of the Finals as one of our team mate had to attend her ‘O’ Level Oral examination and may not be able to reach the competition on time. However, I was heartened by my team’s understanding, encouraging her to prioritise and focus on her exams. On the day of the Finals, miracle happened as our team mate managed to rush to HTA after her exam to participate in the competition! Overall, I felt that the biggest takeaway in this competition was that we should put in our best in all that we do, and that one’s character and attitude is a defining trait that will determine our lives. Looking back, the teamwork and bond between the team is what defines the experience, and not the final results.

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National Youth Achievement Award

ACTIVITIES COMPLETED FOR NYAA (GOLD)!

Community Service

Personal Skills Physical Recreation

Outdoor Adventurous Journey (at least 4 days)

Residential Project

I found myself doing activities that I never thought I would do and grounded my personal values such as resilience and discipline.

These experiences have shaped me into becoming a stronger person, a more compassionate volunteer and a confident leader.

I have learnt that even a small effort, with sincerity, makes the community a better place.

NYAA helped me realize my own potential such as organizing various national level events while feeling an unexplainable sense of satisfaction after each activities.

NYAA experience pushed me beyond my comfort zone, to work beyond my Unit and influence and serve the community in more areas, even on a national level.

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NPCC Beyond your Secondary School Years

So what’s your job here as a CI?

Jeremy As a CI, my main objective is to ensure that the CL understand that leadership is not only just leading. I find it important to make them understand what leadership really means.

Bruce Through the direct training with the cadets on only hard skills, soft skills and public speaking (even sometimes Microsoft Office training lol), we ensure that the cadets have sufficient learning value.

Why did you decide to come back as a CI? Tell us more about your experience at CIBTC where you trained! I’m sure many cadets are curious!

Jeremy One reason that I decided to come back and serve was because this was a very good platform to experience many ‘behind the scenes’ of organizations. You can look at it as a stepping stone to society! CIBTC was really fun as it is the first time where I camped a few weeks with total strangers. The camaraderie formed in CIBTC was really an eye-opener.

Bruce That’s right Jeremy! The 2-3 weeks of stay in during CIBTC gave us a preview of our current army life right? It was a really interesting experience for me. I didn't expect to have so many lectures. We had to plan our own lessons, our own Adventure Training Camp and execute them. Totally level up from being a CL! I’m really grateful as to how NPCC changed me as a person. I learned many valuable skills and values that helped me grow and I wanted to do the same, or even more for my juniors. But being a CL had some limitations, so I decided to sign on to NPCC as a CI.

Hmm, does that including scolding cadets and nit-picking their mistakes? O.o

Jeremy Definitely not.. I was once a cadet, so I know how horrible it feels to be scolded. Cadets don’t realise this but it really takes a lot of energy for us to scold someone. and it’s not enjoyable.

Bruce No way. I believe learning should be done without such pressure as long as effort is put in. However, there are times when words don’t go in and we have to raise our tone or volume. It’s nothing personal whenever we scold or punish – it is just to get our point across and hopefully they will remember.

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NPCC Beyond your Secondary School Years

So after all these years, what's the greatest challenge that you have as a CI?

Jeremy Well, it wasn’t easy to juggle between my CCA, studies and duties as a CI. It’s all about deadlines! Making sure cadet meet their deadlines for proposals while we ensure we meet ours. Remember we are students too!

Bruce I think it was also not easy to find my personal style of leadership. I came across many inspirational leaders in CIBTC and our own unit, so for a long time I was just emulating those who I looked up to. But recently I felt like I finally found my own style and now I'm clear on how I'm going to lead.

Despite the challenges, you have stayed on. What’s the motivation or what’s fun about being a CI?

Jeremy Knowing your cadets have learnt something and are all having fun at the same time!

Bruce The other instructors! I first thought the Instructors team was very work driven but apparently I was wrong.. Behind the scenes, it’s so much fun times and memories and I see us more as a family rather than just working partners. It's also amazing how we can all make sacrifices for the unit to ensure objectives are met and the cadets enjoy their time here.

Will you encourage your juniors to come back to serve as CIs?

Jeremy Just like what Bruce said.. If you are considering this path and have any doubts, always feel free to talk to your CIs and ask for their suggestions! We will be here to share more!

Bruce Well if you are motivated to learn more and want to impact the lives of their junior then yes please! But if it’s just a rank that you are after, you may want to reconsider. This rank comes with a lot of commitment and there will definitely be times you have to make sacrifices.

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Celebrating Achievements

Promotions From the rank of INSP to A/ASP

From the Rank of CI to SCI

From the Rank of SI to CI

Awards Unit Overall Proficiency Award 2015

5 Years Service Award

Commissioner of Police - Team Testimonial

SPF-NPCC Badge

Best Unit Cadet

Competitions Inter-Unit Campcraft Competition

Inter-Unit .22 Revolver Shooting Competition

National Youth Achievement Award (Gold)