A campfire...to be forgotten

Phew...just got back to singapore after a very long sabbatical...(missed 9 school days)...the jpa interview was kinda crappy...waited real long to meet two higly disinterested interviewers...thankfully had Tim and Wen Chee in the same group as me...so wasn't that boring...

Anyway...started off in Singapore in worst possible manner...Arrgh....left my singaporean sim card in msia...have to tumpang lihong to take back...tomorrow(or rather today) will have to find him to take it back...and then when unpacking my bag...realised i didn't bring a whole lotta other stuff as well...which meant i had to go shopping for them...

So it's saturday nite...bout 8 someething...i'm trying to read econs when i smell...SMOKE?! i run to ask me room mate and he informs me that the local scouts in victoria school were having a campfire...!

Boy was i excited...it's been like forever since I've been to a campfire..pity i didn't bring my uniform along...and my camera...so no pictures here..I wasn't too sure whether i could go to the campfire...which was held on the highest floor in the school which is sorta like an open air stage area sorta...ya...but secu was kinda lax..so I managed to sneak in after all :) (when they turned their backs to entertain some guides who weren't pretty anyway...sad sad despo single sex school singaporeans)

So i go up that long flight of steps...the whoops and cheers getting louder...the smell of burning wood becoming stronger...and I emerge into ...(drumroll)...the campfire.

Okie...first...some comments on the deco...the local Victoria school scouts( arrow scouts they were called...because they have an arrow in their logo or something like that...only the Victorian Scouts though) set up tripods along the perimeter with the usual burning stuff inside...the campfire(which was quite small was in the middle and around it sat all the guides n scouts(bout 15 schools...200++ ppl)right in front was the stage...which they didn't need to built because they was already a raised platform in the stone floor there....no cool 3 storey structures in sight...and there weren't even any banners...cept the main one which was badly decorated with the wordings...68 arrow scouts campfire...written in marker pen i think...about the only cool thing was the mc(s) costume(rented i bet) which was red indian tribal chief dress cos the theme was THE RED INDIANS.

Ok...now...i'll talk about the campfire itself...first..uniforms...the singaporean scout uniform is the same as the malaysian scout...long pants, shirt and scarf...but the colour scheme is exactly that of the malaysian girl guides' uniform...light green blouse and dark green pants...scarf is red and white with singaporean flag behind...girl guides wear dark blue with yellow scarves...

As the night progressed...I noticed the ppl there like to sing alot...song followed song after song...i managed to procure a program book...scanned the list and realised there were only two games...AACK...I waited in vain for the first game which turned out to be...guess the song game...yup...the djs play a short part of a song and you're supposed to run out and guess the title...fine...whatever...once in awhile...when ppl started singing...they would get all hyped up and started dancing...which was kinda cool...but something was different...something wrong...i couldn't quite place my finger on it...until i realised...everyone was dancing among their own troop/coy...the scouts weren't asking the guides out to dance at all...it was all sexually segregated dancing!

What's the whole point about having a bloody campfire if everyone is just going to interact with ppl from their own troop or coy anyway...I asked a local scout how come they never ask the guides out to dance with em...even dances which required partnering(in my opinion) were conducted among ppl of the same sex...he replied that you could get sued for molest if you touch a girl...and that even if you ask a guide out to dance...they'll reject you anywy...not because you're ugly...but because they think it's wrong(oh surprise)...and yet having sex at 13 isn't.....hmmm

After the 36th song( I am not kidding you) i decided to call it quits...the performances which were all performed by visiting troops were few n far between and on the rare chance that a troop or coy came up with a performance...it's some half-baked cheesy uncoordinated last minute dance with girls too shy to pull off the more sexy moves convincingly enough...there was a lion dance though...but nothing on the one we had at chs(pj)...

I miss chs...and i miss the 9th pj scout troop...i miss the tension and the rivalry and the catcalls so omnipresent at malaysian campfires which sadly do not exist here...i miss great looking assunta and sri aman guides who are just dying to play the next game with you...i miss tall imposing structures which take weeks to build...i miss cool banners painted during lessons so we could skip classes...i miss wreaking havoc at other ppls' campfires....i miss fun...if you're looking for true BP spirit with a touch of excitment...don't look here