You’ve read the younger girls sharing their experience. This time we placed the older ones on the hot seat and hear their honest opinions regarding the recently held SFT Drill competition. Having won the title of Champion, as well as Best Commander for this category, read on to see what these girls, aged 12 and above, have to say!
On 5th July 2014, the SFT Drill Competition was held once again. As this Drill Competition may be the last for many of us elder girls, we practiced hard. We started drill practice pretty early but due to the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of 1st KL GB and BB, we stopped for nearly a month. We were rushing against the clock as we were worried that we may not be able to nail down the drill sequence. Not to forget that there was the formation as well. Personally, I got a little frustrated as I am well aware that Rome was not built in one day. I knew that we needed more time to completely master the movements and memorize all the formations. Before the drill competition started, all the girls gathered around and prayed together for good weather, calmness and etc. During the drill competition we did pretty well and I was really glad after we finished our drill sequence and the formations. When they were announcing the placing of the drill teams all of us held hands to calm our nerves down. After it was announced that we got Champion, all of us screamed in happiness. I was really proud of all of us. YL Aileen Cheong managed to win the title as the best commander for the Senior and Pioneer Drill Team. We were all definitely happy and proud of her. I would say that this Drill Competition was a very good experience as the drill standards were raised. – YL Joey Yin
Being in the drill team this year was a great experience. I managed to improve on my drill skills and I also bonded with my friends through several drill camps that were organized to prepare us for the competition. This year, we were very competitive as we had raised the bar and the other companies were improving tremendously. For the past few months in Malaysia, the weather wasn’t very ‘friendly’ to us as it was either hazy, really hot, or raining cats and dogs. We actually had to drill indoors sometimes due to the weather. Even though I went back home with a different shade, I am glad that our hard work paid off since we are champions once again. – Pr. Goh Yu Shaine
During this year’s drill competition, with our anniversary celebration coming up, our schedule was slightly more packed compared to usual. Despite the limited time for preparation, each of us did our part to help & build each other up. It was a team effort where every one of us put in our best performance. With the determination to keep pushing for the best, we held a drill camp and long period practices to help polish up our skills, and build up our team spirit. Going through together this helped us grow as an individual and as a team where our bond became closer. Every time mistakes were spotted, we were trained to work on it over and over until it was perfect before moving on to the next step. It wasn’t easy but this training tattooed the routine in our heads and we became more well prepared. On D-day, we were still unsure of how the result will turn out, but we trusted God and did our best. When the results got out, we breathe a sigh of relief that we did not let down our trainers and those who supported us throughout the entire process. It thoroughly was a memorable moment where we get to retain the winning title. – Sr. Nicole Chew
I didn’t really like to do drill as we had to stand under the hot sun almost every week for 2-3 hours and when we made mistakes we would get reprimanded by the officers. Although I was reprimanded, I managed to learn from my mistakes. Besides drill, I enjoyed the fellowship with my friends. I started to know and understand my friends more as the time goes by. Doing drill helped me learn a lot of things such as teamwork, discipline, self control and many others. I became a new person after I learned drill. Lastly I would like to thank the officers as they had sacrificed their time and effort for us. – Sr. Esther Ooi
This experience helped me to learn drill, teamwork and how to have fun in drill. From teamwork, my friends and I can stamp and March in sync, as well as have fun in the formation. We even got to play water balloon in drill camp! Through this experience l got to know more about my friends than before. I really enjoyed the moment and the happiness from drill thanks to my officers and young leaders. – Sr. Wong Hui Sin
I was nervous and excited because it was my first time joining the drill competition. We were also ‘drilled’ a lot by the officers. From our hard work and weekly practises, as well as the guidance of the officers, we finally became the champions. I felt so happy and proud for being one of the members of the team. On that day, we suddenly improved so much. I’m also thankful that God’s healing power showed when Jovynn and I were not in top form that day. We recovered right before the competition and everything went well. When the emcee started announcing the results, we were very afraid that we were not placed in any positions . But when it was announced “The winner is 1st KL!!!” We were shocked and screamed in joy! Lastly, I want to thank the officers and also my parents who sent me for practices. – Sr. Joey Ng
Even though I was only a reserve this time, I was glad that I could join this drill competition through the practices. I am proud of the Junior drill team and the Senior drill team too. Not only have I learned a lot during the drill practices but I learnt that we have to work together throughout the entire practice. I thank the officers for sacrificing their time to be with us during the practices. – Sr. Zoey Ong
From this drill competition, I learnt many things about self discipline and also team work- knowing that without teamwork or discipline things won’t work out. Through this experience from the drill competition, I got much closer to the younger girls and getting to know them better has been a blessing from God. Spending time in drill camp has allowed me to gain one of the best memories I had with the senior girls as well as the older Jie Jies too. – Pr. Iris Budiman
This year I had the opportunity to participate in the 3rd SFT drill competition. Besides this competition, I have also participated in the drill competition held two years ago. From these two experiences, I have learned a lot. The things I have learned are teamwork, discipline, punctuality, time management, self-control, patience, and of course, friendship. Thanks to the lessons I have learn based on these experiences, I am now a stronger, better mannered and more discipline than before. – Pr. Leong Yen Qi
5th of July, was a special day for me. This is the second time I’ve participated in the drill competition but this is the first year that I joined the senior pioneer category and I felt so blessed to be in the team. We had drill practices every Saturday and Sunday to improve our skills and also had drill camps to build up our team spirit . We started practicing our formation a few weeks before the competition. During the practices we made many mistakes but our officers were still patient to correct our mistakes. On the day of competition , we improved a lot suddenly. We prayed before it was our turn and I am thankful that God strengthened us when two of our members were not feeling well. All of our efforts paid off when the emcee announced the results. Before that, we were so afraid that we will not even have a placing. Thankfully, we are wrong, when the emcee finally announced that we had been placed first! Thank God for His blessings. I also want to thank the officers who trained us and parents who sent us each week for drill practice. The trophy is 1st KL’s and we will do our best to let the trophies remain in our company . – Sr. Natalie Pang
Among the 13 girl that took part in the Senior & Pioneer Category, 3 of the girl are leaving us as they begin their new chapter of life in a different country. The 3 long serving girls had been with us in the company since they were as young as 6 years old! Oh how times flies and now they are all grown up and ready to face another challenge in life. We’ll surely miss them. Lets hear from them what they have to say as they took part in their final competition as a girl in this drill competition representing 1stKL! 🙂
Tanned, sweaty and tired. This is often how we end our drill practices every week. However we would also definitely end with the feeling of satisfaction with the progress made.
This year was my last year to participate in the Senior & Pioneer drill competition having participated in our previous 2 competitions. This year was definitely more challenging as I had to juggle a few other things besides drill practices. Also, we had newer girls join the Senior & Pioneer team from the Junior drill team. This meant that not only did we have to be aware of our own progress but also teach the new team members steps that they have not learnt. Furthermore, our drill competition this year was for both Senior & Pioneer and Juniors. I was definitely more worried this time that we might not be able to perfect our movements and sequence.
Besides that, I was also worried about whether we had enough time to complete and brush up our movements because although we started practices about 2 to 3 months before the competition, there were so many other events we had to tend to and in the end, we probably only had a total of 1 month’s practice. The fact that our practices did not feel as smooth as the previous ones and that other companies were continuously progressing, I thought that maybe this year just wasn’t our year.
Despite the worries, I continued to join practices and make the most of it especially when it was my last competition. We had drill camp that was different compared to any I’ve been. This year’s camp was definitely a work hard and play hard camp. We drilled hard in the morning and afternoon and had fun and games at night. It was a great time for us to bond with each other and to relax a while. We continually motivated each other and reminded each other of the true meaning of joining the competition – that we join not solely to win but to learn team work and to give our best.
On the day of the competition, almost all of us were feeling nervous and anxious but we knew that we had practiced well and all we could do now is to do our best on the competition ground. I also hoped that adrenaline would be the ultimate booster to make our performance one of our best since it seemed to work for the past years. We gave our all during the competition and couldn’t have asked for better. And of course, after our turn, we watched other companies drill. This year was a close and tense competition. Other companies were improving vastly and comparatively, we haven’t been improving at a consistent pace.
It was about time when the results were to be announced. We had never been this nervous before! Most of us had a very hard time guessing who could be the winners because most of the groups were really good. Announcements started with the Junior team. And…. Our Junior team won first place! As their seniors and pioneers, we felt so proud of our girls because they did so well. However, our nervousness was not over yet. Our results were not announced yet. This time we were very nervous for the results because it was so difficult to guess who would be the champion.
We held each other’s hands as we awaited the results. Going through the announcement one by one was such suspense when finally, they announced 1st KL as the champion. We were so ecstatic! Mostly because the competition was so close and that we placed our faith in God. Praise the Lord for a third win! If that wasn’t enough, 1st KL also won best commander which was our very own Aileen Cheong! This was definitely the happiest win of all. Definitely worthy of being my last competition.
Besides winning, there was a lot to take back from this experience. The anxiety of being unable to guess the position of our team left us surrendering the results to God. We learnt to have faith in God and to lean on Him during times like these and any other time. It also strengthened my principles of putting God first as we prayed for each other before practices and the competition. Whatever the results, God has a reason for it.
I learnt to really believe that winning isn’t the most important. The most important thing is to do your best and give it your all. Once you know that you have given your all and done your best both during practices and the actual competition, you are already a true winner whether the results says so or not. To me, nothing is worse than losing knowing that I haven’t given my all and put in my full effort. I believe that a good goal for this competition is to keep yourself as your competition and do better than you did before. I also realised that there will always be room for improvement in anything you do whether you are currently the best in it or the worst in it because other people will be constantly moving forward and improving. There is no time for complacency.
In the end, I feel very proud and happy for all the girls. I appreciate all their commitment and tolerance. Every one of them is so important to the team and I couldn’t have asked for better team members for the three competitions. It is always a priceless experience preparing for a drill competition. There is a lot of bonding, lessons and growing in the process and even though I might say I dislike doing drill, I must admit that you learn more than you think you do. – YL Lee Yen
